Chennai Express

Plot

Rahul Mithaiwala, a 40-year-old rich bachelor, lives in Mumbai with his paternal grandparents. Rahul's grandfather Y. Y. Mithaiwala is a businessman and owner of a chain of confectionery shops. Before Y. Y.'s 100th-birthday celebration, Rahul's friends Bobby and Baman invite him to a vacation in Goa, which he accepts. Meanwhile, Y. Y. dies on the eve of the celebration when he witnesses Sachin Tendulkar on TV in a cricket match get dismissed on his 99th run. After Y. Y.'s funeral, Rahul's grandmother Neetu tells Rahul that Y. Y. wanted his ashes to be divided into two partsone part to be immersed in the Ganga, and the other in Rameswaram. Neetu asks Rahul to take the ashes to Rameswaram and disperse them. Rahul reluctantly accepts her request, but is also eager to visit Goa.

Rahul, Bobby and Baman plan to dump the ashes in Goa, but Neetu wants to see him off, forcing Rahul to travel by train. Rahul books a single ticket on the Chennai Express, planning to meet Bobby and Baman along the way, at Kalyan Junction station. However, Rahul forgets to take the ashes while alighting, where he almost misses the train when he returns to collect them. While trying to leave the train, Rahul notices a young woman running to board it and helps her and four men board the moving train, but the train leaves the station before he can get off.

Rahul tries to flirt with the woman, who starts communicating by singing parodies of Hindi film songs, and explains that the four men are trying to kidnap her. Rahul lends her his phone so that she can contact her friends, but the men with her grab it and throw it off the train. Rahul is annoyed, but says nothing because the men are carrying weapons. Rahul tells the Travelling Ticket Examiner about them, but they push the Examiner into a river below a bridge. A panicked Rahul learns that the four men are her cousins and that her name is Meenalochni "Meenamma" Azhagusundaram. Meenamma is fleeing from a forced marriage to a gangster Tangaballi, Meenamma's father Durgeshwara "Durgesh" Azhagusundaram is a powerful mafia kingpin and landlord in Tamil Nadu.

Meenamma takes Rahul to Durgesh and introduces Rahul as her lover. Tangaballi challenges Rahul to a duel that Rahul unknowingly accepts due to his lack of understanding Tamil. On the night of the duel, Rahul escapes with the help of a local policeman Shamsher, but he ends up on a boat with Sri Lankan smugglers. A gun battle ensues between the police force and the smugglers. The police officers investigate and take Rahul into custody, but Rahul tells his story and ends up back in Komban.

Terrified and once again surrounded by Durgesh's sickle-wielding henchmen, Rahul pretends to take Meenamma hostage and escapes with her in Durgesh's car, battling Durgesh's men. When the car breaks down, Rahul and Meenamma quarrel and part ways. Rahul, not knowing which way to go, returns to Meenamma, who takes him to the Vidhamba village. Meenamma tells the villagers that they are a married couple who need protection and rest, to which the villagers agree.

Meenamma realises that she has fallen in love with Rahul. When Rahul plans to sneak away, Meenamma argues, not wanting to earn the villagers' distrust. Tangaballi catches Rahul as he tries to leave, but the villagers help them escape again. Meenamma persuades Rahul to disperse Y. Y.'s ashes and travels with him to Rameswaram, where they complete the rite. On their way back, Rahul realises that he has fallen for Meenamma and does not tell her where they are going. Rahul takes Meenamma back to Durgesh and tries to make him understand and honour Meenamma's wish, where he also tells Meenamma that he loves her.

Rahul tells Tangaballi and his goons that he is ready for the fight. In the fight that follows, Rahul is severely beaten, but emerges victorious. Durgesh and Tangaballi reform, accepting that the love of a common man like Rahul is bigger than their physical ability and political influence. Durgesh allows Rahul to marry Meena. Later, Rahul leaves a message that love knows no regional or language barriers and that with a strong heart, there is no limit to what the common man can achieve.

Cast

• Shah Rukh Khan as Rahul Mithaiwala
• Deepika Padukone as Meenalochni "Meenamma" Azhagusundaram
• Nikitin Dheer as Tangaballi
• Sathyaraj as Durgeshwara "Durgesh" Azhagusundaram
• Kamini Kaushal as Neetu Mithaiwala
• Lekh Tandon as Y. Y. Mithaiwala
• Mukesh Tiwari as Inspector Shamsher Singh
• Puvisha Manoharan as Radhika "Radha" Azhagusundaram (Meenamma's cousin)
• Manu Malik as Baman (Rahul's friend)
• Rakesh Kukreti as Bobby (Rahul's friend)
• Mohan Raman as the village priest
• Yogi Babu as the Sri Lankan smuggler
• Jasper as Durgeshwara's henchman
• Besant Ravi as Durgeshwara's henchman
• King Kong as a passerby, who speaks in gibberish to Rahul.
• Jimmy Moses as a truck driver
• Delhi Ganesh as a villager
• Priyamani in special appearance in a item song "1 2 3 4 Get on the Dance Floor"

