Main Hoon Na
Main Hoon Na (transl. I am here) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language masala film written and directed by Farah Khan in her directorial debut. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Sunil Shetty, Zayed Khan and Amrita Rao, whereas Kirron Kher, Boman Irani, Kabir Bedi and Satish Shah feature in supporting roles. Shahrukh Khan plays Major Ram Sharma, an army officer who becomes embroiled in the events to ensure that "Project Milap", the releasing of civilians captives on either side of the India–Pakistan border, can take place as a sign of trust and peace between the two nations.[3]
| Main Hoon Na | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Farah Khan |
| Produced by | Gauri Khan |
| Written by | Screenplay: Abbas Tyrewala Farah Khan Rajesh Saathi Dialogues: Abbas Tyrewala |
| Story by | Farah Khan |
| Starring | Shah Rukh Khan Suniel Shetty Sushmita Sen Amrita Rao Zayed Khan |
| Music by | Score: Ranjit Barot Songs: Anu Malik |
| Cinematography | V. Manikandan |
| Edited by | Shirish Kunder |
| Distributed by | Red Chillies Entertainment Eros International Venus Records & Tapes |
Release date |
|
Running time | 182 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹210 million[1] |
| Box office | ₹840 million[2] |
Main Hoon Na is one of the most successful Indian films discussing the Indo-Pakistani conflict from a neutral point of view. The shooting of the film took place at St. Paul's School, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. Made on a budget of ₹210 million (US$2.9 million), it was also the first production of Shahrukh Khan's then-new established banner Red Chillies Entertainment.
The film was released worldwide on 30 April 2004 to overall positive reviews from critics and audience. It went on to become the second highest-grossing Hindi film of 2004 behind Veer-Zaara (another Shahrukh Khan starrer) at the box-office. The film received 12 nominations at the 50th Filmfare Awards and won Best Music for Anu Malik. The nominations included Best Film, Best Director for Farah Khan, Best Actor for Shahrukh Khan, Best Supporting Actor for Zayed Khan, Best Supporting Actress for Amrita Rao, Best Villain for Sunil Shetty and Best Comedian for Boman Irani. The film was remade in Tamil as Aegan in 2008.[4]
Plot
The movie takes place against the background of the political relationship between India and Pakistan. The governments of the two countries have launched "Project Milaap", where both of them will release the POWs from the previous wars in an act of friendship and a first step toward peace.
Major Raghavan, a rogue ex-para commando-turned-militant does not want the peaceful operation to become reality and makes an attempt on General Amarjeet Bakshi's life. While trying to rescue Gen. Bakshi, Brigadier Shekhar Sharma falls prey to a stray bullet. On his deathbed, Shekhar confesses to his son, Major Ram Prasad Sharma, that Ram is his illegitimate child, and his wife had left him with their son many years ago due to this infidelity. Before he dies, he tells Ram that his last wish is to see his family reunited.
Gen. Bakshi tells Ram that his young daughter Sanjana's life is in danger, and asks him to go undercover as a student in her class to ensure her safety. Ram is reluctant but then learns that his younger half-brother Lakshman "Lucky" studies at the same college and lives in the town with his mother – the wife and son Ram's father had told him of. Thus Ram agrees and starts his dual mission: personal and national. Ram becomes very excited. At first, he is not able to fit into college life due to his age and military background, resulting in comedic situations. Sanjana is a pretty, outspoken and intelligent girl with a wild and carefree nature. She is Lucky's best friend and is secretly in love with him. Lucky is the college's most popular student who is always flirting with attractive young girls. While Sanjana is portrayed to be very good in studies, Lucky is not interested in academics, having failed his final year three times.
At first, Ram is unable to strike up a friendship, as both Sanjana and Lucky are irritated by him. However, after he saves Lucky from falling off the school roof, he becomes friends with the two of them. Mrs. Sharma, Lucky's mother, advertises for a paying guest in their house, and Ram takes this opportunity to live with them and win their hearts. He starts adjusting to college life, and falls in love with Ms. Chandini, one of his lecturers. Meanwhile, Raghavan instructs Khan to shoot down Percy, a fellow college student in the presence of Sanjana but he is saved by Ram. Ram pursues the jeep with the militants and is able to capture Khan.
In the meanwhile, Sanjana who has a quirky dressing style and rather wild personality, is often taken for granted by Lucky in front of the stylish girls when she tries to get his attention. Sanjana overhears Lucky saying how he doesn't even consider loving Sanjana and soon breaks down in front of Ram as he doesn't pay attention to her even though she loves him. Ram helps her get his attention by asking Ms. Chandini to give Sanjana a makeover. Soon, Ram's plan works and Lucky and Sanjana also begin a romantic relationship after Lucky realizes his feelings for her. At the same time, Major Raghavan arrives at the college, masquerading as a teacher.
