Kartik calling kartik
Encyclopedia
Karthik Calling Karthik is a 2010 Hindi psychological thriller
film, written and directed by Vijay Lalwani and produced by Farhan Akhtar
and Ritesh Sidhwani
under the banner of Excel Entertainment
. The film stars Farhan Akhtar
and Deepika Padukone
in lead roles. Ram Kapoor
and Shefali Shah
play supporting roles in the film. The film's music was composed by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
, while the background score was composed by MIDIval Punditz
and Karsh Kale
.
) is an introvert who lacks confidence and feels trapped in his average job at a construction company. He is continuously troubled by an incident from his childhood: His older brother, Kumar, used to torture him, but whenever he complained to his parents, they did not believe him. One day, Kumar took Karthik to a well and tried to throw him in it, but Karthik escaped. Kumar accidentally fell inside the well and died. Karthik has thought himself responsible for his brother's death ever since.
Shonali Mukherjee (Deepika Padukone
) is a co-worker at Karthik's company, whom Karthik is secretly in love with, though she remains unaware of his existence, much less his feelings. After being derided by his boss yet again, Karthik figures his life can’t get any better and decides to commit suicide. Just as he is about to, a stranger with the same, exact voice as him calls and says that he is also Karthik, convincing him that he has the ability to change his life. These phone calls become Karthik's life guide. His chats take place every morning at 5:00 a.m. and the caller provides advice on Karthik's problems, guiding him to become a successful man, win Shonali's heart, and bring color to his otherwise dreary life.
However, when Karthik tells Shonali and his psychiatrist about the phone calls, despite being warned not to, the mysterious caller gets angry and tells Karthik that if he could bring him up, he could also throw him down. As per his word, things start going downhill. Karthik's boss throws him out and Shonali leaves him. Karthik decides that if he goes somewhere he does not know, then the caller wouldn't know where he is either and stop calling him. Karthik travels to an unknown place, takes shelter in a small hotel, and asks the receptionist to remove the telephone and room number plate.
After a few months, Karthik is comfortably living in a small town with a decent job. His life is back to normal except for the fact that he refuses to have a phone line. Upon his boss's request, he is forced to purchase a landline. He goes to great lengths to ensure that he himself is unaware of the phone number. However, one day at exactly 5 a.m, he receives a call from the mysterious caller, who threatens to kill him. Meanwhile, Shonali is contacted by Dr. Kapadia, who reveals the twist: Karthik is actually schizophrenic. He has an alter-ego that is more assertive and advises him on how to live life. All this time, the strange caller was Karthik himself. He has been dealing with this condition from a young age, when he created a fake brother named Kumar. Karthik's phone has the capacity to record messages and act as a playback feature at a certain time. Karthik would wake up in the middle of the night, leave himself messages as his alter ego, and return to sleep, where he would awake once again at 5am to take his own calls.
Eventually, Karthik becomes so disturbed that he attempts to commit suicide again. Shonali, realizing the truth, arrives at the right time to save him. They reconcile and she stands by him, helping him with his condition. After a few months, Karthik is in the process of dealing with his schizophrenia and lives a happy and rehabilitated life with Shonali by his side.
, an activity which his character completes in only one try.
gave the film 2 out of 5 possible stars. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India rated it 3.5 out of 5, calling it "immensely watchable, purely for the class act by Farhan Akhtar in the title role". Shweta Parande of IBNLive.com gave a rating of 3.5 out of 5, applauding the cast and crew for their performances and their efforts on building up the story as a team. IndiaGlitz gave a 3 out of 5, concluding "Go but with an open mind."
, which was running in its third weekend, and Teen Patti
, which was released simultaneously. It grossed Rs.27.5 million on its first day of release. The film has done better at high end multiplexes enabling the film to have average collections on its first day. Karthik Calling Karthik did a net business of approximately Rs.110 million (Rs.11 crores) at the box office in India in four days. After the first week, the film grossed Rs.13.39 crores.
