Kaun (film)
Encyclopedia
Kaun is a 1999
Hindi
suspense
thriller directed by Ram Gopal Verma, written by Anurag Kashyap
, and starring Urmila Matondkar
, Manoj Bajpai
and Sushant Singh
. Other titles for the film were Evaru (Telugu
title) and Thriller (English
title). The movie defines modern Indian screenplay with mind-bending twists. Irrespective of the commercial success, the film remains as a classic example of suspense in Indian cinema. It was also hailed to be much ahead of its time, courtesy Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap.
The film features a man claiming to be a white collar worker (Bajpai) and another man claiming to be a police inspector (Singh), both attempting to get into the house of a young woman (Matondkar). Kaun was an inventively minimalistic film using only one set and a cast of three actors (excluding a dead body and a brief appearance of a room full of silent, motionless extras). The only costume change occurs in the film's final scene when Matondkar reappears the following morning.
household, a young woman (Urmila Matondkar
) is preparing to spend a quiet evening with her pet kitty, watching cable television
. The doorbell rings, and she sees through the peephole that it is a young man, who later identifies himself as Sameer A. Purnavale (Manoj Bajpai
), claiming to be an employee of Mr. Malhotra. She is reluctant to open the door, even to talk to this stranger, as the police had just issued a warning about a killer
at large in this area. She does offer him a sandwich, but he tricks her into opening the door, and lets himself in on the pretext of protecting her from an unknown person, who is making a noise elsewhere in the house.
When no one is found, she asks him to leave, and opens the door, and finds another man with a gun, who later identifies himself as Police Inspector Qureshi (Sushant Singh
). The two doubt his credentials, and Sameer phones the nearest police station and calls for help. The two men then get into a fight, and she gets hold of Qureshi's gun, and asks them to sit quietly. It is then revealed that the man claiming to be Inspector Qureshi is in fact a thief. She telephones her mother and ask her to contact the police.
initially tries to pass himself off as a police inspector named Qureshi. Ram Gopal Varma
later reprised the name in his 2003 film Bhoot
when Nana Patekar
played a character named Inspector Liyaqat Qureshi.
Also, all these same actors appeared in the Ram Gopal Varma-directed movie, Satya
in 1997.
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
Hindi
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
suspense
Suspense
Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work. Suspense is not exclusive to fiction, though. Suspense may operate in any situation where there is a lead-up to a big event or dramatic...
thriller directed by Ram Gopal Verma, written by Anurag Kashyap
Anurag Kashyap (director)
Anurag Singh Kashyap is an Indian film director and screenwriter. As a director, he is known for Black Friday , a controversial and award-winning Hindi film about the 1993 Bombay bombings, followed by No Smoking , Dev D and Gulaal...
, and starring Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar is an Indian film actress.Matondkar, who made her screen debut as a child artist in the 1980 film Kalyug, debuted as an adult in Narasimha...
, Manoj Bajpai
Manoj Bajpai
Manoj Bajpai , also credited as Manoj Bajpayee, is an Indian film actor, known for playing offbeat and unconventional roles. He first shot into fame with his breakthrough role in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 film Satya.-Early life:...
and Sushant Singh
Sushant Singh
Sushant Singh is an Indian actor, born in 1971.-Biography:He hails from Bijnor District in Uttar Pradesh. He did his schooling from a residential public school in Nainital - Birla Vidya Mandir. He did his post graduation in English Literature from Kirori Mal College and was involved with the fine...
. Other titles for the film were Evaru (Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
title) and Thriller (English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
title). The movie defines modern Indian screenplay with mind-bending twists. Irrespective of the commercial success, the film remains as a classic example of suspense in Indian cinema. It was also hailed to be much ahead of its time, courtesy Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap.
The film features a man claiming to be a white collar worker (Bajpai) and another man claiming to be a police inspector (Singh), both attempting to get into the house of a young woman (Matondkar). Kaun was an inventively minimalistic film using only one set and a cast of three actors (excluding a dead body and a brief appearance of a room full of silent, motionless extras). The only costume change occurs in the film's final scene when Matondkar reappears the following morning.
Plot
In the MalhotraMalhotra
Malhotra is a Suryavanshi Khatri family surname originating from the Punjab region of the Indian Subcontinent, today straddling India and Pakistan.The Malhotras belong to the kshatriya varna ....
household, a young woman (Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar is an Indian film actress.Matondkar, who made her screen debut as a child artist in the 1980 film Kalyug, debuted as an adult in Narasimha...
