# Raabta (राब्ता) (film)
**Raabta** (राब्ता; "Connection") is a 2017 Hindi-language romantic thriller about reincarnation, directed by Dinesh Vijan in his directorial debut and starring [Sushant Singh Rajput](https://www.edgepedia.org/sushant-singh-rajput) as Shiv and [Kriti Sanon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kriti-sanon) as Saira, two strangers in Budapest who discover their bond may reach back centuries.[1](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/) • [2](https://www.indianfilmhistory.com/movie/raabta) It was produced by Maddock Films and T-Series, with Vijan, Homi Adajania, Bhushan Kumar, and Krishan Kumar as producers.[3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 9 June 2017 (India wide theatrical release; 8 June in the UAE)[3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) • [4](https://www.moviebuff.com/raabta) |
| Director / writers | Dinesh Vijan's directorial debut; story and screenplay by Siddharth-Garima[5](https://www.filmibeat.com/bollywood/movies/raabta-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-2017/story.html) • [3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) |
| Cast | Sushant Singh Rajput (Shiv/Jilaan), Kriti Sanon (Saira/Saiba), Jim Sarbh (Zakir Merchant/Kaabir), with Varun Sharma and Rajkummar Rao in supporting roles[3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) |
| Runtime / certificate | 154 minutes; U/A certification from the Indian censor board[3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) |
| Music | Composed by Pritam Chakraborty, with background score by Sachin-Jigar; lyrics by Irshad Kamil and Amitabh Bhattacharya[3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) |
| Box office | ₹256.7 million (₹25.67 crore) net in India, ₹390.5 million (₹39.05 crore) worldwide; classified as a flop[6](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/box-office/) |
| Critical reception | 15% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (13 reviews); 4.9/10 on IMDb from about 9,800 votes[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/raabta) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5542802/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Shiv, a Punjabi man from Amritsar working at a bank in Budapest, meets Saira and the two fall quickly and deeply in love.[2](https://www.indianfilmhistory.com/movie/raabta) • [1](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/) Their romance is disrupted by the arrival of Zakir Merchant, a billionaire playboy who pursues Saira, and by a prophecy from a past life that looms over all three destinies.[1](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/) In the earlier lifetime, Shiv and Saira were the lovers Jilaan and Saiba, and the film's central question is whether the cursed cycle of that earlier story will repeat.[1](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/) • [9](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/raabta-movie-review-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-981907-2017-06-09) The film ends happily after a series of struggles and fights.[2](https://www.indianfilmhistory.com/movie/raabta)
## Production
**Vijan's debut.** Dinesh Vijan, already a producer of films including *Love Aaj Kal*, *[Cocktail](https://www.edgepedia.org/cocktail-2012-film)*, *Badlapur*, and *Hindi Medium*, turned director with *Raabta*. He said the story came from his own imagination, that he took over direction halfway through development because he did not want to let the story go, and that [Homi Adajania](https://www.edgepedia.org/homi-adajania) was the first to urge him to tell it himself.[10](https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/we-are-not-worried-about-raabtas-box-office/20170608.htm)
The writers [Siddharth-Garima](https://www.edgepedia.org/siddharth-garima) said the script took just over a year from conception to a finished draft, but about four years including rewrites driven by casting changes, and that they framed the story around karma rather than unfinished business from a past life.[11](https://bollyspice.com/raabta-is-a-tale-of-timeless-love-writers-siddharth-and-garima/) The film was shot in 60 days, largely in Budapest, which Vijan chose because the city offers a filming rebate; shooting locations also included [Mauritius](https://www.edgepedia.org/mauritius) and Amritsar.[10](https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/we-are-not-worried-about-raabtas-box-office/20170608.htm) • [3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) Vijan put the budget at around ₹320 million to ₹330 million (₹32 to ₹33 crore), and said co-producer [Bhushan Kumar](https://www.edgepedia.org/bhushan-kumar) had sold the film's incidental rights for ₹310 million (₹31 crore) before release.[10](https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/we-are-not-worried-about-raabtas-box-office/20170608.htm)