Nominated
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
film, written and directed by Vijay Lalwani and produced by Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar is an Indian filmmaker, script writer, actor, playback singer, lyricist, film producer in Hindi cinema and a television host.His directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi...
and Ritesh Sidhwani
Ritesh Sidhwani
Ritesh Sidhwani is a Bollywood film producer, who founded a film production house under the banner of Excel Entertainment Pvt. Ltd...
under the banner of Excel Entertainment
Excel Entertainment
Excel Entertainment is an Indian film studio based in Mumbai. It was created by Farhan Akhtar, and Ritesh Sidhwani in 1999. The two have gone on to create several films under Excel's banner.-Farhan Akhtar:...
. The film stars Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar is an Indian filmmaker, script writer, actor, playback singer, lyricist, film producer in Hindi cinema and a television host.His directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi...
and Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to Badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film...
in lead roles. Ram Kapoor
Ram Kapoor
Ram Kapoor is an Indian television actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Jai Walia on Kasamh Se' & also for his charecter Ram Kapoor in the very populay daily, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain.He rose to prominence as the host of Rakhi ka Swayamvar'. He is the only actor to win the Indian Telly...
and Shefali Shah
Shefali Shah
- Biography :Shefali Shah was born in July 1974 and is the only child of Sudhakar Shetty and Shobha Shetty...
play supporting roles in the film. The film's music was composed by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy are an Indian musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. Record producers, musicians and multi-instrumentalists, they have composed music for over fifty soundtrack across four languages...
, while the background score was composed by MIDIval Punditz
MIDIval Punditz
MIDIval Punditz is an Indian fusion group consisting of two Delhi-based musicians, Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj. Their style revolves mostly around changer, jungle, electronica, and North Indian classical music...
and Karsh Kale
Karsh Kale
Karsh Kale is an Indian American musician, producer and composer, and is considered one of the pioneering figures in defining the Asian Underground genre by mixing disparate genres of music such as Indian classical and folk with electronica, rock, pop and ambient music...
.
Plot
Karthik (Farhan AkhtarFarhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar is an Indian filmmaker, script writer, actor, playback singer, lyricist, film producer in Hindi cinema and a television host.His directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi...
) is an introvert who lacks confidence and feels trapped in his average job at a construction company. He is continuously troubled by an incident from his childhood: His older brother, Kumar, used to torture him, but whenever he complained to his parents, they did not believe him. One day, Kumar took Karthik to a well and tried to throw him in it, but Karthik escaped. Kumar accidentally fell inside the well and died. Karthik has thought himself responsible for his brother's death ever since.
Shonali Mukherjee (Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to Badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film...
) is a co-worker at Karthik's company, whom Karthik is secretly in love with, though she remains unaware of his existence, much less his feelings. After being derided by his boss yet again, Karthik figures his life can’t get any better and decides to commit suicide. Just as he is about to, a stranger with the same, exact voice as him calls and says that he is also Karthik, convincing him that he has the ability to change his life. These phone calls become Karthik's life guide. His chats take place every morning at 5:00 a.m. and the caller provides advice on Karthik's problems, guiding him to become a successful man, win Shonali's heart, and bring color to his otherwise dreary life.
However, when Karthik tells Shonali and his psychiatrist about the phone calls, despite being warned not to, the mysterious caller gets angry and tells Karthik that if he could bring him up, he could also throw him down. As per his word, things start going downhill. Karthik's boss throws him out and Shonali leaves him. Karthik decides that if he goes somewhere he does not know, then the caller wouldn't know where he is either and stop calling him. Karthik travels to an unknown place, takes shelter in a small hotel, and asks the receptionist to remove the telephone and room number plate.
After a few months, Karthik is comfortably living in a small town with a decent job. His life is back to normal except for the fact that he refuses to have a phone line. Upon his boss's request, he is forced to purchase a landline. He goes to great lengths to ensure that he himself is unaware of the phone number. However, one day at exactly 5 a.m, he receives a call from the mysterious caller, who threatens to kill him. Meanwhile, Shonali is contacted by Dr. Kapadia, who reveals the twist: Karthik is actually schizophrenic. He has an alter-ego that is more assertive and advises him on how to live life. All this time, the strange caller was Karthik himself. He has been dealing with this condition from a young age, when he created a fake brother named Kumar. Karthik's phone has the capacity to record messages and act as a playback feature at a certain time. Karthik would wake up in the middle of the night, leave himself messages as his alter ego, and return to sleep, where he would awake once again at 5am to take his own calls.