Production

Development and casting

Rohit Shetty had originally planned to team up with Shah Rukh Khan for a remake of the 1982 film, Angoor. After the 2011 blockbuster Singham, Shetty had begun writing the script of the film but left it half-finished. The script of Chennai Express was ready for Khan as a back-up, because of the difficulty of obtaining the actor's filming dates. Upon reading the script, Khan liked the idea and agreed to star in it before the Angoor remake, causing Angoor remake to be postponed. Shetty said the film is "a hard-core commercial film with a romantic angle. The story is about this man's travel from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens during the journey." About 68 minutes of footage were enhanced with CGI by Reliance MediaWorks.

Khan was the first actor to be approached with the script and was the first lead actor to be signed for the film. Rohit Shetty stated that despite the title, Khan would not play a South Indian in the film. The casting of the lead heroine was the subject of much press speculation; Kareena Kapoor, Asin and Deepika Padukone were rumoured to be involved. Shetty denied those rumours, stating that the cast would be finalised in April 2012, and that he was going to cast an established actress in the role. In October 2012, it was confirmed that Deepika Padukone had been signed to play the female lead opposite Khan, and photographs showing Padukone and Khan shooting were released. This was Padukone's second film opposite Khan, with whom she made her Bollywood debut in the 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om. Starting with this film, which was released on Women's Day, Khan wished to have the name of his female co-star appear above his own in the credits.

Sathyaraj was cast to play the role of Padukone's character's father, making his debut in Bollywood. Actress Priyamani was signed in January 2013 for an item number in the film replacing Nayanthara; both the actresses would eventually go on to star alongside Khan in Jawan. Other personalities from Tamil cinema, including Delhi Ganesh, Mohan Raman, Manorama and Kottachi, appear in minor roles; however, scenes involving the latter two did not make the final cut. The film was initially titled as Ready Steady Po (Po means Go in Tamil). However, to emphasise on the connection with South India, the film was retitled as Chennai Express with the planned title used as the tagline.

Filming and post-production

Filming on the project began at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai on 5 October 2012. Additional filming was done at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus with a minimal crew. Stills of the lead actor were unofficially released in mid-October 2012. In November 2012, the cast and crew went to Goa to begin filming the scenes set there. Vasco da Gama railway station was used to portray as Kalyan Junction railway station. A romantic scene on board a train passing next to Dudhsagar Falls was also shot. In December 2012, the crew went to Jakarta to film certain scenes. The Pamban Bridge also known as Annai Indira Gandhi Bridge, connecting the town of Mandapam in Tamil Nadu with Pamban Island, and Rameswaram was the scene for the song "Tera Rastaa Chhodoon Na".

In January 2013, a shoot was supposedly scheduled to take place in Ooty, but since Khan felt that Ooty was too far from Mumbai, several locations from Ooty were reconstructed on the outskirts of Panchgani in Wai by the art director Narendra Ruharikar. It took over 40 days and 15 million to build the required sets. Filming in Wai took the entire month of March 2013. A 10-day shooting schedule in Munnar, Kerala, began in mid-April 2013; scenes were filmed at Devikulam Lake, Meesapulimala, Wagavara and Kannimala. Filming was stopped for several days because of heavy rainfall, resulting in the schedule being slightly extended until end of the same month. A press conference was held in Munnar. In May 2013, scenes were filmed in North Goa. Padukone finished shooting on 25 May 2013. Khan flew to Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad in May 2013 to film his remaining scenes. Though the film has several Tamil dialogues, Khan said the makers intentionally excluded subtitles to emphasise the language barrier between the Tamil speakers and the lead character. Instead, Padukone's character translates some of the Tamil dialogues.

Chennai Express was produced by Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under the Red Chillies Entertainment banner. It was released internationally by UTV Motion Pictures. A transition shot in the film shared similarities with the intro of Walt Disney Pictures, which owned UTV Motion Pictures.

Music

Main article: Chennai Express (soundtrack)

The score of Chennai Express was composed by Amar Mohile; the songs were composed by the duo Vishal–Shekhar, and the lyrics were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Yo Yo Honey Singh. Recording of the songs began in late October 2012. The track "Ready Steady Po" was recorded in November 2012 by the music's composers. Several sources said that the director and actor were unsatisfied with the score. The director was reportedly asked to plan for a different musical composition. However, the composers denied these rumours. In mid-April 2013, singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam recorded the title track for the film, marking his return to Bollywood for playback after an absence of fifteen years. He said the song celebrated the spirit of togetherness. Initially, Balasubrahmanyam was apprehensive, but chose to sing due to the content and leads of the film. and on 11 July 2013, the promo video of "Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari" was released. On 19 July 2013, T-Series uploaded a song to its official channel on YouTube; sung by Honey Singh. The song was titled "Lungi Dance – The 'Thalaivar(r)' Tribute" in honour of the film actor Rajinikanth. On 25 July 2013, a promotional video of the song "Tera Rasta Main Chhodoon Na" was released. The music album was launched on 1 July 2013.

