Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is the best road-trip Indian film.
Baahubali series, KGF series, YRF Spy Universe, Animal series, and Pushpa series, the new Indian audience is gripped with massive high-budget and large-scale action films.
But in 2011, a film directed by Zoya Akhtar came and became one of the best films ever made in the history of cinema. And, even after a decade, no filmmaker has ever tried to make a film in this genre.
We are talking about the much-loved Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, one of the finest Indian films ever. Released on 15 July 2011, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a road comedy adventure drama film directed and written by talented filmmaker Zoya Akhtar. The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, and Kalki Koechlin among the leads. It is certainly the best adventure road trip film in India. The movie is shot in many locations such as Delhi, London, and Spain. The film was made on a budget of 45 crores. The film is produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara tells the story of three childhood school friends Kabir Dewan (Abhay Deol), Imran Qureshi (Farhan Akhtar), and Arjun Saluja (Hrithik Roshan) who plan a few epic adventure sports and road trips before the wedding of Kabir Dewan to Natasha Arora (Kalki Koechlin) and they meet Laila (Katrina Kaif) in between.
Upon its release, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara received widespread critical acclaim and praise for its direction, screenplay, story, editing, songs, and performance of the lead cast. The film won the Best Film, Best Film (critics), Best Supporting Actor (Farhan Akhtar), and the Best Director award at the Filmfare Awards 2012. The film won several other awards including the National Film Award.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara remains the best adventure comedy-drama Indian film. But in 2015, director Zoya Akhtar brought another comedy-drama adventure film titled ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’. The film was extensively shot on MS Sovereign, a large cruise ship by Pullmantur Cruises. The film was shot in many locations such as India, France, Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Tunisia. Dil Dhadakne Do was another adventure drama film by Zoya Akhtar and it emerged as a commercial success but failed to match the standard of an adventure drama film set by Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Dil Dhadakne Do was criticized for its runtime and climax. Though the film is a good one-time watch. The film starred an ensemble cast of Ranveer Singh, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Anushka Sharma, Rahul Bose, and Vikrant Massey among others.
The film was released in 2011 and fans are demanding a sequel
Today, even in 2024, the audience is still watching and loving Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and demanding a sequel. In 2012 and 2013, the director of the movie Zoya Akhtar and producer Farhan Akhtar expressed their belief that there is no need for a sequel of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. But in the last few years, the makers and the lead cast have shown their interest in coming back with a sequel. The makers and the cast of the film recently celebrated the 13th anniversary of the film and showed interest in part 2. But nothing has been officially announced yet. In the future, Zoya Akhtar will surely come with another adventure comedy-drama film but, certainly, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 2 will never happen.
Zoya Akhtar’s recent directional work includes the musical drama film Gully Boy (2019) with Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. The film was a massive commercial success and critically acclaimed. In the meantime, she produced and wrote a film titled Kho Gaye Hum Kahan for Netflix and a show titled Dahaad for Amazon Prime Video. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan starred Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Pandey, and Adarsh Gaurav while Dahaad starred Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Verma, and Gulshan Devaiah. Both the projects of Zoya Akhtar were successful and huge on the internet streaming platform.
In 2019, Zoya Akhtar directed, wrote, and produced a series titled ‘Made In Heaven’. Made In Heaven is a romantic drama show and it is amongst the best shows ever made in India. in 2023, Zoya Akhtar released the second part of the show which was demanded profoundly by the viewers. The show stars an ensemble cast of Arjun Mathur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sharbh, Shashank Arora, and Shivani Raghuvanshi among others. Made In Heaven is one of the best and most watched critically acclaimed shows on Amazon Prime Video.
As of now, Hrithik Roshan is stepping in to do higher-budget and large-scale commercial action films. His last few hits War (2019) and Fighter (2023) are large-scale commercial action films that were successful. He is presently shooting for War 2 (2025) which is amongst the most awaited films of 2025. It also stars South superstar JR NTR as the main antagonist. After War 2, Hrithik Roshan might move to Krrish 4. However, he has asked Zoya Akhtar to plan the sequel of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
Farhan Akhtar who is a noted producer is busy with his production company Excel Entertainment which has produced a couple of successful web series and commercial successful films. His upcoming and biggest project is Don 3 with Ranveer Singh reprising the role of Don replacing Shahrukh Khan. Farhan is the real brother of Zoya Akhtar and even he has asked his sister to plan the sequel of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
Abhay Deol’s career has fluctuated post-Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. He is doing fewer projects. He was last seen in a Netflix show titled Trail By Fire. Though he is very much interested in doing the Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara sequel. Whereas Kalki Koechlin is busy with her online streaming projects.
Besides Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif is also a member of the YRF Spy Universe. She was last seen in Tiger 3 opposite Salman Khan. She recently got married to actor Vicky Kaushal. As of now, she has no project in hand.
A sequel of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara might never happen.