At the prom night of the college, Raghavan gets Chandni kidnapped but she is saved by Ram. After this Sanjana reconciles with her father who reveals that he had sent Ram for her protection.
To get Ram out of the way, Raghavan reveals to Mrs. Sharma and Lucky that Ram is actually Shekhar's son. Heartbroken, they kick him out but Ram explains why he entered their lives, revealing his father's death. This causes Mrs. Sharma to regret her actions and accept Ram as her second son. Raghavan hijacks the college and holds the students and staff hostage, including Sanjana, Lucky, and Chandni. In return for their safety, he wants Ram to call off Project Milaap. Before coming to the college handcuffed, Ram asks Khan to choose whether he is fighting for the country or for Raghavan. When Ram talks against Raghavan, Khan shoots Ram dead but this is revealed to be a plan between the two as Khan decided to support his country. He is however shot down by Raghavan for betraying him. Ram manages to free everyone and then battles it out with Raghavan. During Raghavan and Ram's battle, Lucky also has a change of heart, accepting Ram as his brother, and goes to help him. As Ram is about to get shot down, he reveals he removed the pin of Raghavan's hand grenades and runs for the helicopter where Lucky rescues him. Raghavan is finally killed by his grenades and the film ends on a positive note, showing the success of Project Milaap, Shekhar's last wish being fulfilled and Lucky finally graduating.
Cast
- Shah Rukh Khan as Major Ram Prasad Sharma: A Para Commando whose objective is to protect Sanjana and reconcile with his half-brother and step-mother
- Suniel Shetty as Ex-Major Raghavan Singh Dutta: A rogue ex-para commando who was court-martialed when he started killing innocent Pakistani citizens and stating that they were spies
- Sushmita Sen as Miss Chandni Chopra: Chemistry Teacher and Ram's love interest
- Amrita Rao as Sanjana "Sanju" Bakshi: General Bakshi's daughter and Lucky's love interest (Few lines as Mona Ghosh Shetty)
- Zayed Khan as Lakshman "Lucky" Prasad Sharma: Ram's half-brother and Sanju's love interest
- Kirron Kher as Mrs. Madhu Sharma: Ram's step-mother and Lucky's mother
- Kabir Bedi as General Amarjeet Bakshi: Sanju's father and Ram's superior officer
- Naseeruddin Shah (cameo) as Brigadier Shekhar Prasad Sharma: Ram and Lucky's father
- Murli Sharma as Ex-Captain Khan: Raghavan's second in command
- Kunal Kumar as Baman: A student who helps Ram hack into university's students' list to search for Lucky
- Bindu as Mrs. Sonali Kakkad, the Hindi teacher, who is very bad at speaking English
- Boman Irani as Yogant Kumar: College Principal, who is very forgetful
- Satish Shah as Professor Rasai, the Physics teacher, who spits while speaking, and is very short-tempered
- Rakhi Sawant as Mini, a student
- Praveen Sirohi as Vivek, a student
- Rajeev Punjabi as Percy, a student
- Tabu (cameo) as Aparna: A girl watching Ram dancing
Production
Development
The film was planned by Farah Khan and Shahrukh Khan in 2001. The shooting of the film had to begun in October 2001 but later that year, Shahrukh Khan got badly injured while shooting an action sequence for his 2002 film Shakti: The Power due to which he suffered pain in filming for his other projects. He was later sent to England for treatment and the film was subsequently shelved. The film was later revived in 2003 after Shahrukh Khan came back from England; Farah Khan wanted to name it The Outsider. After some of her friends suggested that the title she wants matches to a Hollywood title film, she finalized the title Main Hoon Na for the film though Shahrukh Khan was unhappy at that time with the title as he was thinking this is an incomplete title but later disagreed after listening the recording the film's title song.
Casting
At a time when the film was revived in 2003, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Sohail Khan were considered for Lucky's role. Due to unknown reasons, none of the three did not connected to the film; Zayed Khan was later signed. Ameesha Patel was offered Sanju's role but rejected the character due to date issues, as did then-newcomer Ayesha Takia when she was also approached, after which Amrita Rao was finalized for the role.
Critical response
Film analyst Taran Adarsh praised the film for being funny, emotional and full of action, describing it as "a wholesome entertainer that has something for everyone."[5]
Jamie Russell wrote in his review in the BBC, "A bonkers 'masala' movie, Main Hoon Na could be the mutant offspring of Grease and The Matrix. Part thriller, part high school comedy and all Bollywood musical, it's the directorial debut of Farah Khan."[6]
Box office
Main Hoon Na was the second highest grossing Indian movie of 2004 behind Veer-Zaara (also a Shahrukh Khan starrer set against India-Pakistan backdrop).[7] It made ₹480 million (US$6.7 million) in India and an additional ₹19 million (US$270,000) in the overseas market.
