Youngistaan is a love story set in the backdrop of Indian politics. It is the story of Abhimanyu Kaul and the love of his life, Anwita Chauhan. Abhimanyu Kaul, a young man living an ordinary life in Japan, finds himself in the political spotlight due to the sudden death of his father, the prime minister of India. Abhimanyu struggles to balance his complicated personal relationships with the political resistance against him from his own party. Being a public figure, by reluctantly accepting to represent the governing party, much against his own wishes and at the cost of his private life, is a double-edged sword that Abhimanyu must walk on. Thought of as an amateur and incapable of handling the issues at large by one and all, the story closes as a victorious Abhimanyu changes the course of events and turns the tide his way, through his hard work, honesty, and above all, a political legacy – a sharp, leading mind that not everyone inherits.
Cast
Jackky Bhagnani as Abhimanyu Kaul/Abhi
Neha Sharma as Anvita Chauhan
Farooq Sheikh as Akbar Uncle
Prakash Belawadi as Murli Mukundan
Boman Irani as Dashrat Kaul
Deepankar De as Shubhodeep Ganguly popularly known as Shubho Da
Kayoze Irani as Ajay Doshi
Brijendra Kala as Kulfi/Alcohol Vendor
Mita Vashisht as Suhasini Singh Deo
Triveni Sangam Bahuguna as Ajay Thakur
Nilesh Rai as Nilesh
Production and promotion
While the first schedule of the film took place in Indore, Lucknow and overseas – the second schedule was held at the Taj Mahal in Agra, where a campaign titled Yo Youngistan Go Youngistan was launched. The first trailer of Youngistaan was unveiled at a suburban multiplex in Mumbai on 1 February 2014.
Critical reception
Shubha Shetty-Saha of Mid-Day gave 2.5 out of 5 stars stating, "While the movie has a very interesting premise, it is totally diluted by lazy scriptwriting and sketchy direction." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated it 2 out of 5 stars and stated "The film, despite its efforts, becomes muddled, and dull." Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times rated the film 1 out of 5 stars saying "Youngistaan is brain-dead and insufferable." Paloma Sharma of Rediff.com rated the film 1 out of 5 stars saying "Youngistaan neither says something new nor does it reinforce time-tested wisdom in a way that you actually want to pay attention to it."
Box office
Youngistaan opened to a "low" occupancy of 5–10% on the first day of its release across 1000 theatres in India with the other two releases of the day: Dishkiyaoon and O Teri. According to exhibitor Rajesh Thadani, "Youngistaan raked in Rs 40 million during the first weekend." On its first Monday, the film saw a sharp decline in its gross collection earning in the range of 7.5 million, thus taking its domestic total up to a cumulative of 48.0 million at the box office. The film was a Box office bomb.
