De De Pyaar De

In February 2017, Luv Ranjan confirmed that Ajay Devgn had committed to star in an untitled "urban comedy" film that would be written by Luv Ranjan and produced by Ranjan and Ankur Garg. The "contemporary rom-com" was to be directed by film editor Akiv Ali in his directorial debut, who had previously worked as editor on Ranjan's films, among others.[6] Devgn played a 50-year-old in the film, the first time he played a character his real age; he attributed it to "meatier roles.. being written for actors of [his] age and audience accepts it". It was also his first romance film in years. Devgn mentioned that the film's premise followed "strong woman characters[,] and there's also a nice message".[7]

In May 2017, a member of the film's crew confirmed that Tabu was confirmed to play one of the film's female leads opposite Devgn, marking her seventh collaboration with the actor; their last production together at the time was Golmaal Again (2017).[8] According to Tabu, the film highlights the differences in "[t]he way a mid-40s couple deals with their relationship, their definition of love and relationship will be different than a 27-year-old woman. Her insecurities are different and issues are varied".[9] Jimmy Sheirgill's inclusion in the cast in a supporting role as the love interest of Tabu's character, was confirmed in late April 2018. Sheirgill had previously shared screen space with Tabu for the 1996 film Maachis, which was also his film debut.[10]

After the success of their previous comedy Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018), Luv Films and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series formed a mutual understanding to continue their collaboration by co-producing a series of films, the first of which was De De Pyaar De.[11] In mid-January 2018, Rakul Preet Singh, who had earlier made her debut with the T-Series production Yaariyan, was signed in as a female lead opposite Devgn. According to Ranjan, Singh's "natural persona fit[ted] the character to the tee".[12] In February 2018, Singh confirmed her casting and said she had "a meaty role", but couldn't reveal more details at the time.[13]

Principal photography commenced on 19 January 2018 at Mumbai. The film had a production budget of ₹780 million.[3] In June 2018, Singh revealed that close to 50 percent of filming was completed at that point.[14] The next shooting schedule of the film commenced in July 2018 at London.[15] In August 2018, Devgn and Singh began their next schedule in Kullu Manali Circuit.[16] By August 2018, filming was completed and post-production work commenced.[17]

De De Pyaar De was released to generally mixed reviews from critics.[34][35] While some critics praised the chemistry between Devgn and Tabu, others alleged that the film promoted misogynist ideals.[36][37] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it four stars out of five and praised all aspects of production, concluding, "On the whole, De De Pyaar De is a paisa vasool entertainer with plenty of laugh aloud moments and strong emotions as its USP".[38] Anita Iyer of Khaleej Times gave two stars out of five and felt that the "[l]ack of a storyline is hardly compensated by the presence of the stars on board".[39] Manjusha Radhakrishnan of Gulf News gave three stars out of five: "[I]f you can ignore [the female leads'] questionable choice in men, there's a lot to enjoy in De De Pyaar De".[40] Raja Sen of Hindustan Times gave two and a half stars out of five and felt that Devgn delivered his "sincerest performance",[41] while Stutee Ghosh of The Quint gave three stars out of five and wrote that the film "owes a lot to Ajay Devgn and Tabu's chemistry".[42]

Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India was impressed with the film for "reinstat[ing] the fact that when it comes to love, age is just a number", giving it three and a half stars out of five.[43] Meena Iyer of Daily News and Analysis concurred, opining that it "nicely captures frailties in human relationships".[44] Mayur Sanap of Deccan Chronicle disagreed, writing, "Despite its bright premise and superlative cast, the Akiv Ali directorial isn't as smart as it aspires to be", and rated it two and a half stars out of five.[45] Similarly, Mayank Shekhar of Mid Day gave the film one and a half stars out of five and lamented, "It's almost like the filmmakers are certain the intended audience won't connect much with such a young-old love, by itself, in a single screen theatre".[46] Gaurang Chauhan of Times Now rated it three stars out of five and attributed the film's strength to strong performances.[47] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave two and a half stars out of five and felt the film was "a mixed bag", stating, "You wish the film had been braver in its intention of creating a really cracking rom-com, instead of playing its clichés for a laugh".[48]

Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave one star out of five and opined it was "a vehicle for claims of universal male victimhood, better disguised than its co-producer and co-writer Luv Ranjan's three directorial ventures that have struck box office gold in the past decade".[49] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in felt the film's "biggest achievement is that it might actually compel filmmakers to ask whether their leads are appropriately matched wrinkle for wrinkle rather than forcing chronological acrobatics on viewers".[50] Kunal Guha of Mumbai Mirror wrote, "The build-up gets dangerously close to that tipping point from where on expects it to nose-dive, but it doesn't".[51] Charu Thakur of India Today praised Tabu's performance as "light[ing] up every frame with her presence, and [a] comic timing.. par excellence.[52] Reshu Manglik of India TV gave one star out of five and called it "[a] shapeless tale of unusual love story that takes you nowhere".[53]

On its first day of release in India, the film earned ₹8.25–8.5 crore nett, which was lower than trade expectations.[54] On the second day, however, collections rose by 50 percent to ₹12.5 crore nett, owing to positive word-of-mouth.[55] The film earned ₹14 crore nett on the third day.[56] On its first Monday, it maintained a strong hold with earnings of ₹5.85 crore nett.[57] It dropped slightly on Tuesday to earn ₹5.5 crore nett.[58] The earnings on Wednesday were ₹5.15 crore nett.[59] On Friday, the film collected ₹3–3.25 crore nett.[60] It showed growth of 45 percent on Saturday to earn ₹4.5 crore nett.[61] On its second Monday, the film earned ₹2.5 crore nett.[62] Tuesday collections dropped slightly to ₹2.25 crore nett.[63] It has grossed ₹143.04 crore worldwide, with gross of ₹123.38 crore in India and ₹196.6 million overseas.[5] The film emerged as a commercial success.[64]