Release

The film had paid previews in India on 8 August 2013, with ten to twelve shows at multiplexes. Chennai Express was scheduled to be released in non-traditional international markets. In Peru, it was the first Hindi film to be released on the same day as in India. Chennai Express was also released in Morocco, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Israel. The price of tickets for Chennai Express was increased 40 percent above the usual tariff during the weekday shows and up to 20 percent on weekends; although this increase was not uniformly applied in all multiplexes.

The film was released in 2,550 cinemas across 3,550 screens in India, and across 700 screens internationallyincluding 196 screens in North America, 175 in the United Kingdom, 55 in the Middle East, and 30 in Australiathe widest Bollywood release up to that point.

Marketing

A first look of Chennai Express was released on 1 January 2013. A 31-second title track teaser, sung by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, was released on 23 May 2013. The official trailer of the film was released at an event in Mumbai on 13 June 2013; two days after its launch it exceeded four million views on YouTube. The outfits worn by Khan and Padukone in the film were auctioned; proceeds from the sale were donated to a charity. The auction took place around the day of the film's release. A Karaoke app developed by Singboxa Swedish gaming studiowas launched on 2 August 2013 for Android and iOS based smartphones.

Khan promoted his film on the reality television shows Comedy Nights with Kapil, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Madhubala Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, DID Super Moms, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6 and Indian Idol Junior. The ZeitgeistGoogle's year-end compilation of the most frequent search queriesnamed Chennai Express the most trending topic of 2013 in India. The film's satellite television rights were sold to Zee Network for . The agreement was linked to the film's box office revenuethe first deal of its kind in Indian cinema. If Chennai Express collected over net, then for every 100 million earned after that, the producers would get an additional 20 million. The film had its television premiere on 20 October 2013, and was seen by a record number of viewers, almost doubling that of the highest rated fiction show. It helped its broadcaster, Zee TV, to reach the top position among General Entertainment Channels that month.

Legal issues

Along with Once Upon ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara!, Chennai Express was initially abandoned by Pakistani distributors and exhibitors because four Pakistani films were released on the same day. The release dates were postponed to 15 and 9 August, respectively. During its Wai schedule of filming, the film's unit ran into trouble for using too much water from Dhom Dam, in the drought-stricken Satara district of Maharashtra. The state's relief and rehabilitation minister, Patangrao Kadam, addressed the problem.

The film's poster and trailer, released on Twitter and YouTube, were criticised by some Tamil media for their depiction of Tamil ethos. They said Padukone's heavily accented dialogue resembled a Malayalee accent rather than a Tamil one. Padukone defended the film, saying that it did not parody South Indian culture and that most of the crew, including herself, are South Indians. She later said, "Why would we spoof our own culture?"

On 31 July 2013, the Nationalist political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's film wing threatened to disrupt the film's premiere; it reportedly attempted to dislodge ongoing popular Marathi movies from cinemas that show only one film at a time. The party was upset with reports that the distributors of Chennai Express had demanded prime slots in single-screen cinemas, and at some multiplexes, where the superhit Marathi film Duniyadari (2013) had been popular since 19 July. On 1 August 2013, both the film directors, Rohit Shetty and Sanjay Jadhav were called on by Raj Thackeray to find a solution. After listening to both parties, Thackeray ruled that if Duniyadari was not removed from single-screen cinemas across the state, then the MNS would not object to the release of Chennai Express in Maharashtra. Chennai Express was released in 10 languages.

Controversy

Upon release, the film's authenticity was questioned. Deepika Padukone's character had more similarities to Malayalis despite playing a Tamil character: she uses a nasal accent and wears a white sari. The song "Lungi Dance" was not considered an apt title since the men wear veshtis in the film.

Home media

The film digital streaming rights were acquired by JioHotstar, where it is scheduled to premier on 7 October 2025 at 11:26 PM.

Reception

Critical response

Chennai Express received mixed reviews from critics.

