Kisna: The Warrior Poet
| Kisna: The Warrior Poet | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Subhash Ghai |
| Produced by | Subhash Ghai |
| Written by |
Subhash Ghai (Story & Dialogue) |
| Screenplay by |
Subhash Ghai Sachin Bhowmick Farrukh Dhondy |
| Starring |
Vivek Oberoi Antonia Bernath Isha Sharvani Amrish Puri |
| Music by |
Songs:- A.R. Rahman Ismail Darbar Background Score:- A.R. Rahman |
| Cinematography | Ashok Mehta |
| Edited by | Subhash Ghai |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Mukta Arts Pvt.Ltd |
Release dates | 21 January 2005 |
Running time | 171 mins |
| Country | India |
| Language |
Hindi English |
| Budget | ₹ 250 Millions[1] |
| Box office | ₹ 9.2 Millions[2] |
Kisna: The Warrior Poet is a Hindi film written, edited, produced and directed by Subhash Ghai and starring Vivek Oberoi (who plays the title role), Antonia Bernath, and Isha Sharvani. The musical film is set in the British India of the tumultuous 1940s when Indian nationalists fighting for the country's independence rose up as one, urging the British Raj to leave. It is a love story about two people who are torn between Karma (the noble deed) and Dharma (the duty). The film has two veteran composers, A. R. Rahman and Ismail Darbar; the lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar. This film also marks Amrish Puri's final performance. The film, however, did not perform well at the box office. The film was premiered in the Marché du Film section of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.[3][4]
Plot
Movie starts in present day. India's Republic Day Event where the guest of honour is a British Lady, Lady Catherine whose purpose of visit to India is to donate Rs 3500 Crores as charity. But condition being a visit to Devprayag, where India's 2 great rivers Bhagirithi and Alaknanda meet to form Ganga.
Here Lady Catherine remembers her childhood and narrates her story to the small crowd including Ronit Roy as a journalist.
Year 1930 - in which Lady Catherine was born in India.
Year 1935 - Kid Catherine befriends a village boy Kisna. Her father upon learning this packs her bags and sends her off to London.
Year May 1947, a little before India's Independence, during the Independence Struggle Catherine Visits India back in her holidays and again meets Kisna. First childhood friendship blossoms followed by love amidst the background of India's freedom struggle which brings the 2 close only to be separated as Kisna is engaged to Lakshmi.
Present Day
It is revealed that Kisna not only married Lakshmi but also fulfilled all his duties as a good husband but always loved Catherine till his death. his last wish was to pour his ashes in the same place where first love blossomed between him and Catherine.
Catherine also puts this as her last wish in her will and is shown that she also did marry someone else and has her grand daughter by her side but till date loves Kisna.
Kisna (Oberoi) befriends a British girl named Katherine (Bernath), and then shields her from an enraged mob of nationalists including Kisna's own uncle and brother. Katherine is the young daughter of a ruthless British collector. Kisna takes it upon himself to escort Katherine to the safety of the British High Commission in New Delhi, who will arrange for her to board a ship home. A tender attraction develops between Kisna and Katherine during the journey. Lakshmi (Sharvani), Kisna's Indian fiancée, forms the third point in an emotional triangle involving the Indo-British romantic pair.
Cast
- Vivek Oberoi as Kisna
- Isha Sharvani as Lakshmi
- Antonia Bernath as Katherine
- Polly Adams as Lady Katherine
- Amrish Puri as Bhairo Singh
- Om Puri as Juman Masum Kishti
- Yashpal Sharma as Shankar Singh
- Sushmita Sen as Naima Begum (Item Number)
- Rajat Kapoor as Prince Raghuraj
- Hrishitaa Bhatt as Rukmani
- Ronit Roy as Jimmy(Special Appearance)
- Rahul Singh
- Karan Desai as Young Kisna
Production
The film was shot on sync sound under the direction of Dilip Subramaniam at Ranikhet on a budget of Rs.250 million ($5.48 million).[1] Award-winning cinematographer Ashok Mehta, action director Tinu Verma, choreographer Saroj Khan, and production designer/art director Samir Chanda round out the crew.
Kisna: The Warrior Poet has two versions. A two-hour English version for the international market while the Hindi version will be a regular three-hour feature film with songs and dances.
Soundtrack
| Kisna: The Warrior Poet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman, Ismail Darbar | |||||
| Released | 6 December 2004 (India) | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 32:28 | ||||
| Label | Sony Music | ||||
| Producer |
Subhash Ghai A.R. Rahman | ||||
| A.R. Rahman chronology | |||||
| |||||
| Ismail Darbar chronology | |||||
|
|||||
Subhash Ghai combined the musical talent of A. R. Rahman and Ismail Darbar to create the soundtrack. Ghai roped in his usual associate Rahman originally, but had to sign in Ismail Darbar to complete the project as Rahman was busy with the works of The Lord of the Rings.[1] Ghai says: "Rahman was my original choice because it is an international project and I wanted both the festive and soulful element of Indian music. However, he was busy with the Lord of Rings and excused (himself saying) that he won't be able to do the whole album. So he has done the theme song and the English song. Then I asked Ismail to do the rest because apart from Rahman he has the knowledge and ability to fuse Western and Indian classical music. The way he has used Ustad Rashid Khan's voice in "Kahe Ujare Mori Neend" is really captivating. The music has turned out so well that you can't distinguish an Ismail song from a Rahman one".[1]
The soundtrack got excellent reviews and was immensely praised. The lyrics were penned by Javed Akhtar.
| # | Song | Artist(s) | Composer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Kisna Theme I" | Instrumental | A. R. Rahman |
| 2 | "Hum Hain Iss Pal Yahan" | Udit Narayan, Madhushree | A. R. Rahman |
| 3 | "Woh Kisna Hai" | Sukhwinder Singh, S.Shailja, Ismail Darbar, Ayesha Darbar | Ismail Darbar |
| 4 | "Tu Itni Pagli Kyun Hai" | Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Ismail Darbar | Ismail Darbar |
| 5 | "Chilman Uthegi Nahin" | *Alka Yagnik, Hariharan | Ismail Darbar |
| 6 | "Wohi Din Aa Gaya" | Alka Yagnik, Sukhwinder Singh | Ismail Darbar |
| 7 | "Aham Brahmasmi" | Alka Yagnik, Sukhwinder Singh | Ismail Darbar |
| 8 | "Kahe Ujadi Mori Neend" | Ustad Rashid Khan | Ismail Darbar |
| 9 | "Ga Tu Aisi Dhun Mein Ga" | Ismail Darbar, Ayesha Darbar, Kailash Kher | Ismail Darbar |
| 10 | "Kisna Theme II" | Instrumental | A. R. Rahman |
| 11 | "My Wish Comes True" | Sunitha Sarathy | A. R. Rahman |
| 12 | "Kisna Theme (Chorus)" | Instrumental | A. R. Rahman |
Trivia
- The film was Amrish Puri's last released film before his death on 12 January 2005.[5]
- Sushmita Sen made a special appearance as Naima Begum in the song Chilman Uthegi Nahin.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Back with a big budget dream". The Hindu. Retrieved 2005-01-21.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396690/business
- ↑ "The Hindu : Entertainment / Cinema : Indian films a `nonentity' at Cannes".
- ↑ "The Hindu : Entertainment Bangalore / Cinema : Cannes premier for Naina".
- ↑ "Late Amrish Puri's last film ready for release". Realbollywood. Retrieved 2006-08-19.