Shashi enrolls in an English-speaking course to stop her husband and daughter mocking her lack of English skills[3] and gains self-respect in the process.

It received universal critical acclaim, with reviewers raving Shinde's direction and screenplay, Sridevi's performance as well as the film's soundtrack and cinematography.

[9] The film earned global acclaim at several international festivals and Sridevi was hailed as the "Meryl Streep of India"[10] and the "female Rajinikanth".

Her husband Satish and daughter Sapna take her for granted, mock her because of her poor English-speaking skills, and generally treat her with disrespect, making Shashi feel negative, insecure, and underconfident.

While Shashi is in New York, she has a traumatic experience at a coffee shop where a staff member is rude to her due to her inability to communicate in English.

Using the money she earned by selling laddoos, Shashi secretly enrolls in a conversational four-week English class, showing her resourcefulness at navigating an unfamiliar city alone.

The class comprises the instructor David Fischer, a Mexican nanny Eva, a Pakistani taxi driver Salman Khan, a Chinese hairstylist Yu Song, a Tamil software engineer Ramamurthy, a shy African-Caribbean man Udumbke, and Laurent.

Radha invites David and the entire class to the marriage, where Satish is taken aback at being introduced to a diverse group of people by his wife.

Cameo appearances The story was inspired by Shinde's mother, a Marathi-speaking woman who ran a pickle business at her house in Pune.

English Vinglish also marked the Bollywood debut of South Indian actress Priya Anand, who previously worked in the Tamil and Telugu film industries.

The premiere took place at the Roy Thomson Auditorium on 14 September and was attended by Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, R. Balki, Gauri Shinde and other members of the cast and crew.

"[26] English Vinglish was selected to be showcased in December 2012 at the Marrakech International Film Festival; it was screened to an audience of around 15,000 viewers and was attended by Sridevi, Shinde, Balki and Nebbou.

[35][36] The Indian premiere of English Vinglish was held on 4 October 2012 and was one of the biggest premieres of that year[7][37] It was organized as a red carpet event to celebrate Sridevi's return to filmmaking, and some famous Bollywood personalities attended,[38] including directors Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy, Rajkumar Hirani and Ashutosh Gowariker and actors Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Bipasha Basu, Tabu, Shilpa Shetty, Konkona Sen Sharma, Madhuri Dixit, Ayesha Takia, Kangana Ranaut and Javed Akhtar.

[citation needed] English Vinglish was theatrically released in Mainland China on 24 February 2023, the sixth anniversary of Sridevi's death, with a reported 6,000 screen premiere.

The premiere was conducted as a high-profile event, and Zee TV arranged a special press conference attended by Sridevi and Gauri Shinde.

To publicize the premiere, the channel launched a free English-speaking module telephone service using IVRS, which was a success with over 25,000 calls from across India in less than a week.

Zee Cinema formed partnerships with Cafe Coffee Day, Inox, Fame, Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Globus and Westside to market the premiere.

Add to that an extremely simple yet heart-warming narrative, some spot-on direction by Gauri Shinde, Balki's unmistakable touch and you have a winner on your hands.

[77] English Vinglish created box office history in Hong Kong in May 2013, becoming the second biggest Bollywood hit in the territory after Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots (2009).

[46] English Vinglish received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with reviewers praising Shinde's screenplay and direction, Sridevi's performance as well as the film's soundtrack and cinematography.

The Times of India gave it 4 out of 5, calling it "[e]asily one of the best films of 2012 ... [Sridevi's] performance is a masterclass for actors ... Request you to make a little place next to you, Rajkumar Hirani; Gauri Shinde has taken a bow in mainstream Bollywood.

[92] Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail gave it 2 out of 4 and wrote: "One wonders how long the neglectful Satish will remember the message of equality and gratitude if it is delivered as gently as this movie does.

[96] The Hollywood Reporter also gave a glowing review, and said, "Indian screen legend Sridevi triumphs in a gentle, but affecting, story of a woman's awakening self-respect ...

The image of the newly-confident Shashi striding down a Manhattan street, a takeout coffee in hand and a trench coat belted over her sari, will make you smile days after you leave the theater ...

"[97] Amazon Prime Video rated it 7.8 out of 10 and stated: "The challenges of an ordinary middle class woman who is not proficient with the English language, and how she overcomes them.

"[98] Sridevi (left) and Gauri Shinde (right) received widespread critical acclaim for their performance and direction, respectively, in the film, garnering several awards and nominations.

At the 58th Filmfare Awards, English Vinglish received 4 nominations, including Best Film and Best Actress (Sridevi) and won Best Debut Director (Shinde).

At the 11th Stardust Awards, the film earned 5 nominations, going on to win Best Drama Actress (Sridevi) and Best Debut Director (Shinde).

[123][124] Her performance created an enormous impact when Amitabh Bachchan said in his blog that Sridevi's heart-rending acting in English Vinglish moved him to tears leaving "collective lumps in the throat".

[148] In September 2013, English Vinglish was considered for being shortlisted for the Indian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.