) is preparing to spend a quiet evening with her pet kitty, watching cable television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. The doorbell rings, and she sees through the peephole that it is a young man, who later identifies himself as Sameer A. Purnavale (Manoj Bajpai
Manoj Bajpai
Manoj Bajpai , also credited as Manoj Bajpayee, is an Indian film actor, known for playing offbeat and unconventional roles. He first shot into fame with his breakthrough role in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 film Satya.-Early life:...
), claiming to be an employee of Mr. Malhotra. She is reluctant to open the door, even to talk to this stranger, as the police had just issued a warning about a killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
at large in this area. She does offer him a sandwich, but he tricks her into opening the door, and lets himself in on the pretext of protecting her from an unknown person, who is making a noise elsewhere in the house.
When no one is found, she asks him to leave, and opens the door, and finds another man with a gun, who later identifies himself as Police Inspector Qureshi (Sushant Singh
Sushant Singh
Sushant Singh is an Indian actor, born in 1971.-Biography:He hails from Bijnor District in Uttar Pradesh. He did his schooling from a residential public school in Nainital - Birla Vidya Mandir. He did his post graduation in English Literature from Kirori Mal College and was involved with the fine...
). The two doubt his credentials, and Sameer phones the nearest police station and calls for help. The two men then get into a fight, and she gets hold of Qureshi's gun, and asks them to sit quietly. It is then revealed that the man claiming to be Inspector Qureshi is in fact a thief. She telephones her mother and ask her to contact the police.
Suspense Proceeds
In a scene, when Purnavale tries to protect himself by hitting Urmila with the sword, the sword seems to pass by Urmila's body, causing her no injuries. This scene made many critics comment that Urmila could have been a ghost in the movie! Referred to as one of the scariest scenes in the movie.Cast
- Urmila MatondkarUrmila MatondkarUrmila Matondkar is an Indian film actress.Matondkar, who made her screen debut as a child artist in the 1980 film Kalyug, debuted as an adult in Narasimha...
as Ma'am: She is the main character in the film. Her real name is unknown, but it is known that she owns the mansionMansionA mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
in the area. A man claiming to be Sameer A. Purnavale knocks on her door multiple times attempting to get inside the house.
- Manoj BajpaiManoj BajpaiManoj Bajpai , also credited as Manoj Bajpayee, is an Indian film actor, known for playing offbeat and unconventional roles. He first shot into fame with his breakthrough role in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 film Satya.-Early life:...
as Sameer A. Purnavale: A man identifying himself as "Sameer A. Purnavale" who knocks on the Ma'am's door numerous times trying to get her attention in order to open the door. Sameer tries telling Ma'am that he is not the killer on the newsNewsNews is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
she heard about in the area, and eventually manages to find his way into the house.
- Sushant SinghSushant SinghSushant Singh is an Indian actor, born in 1971.-Biography:He hails from Bijnor District in Uttar Pradesh. He did his schooling from a residential public school in Nainital - Birla Vidya Mandir. He did his post graduation in English Literature from Kirori Mal College and was involved with the fine...
as Qureshi: A man identifying himself as "Police Inspector Qureshi" and claiming to carry out a police investigation at Mr. Malhotra's house.
Trivia
Sushant SinghSushant Singh
Sushant Singh is an Indian actor, born in 1971.-Biography:He hails from Bijnor District in Uttar Pradesh. He did his schooling from a residential public school in Nainital - Birla Vidya Mandir. He did his post graduation in English Literature from Kirori Mal College and was involved with the fine...
initially tries to pass himself off as a police inspector named Qureshi. Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer...
later reprised the name in his 2003 film Bhoot
Bhoot
Bhoot is a Bollywood ghost movie released in 2003. It was directed by Ram Gopal Varma and stars Ajay Devgan and Urmila Matondkar. It was perceived to be different from a typical Bollywood movie as it did not contain songs. The film did average business at the box office...
when Nana Patekar
Nana Patekar
Vishwanath "Nana" Patekar is an Indian actor and filmmaker.-Biography:Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira, Maharashtra, to Dinkar Patekar and his wife Sanjanabai Patekar. He is an alumnus of the Sir J.J...
played a character named Inspector Liyaqat Qureshi.
Also, all these same actors appeared in the Ram Gopal Varma-directed movie, Satya
Satya (film)
Satya is a 1998 Hindi crime film directed by Ram Gopal Varma with a screenplay by Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla. It stars J. D. Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpai, Urmila Matondkar and Shefali Shah...
in 1997.
External links
- Kaun at Allmovie
- Kaun at BollywoodBollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
Movies OnlineONLINEONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....