India

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, 'Chennai Express' has the trademark Rohit Shetty stamp all over. You seek entertainment, entertainment and entertainment in a film like 'Chennai Express' and the movie lives up to the hype and hoopla surrounding it." Rachit Gupta of Filmfare gave 4/5 stars and wrote "The film's peppered with humorous set pieces and colourful locales and songs. Shetty makes chettinad-style masala movies. And that's the perfect description of this film. If you don't plan to engage in a multi-lateral critique of dramatic elements and narrative, this film can be fun." Sarita Tanwar Of DNA gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "This is a treat for all Hindi film lovers. It has all the ingredients you'd expect from a big commercial masala filmbig star cast, drama, action, comedy, songs, the car chases and the big finish, all delivered in Shetty's unapologetic ishtyle ... Overall, this is a bubblegum blockbuster." Meena Iyer of Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Chennai Express is a magnificently mounted film. In an ode to his own cinemaread Golmaal series or Bol Bachchan, Rohit Shetty, the director, who has grosser in Bollywood's 100-crore club, ups the scale for his Eid offering." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The whole-hearted zeal that SRK and Deepika bring to the table and the steady flow of funny one-liners serve Shetty's purpose well, turning Chennai Express into a full-on masala film that is completely unapologetic about its intentions. And that is its USP [Unique Selling Point]." Zee News gave 3/5 stars, stating that if one ignores the platitudes, the absence of "punch" in the script and predictability, then the person is "on board for a fun ride" with Chennai Express. India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The good news first. 'Chennai Express' is a pleasant and likeable film in parts. The bad news is, it does nothing for Shah Rukh Khan's indomitable star power except to tell us he can still play a 40-year [old] Rahul without faltering." Abhishek Gupta of India TV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "The comedy along with the action is rarely served with equal entertainment in today's cinema. We discern Rohit Shetty for his mass leisure which includes cars fluttering from the unknown corners and comedy which isn't slapstick but works." Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "Still, given the material, Shetty does more right than wrong...Shetty fashions a Shah Rukh Khan showreel, borrowing bits from his greatest hits, and gives us an unfettered avatar of the star that the star himself has seemed somewhat ashamed, of late, to embrace."

Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote that the film comes up with some genuinely funny moments. She commended Padukone's looks, although she criticized aspects of her stagecraft skills. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Chennai Express evokes a few laughs but otherwise it decides to shift tracks from droll comedy to dreadful drama." Khalid Mohamed of Deccan Chronicle gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Board Chennai Express at your own risk". Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 2/5 stars and said the film was a "big, fat" bore. He commented that Chennai Express was a "bloated vanity project", and felt that the lead actor could have performed better. Anupama Chopra gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Chennai Express plays neither to Rohit's strengths nor to Shah Rukh's. It's a strangely sloppy mishmash of cheesy humour, half-hearted romance, half-baked emotion and head-banging action. The film is filled with gigantic men whose size functions as a punch line." Mayank Shekhar of Dainik Bhaskar gave 1/5 stars and wrote "You've paid for the ticket? Yes. Now just sit back and suffer." Raja Sen of Rediff gave 1/5 stars and wrote "Shah Rukh Khan yelps and squeaks and shrieks and bares fangs and pouts and, well, exhausts himself overcompensating at every step, despite nobody else in the film following this template."

Overseas

Rachel Saltz of The New York Times wrote, "Chennai Express' feels like a sumptuous meal with carefully chosen wine and tasty appetizers but a botched main course. Money and visual care have been lavished on this Bollywood action-comedy-romance and glossy stars engaged (Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone). But the movie chugs along for most of its 2 hours and 20 minutes searching for comedy and characters in a frantically overplotted story." Sneha May Francis of Emirates 24/7 wrote, "Rohit Shetty's s(h)tyle of romance relies heavily on buffoonery and will be applauded mainly by Shah Rukh Khan loyalists". She added, "Rohit's carnival-like comedy coaxes some laughs, but can leave you exhausted." Sneha said that Padukone's performance "outshines" that of Khan. Ronnie Scheib of Variety wrote, "Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone are ill matched in this overworked comedy/romance/actioner ... Shetty's need to maintain his characters' romantic heroism constantly grates against his depictions of their ridiculousness." Simon Foster of the Special Broadcasting Service gave 2/5 stars and described it as "a loud, lame-brained romantic comedy from the (very) broad directorial brush of Rohit Shetty, SRK's over-hyped vehicle sees the charismatic but ageing actor badly miscast and easily overshadowed by his leading lady, Deepika Padukone."

Box office

At the time, Chennai Express became the highest-grossing Bollywood film, both in India and around the world, when it collected . It currently stands as the eighteenth-highest-grossing Bollywood film worldwide. The film's gross broke the record set by 3 Idiots, according to Box Office India. The film's final worldwide gross was 424 crore (US$72.31 million).

India

During paid previews, Chennai Express performed well, with the Hindi version collecting 67.5 million, surpassing the previous record held by 3 Idiots, according to Box Office India. The film collected 292.5 million on its opening day, making it the second-highest opening day collection behind Ek Tha Tiger. The film broke the second and third day box office records, collecting , and , respectively, and collected ( including paid previews), breaking the previous weekend record set by Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Chennai Express set another record for worldwide opening gross, earning in the three-day weekend. The film performed well on Monday, collecting over . It grossed on its first Tuesday, becoming Shah Rukh Khan's highest-grossing film in India. The film grossed on Wednesday.

