Half Girlfriend is an Indian romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name written by Chetan Bhagat.[3] The film is directed by Mohit Suri and features Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles.
Principal photography commenced in June 2016 and filming locations include Rajasthan(NawalGarh)Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Dumraon, Varanasi, New York City and Cape Town.[4] The film was released worldwide on 19 May 2017.
The movie begins with when Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) comes to Riya Somani's apartment (Shraddha Kapoor) in Patna, to collect her belongings. The broker asks Madhav to collect her belongings, since she left no forwarding address. Madhav, boards a train to Riya's house in New Delhi to drop off her belongings. In the train, he opens her box and finds Riya's cell phone which has a video track in which Riya helped Madhav prepare for an English speech to present in front of Bill Gates who was paying a visit to a school run by Madhav's mother. As Riya asks Madhav to speak in English, the story is retold in flashback when Madhav was asked by professors at St. Steven's College to speak English in his entrance interview.
In college, Madhav met a girl named Riya Somani who was giving a trial for sports quota admission. Madhav helps Riya win by teaching her to play well. With his advice, Riya qualifies for admission through the match. They become good friends and play basketball every evening in the college court. When Madhav tells his roommate Shailesh (Vikrant Massey) and friends about Riya, they ask him to ask Riya out for a date. Next day, Madhav asks Riya out and they both go for a movie. In the theater, Madhav tries to get close to Riya but she stops him and asks him to just be a friend. The same day, Madhav tells his friends about the movie treat and also that Riya invited him to her house for her birthday. Hearing this, Madhav's friends ask him to propose to Riya.
On her birthday, Madhav hesitates to propose to Riya, and questions her about the nature of their relationship. Uncomfortable, Riya says that she is not his girlfriend, but she can come at least halfway and become his Half Girlfriend. Excited Madhav, tells his friends that Riya offered to become his Half Girlfriend. Madhav's friends laugh and mock him as he only got noticed at the party from recognition by waiters as Prince of Simrao. Shailesh, who always thinks Riya is just using Madhav, asks himto tell her to sleep with him.
Following his friends advice, Madhav, asks Riya to visit him in his dorm and rest. Riya accepts and goes with Madhav to his room. He tries to get intimate and they both end up having a heated argument in which Madhav accidentally pushes Riya. Uncomfortable, Riya runs away, and they do not meet for a long time.
One day, Riya gives Madhav her wedding card, inviting him to her wedding with her childhood friend, Rohan Chandak. Broken hearted , Madhav returns to Simrao, his hometown, without attending Riya's wedding.
A year later, while helping his mother run the school, he realizes that girls do not attend school. They consult with the MLA for the issue and find out that it is due to lack of girl's toilets in school. The MLA is unable to help financially, so suggests them to speak to Bill Gates, who is visiting Bihar for funds. Madhav's mother asks him to visit Chanakya Hotel where the UN shareholders came to plan the visit of Bill Gates to Bihar. The same day, Madhav meets Riya at Chanakya hotel where she had come for a job.
The story returns to the present, when Madhav reaches New Delhi to give Riya's belongings to her mother. Expecting Riya Riya's mother is shocked when Madhav gives her the belongings. Riya's mother asks Madhav to find Riya. Madhav recalls how Riya told him that she wanted to become a bar singer in New York.
Unprepared, Madhav goes to New York to visit his friend Shailesh. There, he begins his search for Riya but he is unable to find her. When Shailesh asks Madhav about Riya, he relates the incident when he met her at Chanakya Hotel. They reintroduce themselves and Madhav tells Riya that he has to prepare a speech to present before Bill Gates to persuade him to give the school a grant to build toilets for girls. Riya helps Madhav prepare the speech. On the day of the speech, Bill Gates visits Madhav's school and awards the school a grant of 10 lakhs annually for five years and an initial amount of 50 lakhs for the same year. After the celebrations end, Riya leaves without telling Madhav and leaves a letter behind. In the letter, she confesses that she loves him but is unable to tell him because she is afraid of love and that her father beat her mother and she believes that every relationship ultimately leads to pain and unhappiness. She writes that when they first met, the time was not enough for them, and now Riya has no time remaining because she was going to die within three months because she was suffering from Hodgkins lymphoma. So Madhav comes to find Riya in New York.
Coming back to the present Madhav relates his story to Shailesh. Madhav tries to find Riya for three months unsuccessfully, and his time runs out. He is unable to find Riya and is totally broken. He cries day and night, comes home drunk, forcing Shailesh to think of an alternative. Shailesh tries to distract Madhav by introducing him to a beautiful girl named Anshika (Rhea Chakraborty). Despite their best efforts, Madhav is not interested in Anshika. But, pretends to like Anshika. Anshika realises that Madhav does not like her and is just pretending to make his friend happy. Anshika throws a farewell party for Madhav on the finishing day of Madhav's internship with United Nations in New York. Shailesh, Shailesh's wife (Anisa Butt) and Anshika bid farewell to Madhav by recording a video in which they described how they loved Madhav. Atthe end of the video, Anshika is sitting in a bar where a background singer is singing a song which Riya used to sing. Madhav recognizes that the bar singer is Riya. Madhav decides to build another school in the neighboring village. Riya and Madhav's daughter gives up on throwing a basket but Riya says don't turn away from your problems face them don't ever give up you must conquer defeat and succeeds in throwing a basket.