Soundtrack
| Main Hoon Na | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2004 | |||
| Recorded | YRF Studios (Mumbai) | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Hindi | |||
| Label | T-Series | |||
| Producer | Anu Malik | |||
| Anu Malik chronology | ||||
| ||||
The music was composed by Anu Malik. The lyrics were provided by Javed Akhtar. Anu Malik won his third Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 2.1 million units sold, the film's soundtrack album was the 5th highest selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year. Sonu Nigam received several award nominations and an MTV Immies Best Male Singer Award.[8]
A snippet from the song 'Lament' by artist Light of Aidan from the compilation album Café del Mar, Vol. 12 is used throughout the film.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Hoon Na" | Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam | 06:02 |
| 2. | "Tumse Milke Dilka Hai Jo Haal" | Sonu Nigam, Altaf Sabri, Hashim Sabri | 06:00 |
| 3. | "Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha" | Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Shreya Ghoshal | 05:42 |
| 4. | "Gori Gori" | Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, KK, Anu Malik | 04:30 |
| 5. | "Chale Jaise Hawayein" | Vasundhara Das, KK | 05:25 |
| 6. | "Main Hoon Na (Sad Version)" | Abhijeet Bhattacharya | 04:18 |
| 7. | "Yeh Fizayein" | KK, Alka Yagnik | 05:19 |
| 8. | "Main Hoon Na (Remix)" | Ranjit Barot | 02:31 |
| 9. | "Chale Jaise Hawayein (Remix)" | Vasundhara Das, KK | 04:08 |
| Total length: | 43:55 | ||
Awards and Nominations
Main Hoon Na received many awards and nominations:[9]
| Global Indian Film Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | |||
| Best Actor | Shahrukh Khan | Won | |||
| Best Director | Farah Khan | ||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Abhijeet Bhattacharya | ||||
| Best Art Director | Sabu Cyril | ||||
| Best Action | Allan Amin | ||||
| Best Villain | Suniel Shetty | ||||
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | ||||
| Best Special Effects | Rajtaru Video Sonic, Eagle Video Films | Won | ||||
| Best Debut Director | Farah Khan | |||||
| Best Director | Farah Khan | Nominated | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Zayed Khan | |||||
| Best Performance in a Negative Role | Suniel Shetty | |||||
| Best Music Direction | Anu Malik | |||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Sonu Nigam for "Main Hoon Na" | |||||
| Star Screen Awards | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | ||||||
| Best Music Director | Anu Malik | Won | ||||||
| Best Male Playback | Sonu Nigam | |||||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Zayed Khan | Nominated | ||||||
| Best Action | Allan Amin | |||||||
| Best Background Music | Ranjit Barot | |||||||
| Best Choreography | Farah Khan | |||||||
| Best Lyricist | Javed Akhtar | |||||||
| Publicity Design | Rahul Nanda and Himanshu Nanda | |||||||
| Best Sound Recording | Shirish Kunder and Rakesh Ranjan | |||||||
| Zee Cine Awards | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | |||||||||
| Best Female Debut | Farah Khan | Won | |||||||||
| Best Music Director | Anu Malik | ||||||||||
| Most Promising Director | Farah Khan | ||||||||||
| Best Director | Farah Khan | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Actor – Male | Shahrukh Khan | ||||||||||
| Best Supporting Actress | Sushmita Sen | ||||||||||
| Best Film | Red Chillies Entertainment | ||||||||||
| Best Track of the Year | Tumse Milke Dilka Hai Jo Haal | ||||||||||
| Best Playback Singer – Male | Sonu Nigam for "Main Hoon Na" | ||||||||||
| Best Art Direction | Sabu Cyril | ||||||||||
| Best Costume Design | Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra | ||||||||||
| Beset Background Score | Ranjit Barot | ||||||||||
References
- "Main Hoon Na". IBOS Network. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
- "Top Lifetime Grossers Worldwide". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
- Rajinder Dudrah, Rajinder Kumar Dudrah Bollywood Travels: Culture, Diaspora and Border Crossings in Popular Hindi Cinema Routledge (2012) p. 18
- "Aegan". Sify. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- "Taran Adarsh — Bollywood Hungama".
- Jamie Russell Main Hoon Na (2004) 28 April 2004 BBC Movies
- "Box Office 2004". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008.
- "Awards for MHN 2004". BollywoodHungama.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