Box Office India reported that the film grossed net on Thursday, taking its first week total (including paid previews) to , beating the previous record of Ek Tha Tiger. It had a worldwide gross of in the first seven days. The film collected on its second weekend, taking the total domestic net to , and also became the second-highest-grossing Bollywood film in ten days with a worldwide gross of .

The film earned in two weeks and had collected after its third weekend in the domestic market. It grossed in its third week, bringing up its total to . Chennai Express broke the domestic net record set by 3 Idiots in its fourth weekend and added around in week four to take the total to . The film collected on its sixth week, for a final total of . The film's lifetime domestic distributor share stands at , breaking Ek Tha Tigers previous record of .

Overseas

Chennai Express also broke overseas records; during paid previews in the UK the film collected more than any first day of a Bollywood film in the UK. The film broke opening weekend records in foreign territories, taking in , including record collections from key markets in the US ($2.22 million), the UAE (AED 7.73 million) and the UK (£934,118). Chennai Express set a record for opening weekends overseas, grossing . It was also successful in Pakistan, where it collected in its opening weekend. By 18 August, the film had broken all box office records in Karachi by grossing over .

The film earned in just nine days in overseas markets. By the second weekend, it had grossed approximately . Chennai Express had grossed about by its third weekend overseas and by the fourth weekend. By the fifth weekend, the film had grossed about abroad. It was still collecting in its sixth weekend, taking its total to .

Records

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by Chennai Express

Game

A platform running game titled Chennai Express: Escape from Rameshwaram, based on the film and featuring Shahrukh Khan & Deepika Padukone, was developed by Indiagames, Disney-UTV's digital wing, and launched on 24 July 2013 for Android systems. In the game, the player rides a virtual roller-coaster, fighting off goons and dodging obstacles while they attempt to collect over 10,000 coins in order to unlock Padukone's game avatar.

