Kaun?

Kaun?
Poster
Directed byRam Gopal Verma
Written byAnurag Kashyap
Produced byMukesh Udeshi
Allu Aravind
Starring
CinematographyMazhar Kamran
Edited byBhanodaya
Music bySandeep Chowta
Production
company
Release date
  • 26 February 1999 (1999-02-26)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Kaun? (transl. 'Who?') is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, written by Anurag Kashyap and starring Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpayee and Sushant Singh. It was shot in 15 days, making it one of the lowest recorded time to complete and wrap up shoot in Indian cinema history.

The film was remade into Kannada as Shock (2010). According to the Hindustan Times, Kaun? enjoys a near cult status today.

Plot

On a rainy day, a scared young woman speaks to her parents on the telephone, asking when they will return home. As she watches news reports of a serial killer at large in the city, the doorbell rings. The visitor identifies himself as Sameer Purnavale, claiming to be a business associate of the homeowner, Mr. Malhotra. Due to the news report, the woman hesitates to let him in and asserts that the house belongs to Mr. Gupta, not Mr. Malhotra.

Believing that there has been a misunderstanding, Sameer persistently rings the doorbell. To scare him away, she lies that her husband is sleeping upstairs. Sameer claims that he has already seen a man inside and asks to speak with him. Terrified by his claim and a sudden noise inside the house, the woman flees outside. Sameer brings her back indoors, reassuring her that he will protect her.

Following a sudden power outage, the woman goes to the kitchen to fetch candles and discovers her pet cat dead. Panicked, she runs towards the front door, only to be confronted by a man holding a gun. The stranger identifies himself as Inspector Qureshi and pretends to call the police station. Suspicious by his behaviour, Sameer and the woman confront him, resulting in a physical altercation. The woman grabs the gun, forcing Qureshi to confess that he is actually a petty thief, not a police officer. She then uses the telephone to ask her mother to contact the police. Suspecting that Qureshi is the serial killer, Sameer gravely injures him. He then attempts to call the police himself, only to discover that the telephone line is dead. Confused, he instructs the woman to hide while he tries to fix the wiring. The doorbell rings again, and when Sameer answers it, another stranger asks for Mr. Malhotra, contradicting the woman's earlier claim about Mr. Gupta.

Suspicious, Sameer searches for her in the attic and stumbles upon the decaying body of the real Mr. Malhotra. The woman ambushes Sameer, but he is unexpectedly stabbed by Qureshi, who mistakenly believes Sameer is the killer. The woman softly hums a tune and stabs Qureshi to death. The following morning, the woman calmly cleans the bloodstains, removes the bodies, rearranges the furniture, and holds a pretend conversation with her mother using the disconnected telephone, revealing that she herself is the serial killer. The doorbell rings once more, with another visitor asking for Mr. Malhotra. The woman turns toward the camera and flashes an unhinged smile.

Cast

Reception

Anupama Chopra in her review for India Today stated, "Relentlessly experimental, he moved from the MTV love story Rangeela to the spoof-gone-poof Daud to the gritty underworld saga Satya without a pause. In Kaun, Varma takes a shot at an Ittefaq-style songless suspense thriller and almost pulls it off." Suparn Verma of Rediff said, "The film starts with a big scare that leaves you feeling silly and, slowly, as the momentum picks up, it draws you in. You prepare for the worst and end up jumping into the shadows. Though the climax is a little long-drawn and leaves you with some unanswered questions, it delivers the required punch."

References

  1. ↑ Sahani, Alaka (6 June 2016). "Double Indemnity: What's common between Anurag Kashyap and Sriram Raghavan?". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "Kaun 1999". Bollywoodhungama.com. 13 August 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Shock Review | Shock Kannada Movie Review by V.S. Rajapur". 8 November 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  4. ↑ Chintamani, Gautam (30 November 2012). "Who Did the Whodunits?". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Chopra, Anupama (8 March 1999). "Eerie experience". India Today. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Verma, Suparn (26 February 1999). "Whodunnit?!". Rediff. Archived from the original on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2016.