# Hyderabad Blues
**Hyderabad Blues** is a 1998 Indian independent comedy-drama written, directed, produced by, and starring [Nagesh Kukunoor](https://www.edgepedia.org/nagesh-kukunoor), in which an Indian man returns to [Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyderabad) after twelve years in the United States and struggles to readjust while his family pushes him toward an arranged marriage.[1](https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/Z91zkiRWa8PEs5OOZfkr1N/When-movies-lose-money-I-dont-lose-any-sleep-over-it-Nage.html) • [2](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/jan/06kuku.htm) Made with Kukunoor's own savings, a cast of non-professional actors, and dialogue in English, Telugu, and Hindi, the film opened on 17 July 1998 and is widely credited with jump-starting India's independent film movement.[3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues) • [4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 17 July 1998, India (theatrical, UA certificate)[5](https://letterboxd.com/film/hyderabad-blues/) |
| Filmmaker | Written, directed, produced by, and starring Nagesh Kukunoor, a US-trained engineer making his feature debut[1](https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/Z91zkiRWa8PEs5OOZfkr1N/When-movies-lose-money-I-dont-lose-any-sleep-over-it-Nage.html) |
| Budget | ₹1.2 million (₹12 lakh) production budget by Kukunoor's own account; ₹1.7 million (₹17 lakh) including marketing and publicity[1](https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/Z91zkiRWa8PEs5OOZfkr1N/When-movies-lose-money-I-dont-lose-any-sleep-over-it-Nage.html) • [4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694) |
| Production speed | Script written in seven days; shoot completed in about 17 days[4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694) |
| Languages | English, Telugu, and Hindi[3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues) |
| Principal cast | Kukunoor as Varun, Rajshri Nair as Ashwini, Vikram Inamdar as Sanjeev, Elahe Hiptoola as Seema, Anoop Rao as Harish[2](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/jan/06kuku.htm) |
| Censorship | 91 cuts ordered by the CBFC; the kissing scene was restored on appeal to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal[6](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-director-nagesh-kukunoor-and-cast-speak-about-their-journey-85418) |
| Follow-ups | Sequel *Hyderabad Blues 2* (2004); a prequel, *Hyderabad Blues 0*, was under consideration in 2018[7](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/hyd/20040701.htm) • [4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Varun Naidu, played by Kukunoor, comes home to Hyderabad after twelve years in the United States and finds he cannot adjust to surroundings that were once familiar. Relatives, neighbors, and a curious milkman press him about marriage plans. He takes refuge with his friends Sanjeev (Vikram Inamdar) and Harish (Anoop Rao), and soon realizes the change is within him rather than in those around him. Things worsen when even Sanjeev agrees to an arranged marriage.[2](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/jan/06kuku.htm)
While warding off proposals, Varun meets Ashwini (Rajshri Nair), a self-made doctor who holds a low opinion of foreign-returned men. After several rejections he wins her over, but differences in their thinking lead to a split, and Ashwini's widowed mother emotionally pressures her into marrying. A petulant Varun agrees to accept the first proposal that comes his way, on the sole condition that his wedding take place on the same day, opposite the same venue, as Ashwini's. The lovers reunite, still undecided which part of the world to settle in.[2](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/jan/06kuku.htm) • [3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues)
The film treats the culture clash without declaring either side superior. Reviewers noted that, unlike films that mock Indian customs, it tries to strike a balance and keeps clear of controversy; the NewsMinute retrospective similarly observed that it never glorifies Indian tradition over the American way of life.[2](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/jan/06kuku.htm) • [6](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-director-nagesh-kukunoor-and-cast-speak-about-their-journey-85418) Ashwini in particular became a point of discussion: her lines assert her own priorities over the hero's plans, and Kukunoor deliberately kept all characters free of makeup for authenticity.[6](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-director-nagesh-kukunoor-and-cast-speak-about-their-journey-85418)
## Production
Kukunoor, a Hyderabad-born engineer who had worked as an environmental consultant in the United States, returned to India in December 1995 hoping to enter the film industry. After a few disastrous days on the set of the television serial *Veer Hanuman*, he wrote the script of *Hyderabad Blues* longhand in pencil in seven days, drawing on his own experiences; the arranged-marriage subplot came from a friend's life.[3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues) • [8](https://m.rediff.com/movies/1998/jan/06kuk.htm)
**Financing and crew.** Lacking the money to shoot, he returned to the US, worked for another year, and saved up before coming back to India. He drew up a budget of ₹1.2 million (₹12 lakh), canceling his life insurance policy to save as much as he could; the total outlay, including marketing and publicity, came to ₹1.7 million (₹17 lakh). The camera operator he had befriended on *Veer Hanuman* shot the film, which took about 17 days. [Renu Saluja](https://www.edgepedia.org/renu-saluja) edited it and Ram Prasad was the cinematographer.[4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694) • [8](https://m.rediff.com/movies/1998/jan/06kuk.htm) • [9](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/pune/hyderabad-blues/IEMV009302)
The cast was made up of friends, family, and non-professionals. Vikram Inamdar, a businessman, was originally meant for a smaller part until Kukunoor asked him to read for Sanjeev; Elahe Hiptoola, then running a boutique in Hyderabad, joined as assistant director, recruited the actors playing Varun's friends, and took the role of Seema.[8](https://m.rediff.com/movies/1998/jan/06kuk.htm) • [6](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-director-nagesh-kukunoor-and-cast-speak-about-their-journey-85418) Kukunoor had the script vetted by Ben Taylor, a writer for German television, who replied with the note "Good dialogue".[8](https://m.rediff.com/movies/1998/jan/06kuk.htm)