Notes

References

References

1. Subhash K. Jha. (22 November 2015). "Kajol takes hubby's name for the first time". [[Deccan Chronicle]].
2. Shalvi Mangaokar. (28 September 2012). "Chennai Express Finally Chugs Off". [[Hindustan Times]].
3. "''Chennai Express'' (2013) International Box Office Results – Box Office Mojo".
4. (19 July 2013). "'Chennai Express' Release Date Delayed: Shah Rukh-Deepika Starrer Pushed to 9 August".
5. (31 July 2013). "''Chennai Express'' (12A)".
6. (19 August 2013). "Chennai Express worldwide box office collections top Rs 314 crore".
7. "Chennai Express mints ₹ 33.12 crore on opening day".
8. Cain, Rob. (20 March 2016). "Shah Rukh Khan's 'Fan' Aims To Continue Movie Megastar's Global Hit Streak". [[Forbes]].
9. "Specialty B.O. Preview: 'Prince Avalanche', 'Chennai Express', 'Off Label', 'In A World', 'I Give It A Year'".
10. "Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan on Chennai Express".
11. (18 June 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone's DDLJ moment in Chennai Express".
12. (12 September 2013). "'Chennai Express' has made me a better actor: Nikitin Dheer". [[The Times of India]].
13. (2 July 2013). "Introducing The Characters of Chennai Express". Koimoi.
14. Saibal Chatterjee. (8 August 2013). "Chennai Express movie review". [[NDTV]].
15. (1 January 2013). "Bollywood Hungama Chennai Express(2013)". [[Bollywood Hungama]].
16. "Shah Rukh Khan's latkas jhatkas in Chennai Express item number – Indian Express".
17. Ramachandran, Mythily. (1 August 2013). "Southern Spice: The Southern girl in SRK's "Chennai"".
18. (9 December 2011). "SRK says yes to Rohit Shetty's Chennai Express". [[NDTV]].
19. (16 November 2011). "I'm making Chennai Express with SRK – Rohit Shetty". [[Bollywood Hungama]].
20. Philip Bode. (5 September 2013). "68 minutes of CGI to augment narrative". Bollywood Hungama.
21. Nabanita. (19 March 2012). "Shahrukh Khan develops Beefy Muscles for Chennai Express". [[One India]].
22. Nabanita. (21 February 2011). "Rohit Shetty Furious". [[One India]].
23. Jhunjhunwala, Udita. (7 August 2013). "I bullied Shah Rukh Khan a lot: Deepika Padukone on Chennai Express". mint.
24. (6 October 2012). "StarGaze: SRK, Deepika Padukone on the sets of 'Chennai Express' and more". [[CNN-IBN]].
25. (12 August 2012). "Deepika to star with Shah Rukh". [[CNN-IBN]].
26. Thakkar, Mehul S. (17 March 2013). "Women's Day: It's ladies first for Shah Rukh Khan". The Times of India.
27. Ramchander. (21 November 2012). "Sathyaraj turns Deepika Padukone's Father in Chennai Express?". [[One India]].
28. Ramchander. (3 February 2013). "Priyamani to shake her booty for Shahrukh in Chennai Express!". [[Oneindia.com.
29. Meena Venkatraman. (16 May 2013). "King Can". [[The Hindu]].
30. (21 November 2012). "Manorama is back!". The Times of India.
31. Kottachi. (10 December 2016). "Chennai Express".
32. "Chennai Express : Lesser Known Facts".
33. (8 August 2013). "Shah Rukh-Salman spotted together at Mehboob studio". [[India TV]] News.
34. (27 November 2012). "Chennai Express: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone Bring Back 'DDLJ' Memories". Businessofcinema.
35. Rubina A. Khan. (15 October 2012). "SRK's working Sunday for Chennai Express!". [[Firstpost]].
36. Simran Chopra. (12 August 2012). "Chennai Express: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone Shoot At Iconic Dudhsagar Falls". Business of Cinema.
37. Steven Baker. (8 December 2012). "Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone shoot waterfall sequence".
38. (8 December 2012). "Shahrukh Khan leaves for Jakarta with Chennai Express team". Glamsham.
39. (November 2023). "Annai Indira Gandhi Bridge in Rameswaram". Make My Trip }}{{dead link.
40. Upala KBR. (30 March 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan brings Ooty to Wai!".
41. Bollywood Hungama. (2 January 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone flaunt lungi for Chennai Express".
42. (1 April 2013). "Team 'Chennai Express' Wraps Up Wai Schedule". Koimoi.
43. (30 April 2013). "King Khan in Munnar for 'Chennai Express' shooting".
44. Awasthy K. (30 April 2013). "Munnar Diaries".
45. (26 April 2013). "Shahrukh Khan not to act in Malayalam cinema". [[Asianet News]].
46. (20 May 2013). "Salman and SRK together in Goa".
47. Puri. (24 May 2013). "New Pictures: Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone on Chennai Express sets". Oneindia Entertainment.
48. Akshata Shetty. (27 April 2013). "Deepika Padukone wraps up 'Chennai Express' shoot".
49. (27 May 2013). "Karan Johar Picks Aamir Khan Over SRK at Birthday Bash!". Business of Cinema.
50. (10 August 2013). "Will wait for 3–4 days to count 'Chennai Express' collections: Shah Rukh Khan".
51. Karthik. (17 August 2013). "Chennai Express (Movie review), Rohit Shetty".
52. (19 November 2013). "We are living in an age of fast and furious change: Joi". [[The Times of India]].
53. Apoorva Dutt. (7 August 2013). "Chennai Express: Why Vishal Dadlani is wrong about Yo Yo Honey Singh". [[Firstpost]].
54. Udita Jhunjhunwala. (29 June 2013). "Amit Trivedi & Amitabh Bhattacharya". [[Livemint]].
55. Dibyojyoti Baksi. (22 April 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan not happy with music of Chennai Express".