Eventually, Karthik becomes so disturbed that he attempts to commit suicide again. Shonali, realizing the truth, arrives at the right time to save him. They reconcile and she stands by him, helping him with his condition. After a few months, Karthik is in the process of dealing with his schizophrenia and lives a happy and rehabilitated life with Shonali by his side.
Cast
- Farhan AkhtarFarhan AkhtarFarhan Akhtar is an Indian filmmaker, script writer, actor, playback singer, lyricist, film producer in Hindi cinema and a television host.His directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi...
as Karthik Narayan - Deepika PadukoneDeepika PadukoneDeepika Padukone is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to Badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film...
as Shonali Mukherjee - Ram KapoorRam KapoorRam Kapoor is an Indian television actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Jai Walia on Kasamh Se' & also for his charecter Ram Kapoor in the very populay daily, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain.He rose to prominence as the host of Rakhi ka Swayamvar'. He is the only actor to win the Indian Telly...
as Mr. Kamath - Shefali Chhaya as Mrs. Kapadia
- Vivaan Bhathena
- Vipin SharmaVipin SharmaVipin Sharma is an Indian actor born in New Delhi. He is a graduate of National School of Drama, New Delhi, India and the Canadian Film Centre, Toronto, Canada. His first major role was as Nandakishore Avasti in Taare Zameen Par . For his role, he was nominated for a 2009 Star Screen Award for Best...
- Yatin Karyekar
Production
In an effort to prepare for his role as loner introvert Karthik, Farhan Akhtar isolated himself at home and school and turned off his phone. He also learned to solve the Rubik's CubeRubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...
, an activity which his character completes in only one try.
Critical reception
On the review-aggregation website ReviewGang, the film scored 5.5/10 based on 11 reviews. Film critic Rajeev MasandRajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and entertainment reporter for CNN-IBN. Masand started his career as an entertainment correspondent at the young age of 16...
gave the film 2 out of 5 possible stars. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India rated it 3.5 out of 5, calling it "immensely watchable, purely for the class act by Farhan Akhtar in the title role". Shweta Parande of IBNLive.com gave a rating of 3.5 out of 5, applauding the cast and crew for their performances and their efforts on building up the story as a team. IndiaGlitz gave a 3 out of 5, concluding "Go but with an open mind."
Box office
Karthik Calling Karthik performed moderately well at the box office, despite the presence of two other films: My Name Is KhanMy Name is Khan
My Name Is Khan ; commonly referred to as MNIK, is a 2010 Bollywood film directed by Karan Johar, with a screenplay by Shibani Bathija, produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan, and starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, who reunite after nine years...
, which was running in its third weekend, and Teen Patti
Teen Patti (film)
Teen Patti is a 2010 Bollywood film directed by Leena Yadav. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley, R. Madhavan, Raima Sen, Shraddha Kapoor and is produced by Ambika Hinduja under the banners Hinduja Ventures and Serendipity Films...
, which was released simultaneously. It grossed Rs.27.5 million on its first day of release. The film has done better at high end multiplexes enabling the film to have average collections on its first day. Karthik Calling Karthik did a net business of approximately Rs.110 million (Rs.11 crores) at the box office in India in four days. After the first week, the film grossed Rs.13.39 crores.
Awards and nominations
2011 Zee Cine AwardsZee Cine Awards
The Zee Cine Awards or "ZCA" for short is an awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. It was first held in 1998 in Mumbai. Since then, it has gained substantial popularity as a notable awards ceremony to the Indian population as well as to the viewers of Zee Network.In 2004, the ZCA went...
Nominated
- Best Music - Shankar Ehsaan Loy