**Plagiarism dispute.** Before release the film faced a legal claim that it copied [S. S. Rajamouli](https://www.edgepedia.org/s-s-rajamouli)'s Telugu film *Magadheera*; the case was decided in *Raabta*'s favor, and the film released on schedule.[12](https://www.aajtak.in/entertainment/film-review/story/review-of-film-raabta-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-450434-2017-06-09) Some critics nonetheless saw the resemblance: Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost wrote that the writers may have drawn initial inspiration from Rajamouli's film, while adding that the project "has no new ideas."[13](https://thereviewmonk.com/movie/raabta/)
## Cast notes
[Deepika Padukone](https://www.edgepedia.org/deepika-padukone) appears in the film's title song, credited in the cast list for an item number.[3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) [Rajkummar Rao](https://www.edgepedia.org/rajkummar-rao) plays a character named Muraaki; Shubhra Gupta of *The Indian Express* noted that one of [Hindi cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/hindi-cinema)'s best actors was "hidden under layers of latex" in the role.[3](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/) • [14](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/raabta-movie-review-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-star-rating-4694804/) Alia Bhatt was initially considered for the female lead but turned it down over scheduling conflicts.[4](https://www.moviebuff.com/raabta)
## Reception
**Critics.** Reception was largely negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 15% Tomatometer from 13 reviews against a 62% audience Popcornmeter.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/raabta) A review aggregator's tally of 19 scored reviews counted 2 positive, 5 mixed, and 12 negative, with the lead pair's chemistry the most praised element and the screenplay the most criticized.[13](https://thereviewmonk.com/movie/raabta/) Reviewers repeatedly faulted the past-life section: India Today called the romantic arc of Jilaal and Saiba "sketchily and hastily construed," and Filmibeat said the weak past-life section reduced the film's impact.[9](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/raabta-movie-review-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-981907-2017-06-09) • [15](https://www.bollywood.com/movies/raabta/reviews/) Reuters' Shilpa Jamkhandikar found the 154-minute film "much too long and overwrought" and judged [Jim Sarbh](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-sarbh) uncomfortable as the villain.[13](https://thereviewmonk.com/movie/raabta/) Ratings ranged from 1/5 (News18, India Today) to 3.5/5 (Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama), with The Times of India and Filmibeat at 2.5/5.[15](https://www.bollywood.com/movies/raabta/reviews/)
**Box office.** The film opened to ₹56.1 million (₹5.61 crore) in India, collected ₹159.3 million (₹15.93 crore) over its opening weekend and ₹235.1 million (₹23.51 crore) in week one, then collapsed, adding only ₹21 million (₹2.10 crore) in week two, a 91% drop.[6](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/box-office/) Its lifetime India net total was ₹256.7 million (₹25.67 crore), with ₹356.5 million (₹35.65 crore) gross in India and about ₹34 million (₹3.4 crore) overseas (0.523 million USD), for ₹390.5 million (₹39.05 crore) worldwide; Bollywood Hungama's verdict is "Flop."[6](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/box-office/) A contemporaneous report put the overseas figure lower, at approximately 366,825 USD.[1](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/) For Kriti Sanon, 2017 was a mixed year: *Raabta* underperformed while her later release *Bareilly Ki Barfi* was appreciated.[16](https://www.millenniumpost.in/epaper/kolkata/2017-12-30/epaper-kolkata30december2017.pdf)
## References
1. [Raabta Movie page, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/)
2. [Raabta (2017), Indian Film History](https://www.indianfilmhistory.com/movie/raabta)
3. [Raabta Cast & Crew, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/cast/)
4. [Raabta, Moviebuff](https://www.moviebuff.com/raabta)
5. [Raabta Story, FilmiBeat](https://www.filmibeat.com/bollywood/movies/raabta-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-2017/story.html)
6. [Raabta Box Office Collection, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/raabta/box-office/)
7. [Raabta, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/raabta)
8. [Raabta (2017) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5542802/)
9. [Raabta movie review, India Today](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/raabta-movie-review-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-981907-2017-06-09)
10. ['We are not worried about Raabta's box office', Rediff.com](https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/we-are-not-worried-about-raabtas-box-office/20170608.htm)
11. ["Raabta is a tale of timeless love" – Writers Siddharth and Garima, BollySpice](https://bollyspice.com/raabta-is-a-tale-of-timeless-love-writers-siddharth-and-garima/)
12. [Film Review: पुनर्जन्म के रिश्तों में उलझी 'राब्ता' की कहानी, Aaj Tak](https://www.aajtak.in/entertainment/film-review/story/review-of-film-raabta-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-450434-2017-06-09)
13. [Raabta (2017) critic reviews, TheReviewMonk](https://thereviewmonk.com/movie/raabta/)
14. [Raabta movie review, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/raabta-movie-review-sushant-singh-rajput-kriti-sanon-star-rating-4694804/)
15. [Raabta (2017) Critics Reviews, Bollywood.com](https://www.bollywood.com/movies/raabta/reviews/)
16. [Millennium Post Kolkata, 30 December 2017](https://www.millenniumpost.in/epaper/kolkata/2017-12-30/epaper-kolkata30december2017.pdf)
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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 2010s › Hindi films of 2017*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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