56. Akshata Shetty. (27 April 2013). "Not asked to re-work 'Chennai Express' music: Vishal-Shekhar".
57. (27 June 2013). "Titli Chennai Express Official Video". [[T-Series (company).
58. (11 July 2013). "Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari: Chennai Express song". T-Series.
59. (23 July 2013). "The Thalaivar Tribute (Lungi Dance) Feat. Yo Yo Honey Singh". T-Series.
60. (25 July 2013). "Tera Rastaa Chhodoon Na Song Chennai Express". T-Series.
61. (2 July 2013). "Chennai Express Music Album". [[Taran Adarsh]].
62. (8 August 2013). "Chennai Express Paid Previews Draw Bumper Response at Multiplexes (Internet Archive)".
63. "2 years of Chennai Express: 10 facts about the movie you probably did not know". News18.
64. (4 September 2013). "Latin America's Peru hooked on to Bollywood culture". [[Business Standard]].
65. (3 August 2013). "Bollywood rides on Chennai Express to new international markets". [[Hindustan Times]].
66. Vickey Lalwani. (3 August 2013). "Shah Rukh's 'Chennai Express' turn costlier for cinemagoers".
67. Meena Iyer. (14 August 2013). "'Chennai Express' breaks multiple records".
68. (31 July 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chennai Express to get biggest Bollywood release in UK?". [[Hindustan Times]].
69. (6 August 2013). "Movie preview: Fun ride on ''Chennai Express''". [[Deccan Herald]].
70. (1 October 2013). "Besharam To Have Second Widest Release of All Time".
71. (26 September 2013). "Top Screen Counts 2013".
72. (2 January 2013). "First Look: Ready Steady Po for Chennai Express!".
73. Mehul S Thakkar. (24 May 2013). "Salman's voice now belongs to Shah Rukh". [[Mumbai Mirror]].
74. Sunitra Pacheco. (13 June 2013). "SRK and Deepika launch Chennai Express trailer!".
75. Apurva Singh. (26 July 2013). "SRK, Deepika's Chennai Express costumes to be auctioned for charity". The Indian Express.
76. IANS. (25 July 2013). "Shah Rukh, Deepika Padukone's outfits in 'Chennai Express' to be auctioned". [[CNN-IBN]].
77. (6 August 2013). "Chennai Express Karaoke app launched". [[Bollywood Hungama]].
78. (8 August 2013). "Chennai Express: 10 innovative marketing techniques used for the film". IBN Live.
79. (18 December 2013). "Sunny Leone most searched personality on Google in 2013". The Indian Express.
80. Nandini Raghavendra. (1 August 2013). "Zee buys satellite rights of Chennai Express for its upcoming channel '& Pictures'". [[The Economic Times]].
81. Roshini Olivera. (1 November 2013). "Chennai Express helps ZEE TV overtake Star Plus". [[The Times of India]].
82. (24 April 2013). "Shahrukh, Akshay shelved in Pakistan". [[DAWN (newspaper).
83. (23 April 2013). "Pakistan to blackout Shah Rukh's 'Chennai Express' and Akshay's 'Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai 2'".
84. (24 June 2013). "13 Interesting Facts you did not know about Chennai Express".
85. (2013). "Vivadha Medai". SUN News.
86. (3 January 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan's 'Chennai Express' posters spark debate; much ado about nothing?". [[CNN-IBN]].
87. (6 August 2013). "Not spoofing South India in Chennai Express: Deepika Padukone : Bollywood, News".
88. (1 August 2013). "Raj Thackeray gives Chennai Express green signal after meeting Rohit Shetty". [[NDTV]].
89. (7 August 2013). "Chennai Express will be released in ten languages".
90. (26 June 2013). "The worst accents in Hindi films".
91. archive, From our online. (14 March 2018). "It's not funny anymore".
92. (8 August 2015). "2 years of Chennai Express: The stereotypes in the film".
93. (9 August 2013). "Shahrukh Khan's Chennai Express getting mixed reviews".
94. Adarsh, Taran. (8 August 2013). "Chennai Express".
95. Rachit Gupta. (9 August 2013). "Movie Review: Chennai Express".
96. Sarita Tanwar. (8 August 2013). "Movie Review: Grab a bucket of popcorn, sit back and enjoy the ride as Chennai Express is here to entertain". [[Daily News and Analysis]].
97. Meena Iyer. (8 August 2013). "Chennai Express".
98. Resham Sengar. (9 August 2013). "'Chennai Express' review: This vehicle is worth being onboard for once!". [[Zee News]].
99. (9 August 2013). "Chennai Express review: A typical sambar-and-sandalwood creation".
100. (8 August 2013). "Chennai Express movie review". [[India TV]].
101. Rangan, Baradwaj. (15 August 2013). ""Chennai Express"… Oh darling, yeh hai Vindhya!".
102. Shubhra Gupta. (9 August 2013). "Review: Chennai Express".
103. Sukanya Verma. (9 August 2013). "Review: Chennai Express is a rollicking trip to nowhere!". Rediff.com.
104. "'Chennai Express' review: Board at your own risk".
105. (16 August 2013). "'Chennai Express' review: It's a big, fat bore. A bloated vanity project for an actor capable of so much more". IBNlive.in.com.
106. Chopra, Anupama. (19 August 2013). "Anupama Chopra's review: Chennai Express". [[Hindustan Times]].
107. Mayank Shekhar. (9 August 2013). "Movie Review: Chennai Express". [[Dainik Bhaskar]].
108. Sen, Raja. (9 August 2013). "Raja Sen's Chennai Express Review: Chen-nahin!". Rediff.
109. Rachel Saltz. (8 August 2013). "Taking the Fast Train to Win a Mob Princess". [[The New York Times]].
110. Sneha M. Francis. (9 August 2013). "Bollywood review: Deepika Padukone outshines SRK in 'Chennai Express'". Emirates247.com.