## Censorship
The [Central Board of Film Certification](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-board-of-film-certification) ordered 91 cuts. Kukunoor and Hiptoola appealed to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, which objected to the kissing scene on the stated ground that "no Indian women kiss"; the film ultimately passed without that cut, which Kukunoor said was essential to the movie.[6](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-director-nagesh-kukunoor-and-cast-speak-about-their-journey-85418)
## Release and reception
Kukunoor expected the film to work only for American audiences and left for the US after finishing it. The first MAMI Film Festival in 1997 included it in a section called "View From Abroad", for filmmakers of Indian origin living abroad who made films about India; Kukunoor was one of four filmmakers invited. That exposure brought a distributor, and [Doordarshan](https://www.edgepedia.org/doordarshan) 3 broadcast the film in three parts for about ₹75,000.[4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694) • [3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues)
On its theatrical release on 17 July 1998, the film opened in only one theater hall in Mumbai, and strong word of mouth and its novelty drew audiences; in Hyderabad it played at Sangeet, the city's premium theater for non-Telugu and non-Hindi films.[10](https://m.rediff.com/amp/movies/report/blues/20040705.htm) • [3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues) Kukunoor later said rumors put earnings at ₹15 million to ₹20 million (₹1.5 to ₹2 crore), but the accounts his distributor Shyam showed him recorded ₹4 million (₹40 lakh).[1](https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/Z91zkiRWa8PEs5OOZfkr1N/When-movies-lose-money-I-dont-lose-any-sleep-over-it-Nage.html)
Critics noted the film's lack of technical finesse but praised its inventive dialogue and well-etched characters, with Inamdar singled out as the surprise package. Rediff's review placed it apart from the genre typified by *English, August* for spending less time mocking Indian culture.[2](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/jan/06kuku.htm) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a Tomatometer score of 73 percent.[11](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hyderabad-blues)
## Legacy
The film is credited with inadvertently jump-starting the "independent movie movement" in India and with kick-starting "Hinglish cinema", in which characters speak a mixture of English and Indian languages; a 2005 *New York Times* article on India's independent film industry made that attribution.[4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694) • [12](https://repository.gatech.edu/bitstreams/619d4828-dbc8-4f57-9000-0c620d6cb6c5/download) Scroll.in wrote that it proved a movie could dispense with conventional plots, big-name actors, and songs, and that it paved the way for the independent-minded experiments of the 2000s.[3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues) Manish Mundra, founder of Drishyam Films, said Kukunoor "started a new revolution with this self-funded film".[4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694)
Kukunoor followed it with *Rockford* (1999), *Bollywood Calling*, *3 Deewarein* (2003), *Iqbal* (2005), *Dor* (2006), and *Dhanak* (2016), among others, and revisited the characters in *Hyderabad Blues 2* (2004), which picks up six years after the first film with Varun and Ashwini married and facing pressure to have children.[3](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues) • [7](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/hyd/20040701.htm) In 2018, for the film's twentieth anniversary, he said he had begun writing *Hyderabad Blues 0* to explore Varun's backstory.[4](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694) He has said no other film will ever come close to it for him: "Nothing will ever come close to Hyderabad Blues. Ever."[13](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/when-all-doors-were-open-i-didnt-walk-through-them/20190503.htm)
## References
1. [When movies lose money, I don't lose any sleep over it: Nagesh Kukunoor, Mint](https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/Z91zkiRWa8PEs5OOZfkr1N/When-movies-lose-money-I-dont-lose-any-sleep-over-it-Nage.html)
2. [Love in the times of arranged marriage, Rediff review of Hyderabad Blues](https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/jan/06kuku.htm)
3. ['It's going to be a total failure': How Nagesh Kukunoor proved everyone wrong with 'Hyderabad Blues', Scroll.in](https://scroll.in/reel/886474/its-going-to-be-a-total-failure-how-nagesh-kukunoor-proved-everyone-wrong-with-hyderabad-blues)
4. [20 years on, 'Hyderabad Blues' prequel on the cards? Director Nagesh Kukunoor speaks, The News Minute](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-prequel-cards-director-nagesh-kukunoor-speaks-84694)
5. [Hyderabad Blues (1998), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/hyderabad-blues/)
6. [20 years of 'Hyderabad Blues': Director Nagesh Kukunoor and cast speak about their journey, The News Minute](https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/20-years-hyderabad-blues-director-nagesh-kukunoor-and-cast-speak-about-their-journey-85418)
7. [Review: Hyderabad Blues 2, Rediff](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/hyd/20040701.htm)
8. [The USP is Indian-ness, Rediff interview with Nagesh Kukunoor](https://m.rediff.com/movies/1998/jan/06kuk.htm)
9. [Hyderabad Blues, BookMyShow](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/pune/hyderabad-blues/IEMV009302)
10. ['Indian directors see too many John Woo movies' - Rediff.com](https://m.rediff.com/amp/movies/report/blues/20040705.htm)
11. [Hyderabad Blues, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hyderabad-blues)
12. [Georgia Tech student publication (Spring 2009) citing the 2005 New York Times article on Hinglish cinema](https://repository.gatech.edu/bitstreams/619d4828-dbc8-4f57-9000-0c620d6cb6c5/download)
13. [The Nagesh Kukunoor Interview, Rediff (2019)](https://m.rediff.com/movies/report/when-all-doors-were-open-i-didnt-walk-through-them/20190503.htm)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 1990s › Romance and drama films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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