111. McNary, Dave. (9 August 2013). "Film Review: 'Chennai Express'".
112. Simon Foster. (8 August 2013). "Bollywood blockbuster railroads logical storytelling". [[Special Broadcasting Service]].
113. (12 December 2013). "Worldwide Top Ten 2013".
114. "Chennai Express".
115. "What Will Be The Final Worldwide Business Of Krrish 3 And What Was Chennai Express Worldwide?".
116. (19 August 2013). "Chennai Express Crosses Ek Tha Tiger Worldwide in Ten Days".
117. Hungama, Bollywood. (2013-08-09). "Chennai Express Box Office Collection {{!}} India {{!}} Day Wise {{!}} Box Office - Bollywood Hungama".
118. (2013). "Yearly Average Rates (58.5 INR per USD)". [[OFX (company).
119. (7 August 2013). "Chennai Express Has Huge Paid Previews".
120. (9 August 2013). "Chennai Express Has Excellent Opening".
121. (13 August 2012). "How Much Will Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobara Open With On Day One?".
122. "Chennai Express Second Day Territorial Breakdown – Box Office India".
123. "All Time Highest Second Day Collections – Box Office India".
124. (18 November 2013). "Top Weekends 2013: Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela 3rd". Boxofficeindia.com.
125. (12 August 2013). "All Time Top Opening Weekends: Chennai Express Leads By A Distance- Box Office India".
126. (16 September 2013). "Top Weekends 2013: Grand Masti 4th – Box Office India".
127. (19 November 2013). "Top Worldwide Weekends 2013: Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela 3rd".
128. (7 November 2013). "Worldwide Opening Weekend: KRRISH 3 Sixth".
129. (14 August 2013). "Chennai Express Is Highest Shahrukh Khan Grosser in Five Days".
130. (1 January 1970). "Chennai Express crosses 125 cr; 200 cr target?".
131. (15 August 2015). "Chennai Express Wednesday business".
132. (15 August 2013). "Chennai Express: 137.1 cr till Wednesday".
133. (27 December 2013). "Top Ten All Time First Week Grossers: DHOOM 3 Leads By 25%".
134. (16 August 2013). "Chennai Express Beats Ek Tha Tiger First Week Record".
135. (19 August 2013). "Chennai Express Week One Territorial Breakdown".
136. (16 August 2013). "Chennai Express Beats Ek Tha Tiger First Week Record".
137. (9 October 2013). "Top Worldwide First Weeks 2013: Besharam 50% Of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani".
138. (19 August 2013). "Chennai Express Second Weekend Business".
139. (19 August 2013). "Chennai Express Crosses Ek Tha Tiger Worldwide in Ten Days".
140. (26 August 2013). "Chennai Express third weekend".
141. (30 August 2013). "Chennai Express Hits 200 Crore in Three Weeks".
142. (5 September 2013). "Chennai Express Is All Time Record Grosser Without Records in Big Circuits".
143. (5 September 2013). "Chennai Express Only Bright Spot in a Dull August".
144. (6 September 2013). "Chennai Express 206 Cr in Four Weeks Madras Cafe 41 Cr in Two Weeks".
145. (7 September 2013). "Shudh Desi Romance Opens Well Zanjeer Dull".
146. (9 September 2013). "Chennai Express Week Four Territorial Breakdown".
147. (18 September 2013). "Chennai Express Final Lifetime Business".
148. (18 September 2013). "Chennai Express Totals Multiplex: v Single Screens".
149. (4 November 2013). "BO Report Card: Krrish 3 is the first highest grosser of 2013 so far". Bollywood Hungama.
150. (20 August 2013). "Chennai Express Heads For ALL TIME RECORD Distributor Share – Box Office India".
151. (9 August 2013). "Chennai Express Has Huge Start in Overseas".
152. "Weekend Box Office Results for August 9–11 – Box Office Mojo".
153. (11 August 2013). "Weekend Report: Audiences Travel to 'Elysium' Over Crowded Weekend".
154. Shekhar. (13 August 2013). "Chennai Express 1st Weekend Collection at Overseas Box Office". Oneindia Entertainment.
155. (9 October 2013). "Top Overseas First Weekends 2013: Besharam 4th".
156. (12 January 2015). "'Chennai Express' a big hit in Karachi – The Times of India".
157. (19 August 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan's Chennai Express earns Rs 40 million in Pakistan".
158. (18 August 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan's 'Chennai Express' breaks records in Pak".
159. Malvania, Urvi. (17 August 2013). "Chennai Express reaches Rs 157-crore station in one week". Business Standard.
160. Ankita Mehta. (17 August 2013). "'Chennai Express' Box Office Collection: SRK Starrer Crosses ₹200 Crore Worldwide in 9 Days".
161. (17 August 2013). "SRK's Chennai Express breaks records overseas".
162. (21 July 2013). "Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara Dull Chennai Express Heads For $16 Plus".
163. (4 September 2013). "Satyagraha $1.35 Million Weekend Chennai Express At $16.85 Million".
164. (18 September 2013). "Grand Masti Is Poor Chennai Express Still Going".
165. (1 October 2013). "Besharam To Have Second Widest Release of All Time".
166. (8 August 2013). "Chennai Express Paid Previews Draw Bumper Response at Multiplexes".
167. (11 August 2013). "All Time Highest Second Day Collections".
168. (14 August 2013). "Top Overseas Opening Weekends: Chennai Express Tops".
169. "QandA".
170. (24 July 2013). "Shah Rukh Khan launches Chennai Express game". [[DNA India]].
171. Ltd, Indiagames. (1 March 2016). "Chennai Express Official Game".