Main Hoon Na
| Main Hoon Na | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Farah Khan |
| Screenplay by | Farah Khan Abbas Tyrewala Rajesh Saathi |
| Dialogues by | Abbas Tyrewala |
| Story by | Farah Khan |
| Produced by | Gauri Khan Ratan Jain |
| Starring | Shah Rukh Khan Sushmita Sen Suniel Shetty Zayed Khan Amrita Rao |
| Cinematography | V. Manikandan |
| Edited by | Shirish Kunder |
| Music by | Score: Ranjit Barot Songs: Anu Malik |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Eros International Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 182 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ₹89.7 crore[2] |
Main Hoon Na (transl. I'm Here) is a 2004 Hindi-language masala film directed by Farah Khan and produced by Gauri Khan and Ratan Jain under the banners Red Chillies Entertainment and Venus Movies. The film, which marks Farah Khan's directorial debut, stars Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Suniel Shetty, Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan, alongside Kirron Kher, Murali Sharma, Kabir Bedi, Boman Irani, and Naseeruddin Shah. In the film, Major Ram Prasad Sharma is sent on a covert mission to pose as a college student and protect the general's daughter from a dangerous rogue soldier and reunite with his father’s long lost family. [3]
Development for the film began as early as 2001; however, it faced a number of delays during production. Main Hoon Na is notable for approaching the Indo-Pakistani conflict from a neutral perspective. Filming took place at St. Paul's School and the surrounding state of West Bengal. The film is also the first production of Red Chillies Entertainment.[4]
Main Hoon Na was released on 30 April 2004 to positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success by grossing ₹84 crore, thus becoming the second highest-grossing Indian film of 2004, only surpassed by another Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Veer-Zaara.[5]
At the 50th Filmfare Awards, Main Hoon Na received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Farah), Best Actor (Shah Rukh), Best Supporting Actress (Rao), Best Supporting Actor (Zayed) and Best Villain (Shetty), winning Best Music Director (Anu Malik). A snippet of "Lament" from Light of Aiden (Celtic Version) is used throughout the film.
Plot
[edit]India and Pakistan launch Project Milaap, a prisoner exchange program, in an attempt to de-escalate tensions between the two nations. Raghavan Dutta (Suniel Shetty), a former Indian special forces soldier discharged for executing Pakistani citizens in revenge for his son's death, runs a militant group with a former comrade, Captain Khan, where he sets against peace between the two rival countries. During a press conference hosted by television anchor Rajat Saxena in India, Raghavan attempts to shoot General Amarjeet Bakshi, but Brigadier Shekhar Sharma (Naseeruddin Shah) takes the bullet for him. On his deathbed, Shekhar informs his son, Major Ram Prasad (Shah Rukh Khan), that his wife and Ram's stepmother, Madhu (Kirron Kher), and their son and Ram's stepbrother, Lakshman Prasad (Zayed Khan), who is also known as Lucky, had abandoned him 20 years ago since Shekhar had cheated on Madhu with Ram's late biological mother. Shekhar requests Ram to reconcile with his estranged family and that his ashes will be immersed by both his sons, stating that he can finally be at peace only if his family forgives him.
Meanwhile, General Bakshi sends Ram on a undercover operation to protect his estranged daughter, Sanjana (Amrita Rao), who is studying at St. Paul's College in Darjeeling. Ram is initially hesitant, but agrees when Bakshi informs him that Lucky is also studying in the same college. General Bakshi convinces Ram to enter the college as a student as he would be unable to spend enough time with Sanjana if he enters there as a teacher. Upon arriving, Ram finds it difficult to adjust to the college life as he is much older than all the students, including some professors.Ram encounters Sanjana and her crush, but both do not want to be near him due to his age. A college student helps Ram hack the college computer to find out Lucky's identity, only to learn that Lucky is actually Sanjana's crush. During a race to capture the college flag from the roof, Lucky ends up hanging off the roof of the university, but Ram heroically saves his life. As a result, both Lucky and Sanjana agree to befriend Ram, who soon moves in with Lucky and Madhu as well. Outside a theatre, Ram saves one of his classmates, Percy, from an attempted murder by Khan, and captures Khan in the process. However, Ram's own identity is discovered by Raghavan, who then arrives at the university masquerading as the new physics professor after his gang kidnaps Madhav Rasai (Satish Shah), a physics professor, and threatens him to resign and recommend Raghavan as "Professor Raghav Dutta" in his place.
Ram also brings Madhu and Lakshman closer by helping them bond during his stay there. Meanwhile, Ram falls in love with his chemistry professor, Chandni, while Lucky also falls in love with Sanjana after Ram and Chandni give her a makeover. During a prom of the college, Raghavan orders a kidnapping on Chandni, but she is saved by Ram. After meeting with Sanjana, Ram requests Raghavan to drop them both off with her father at her hostel, where Sanjana reconciles with her father. After that night, Sanjana and Chandni discover Ram's true identity as an army officer. At the same time, Raghavan learns about Ram and Lucky's relationship and reveals Ram's true identity to Lucky and his Madhu.
On being confronted by Lucky and Madhu, Ram breaks the news of Shekhar's death and informs them that Shekhar's last wish provoked him to reconcile with his family. As they are unwilling to accept him yet, Ram leaves their home and the university, but his revelation shocks them. Later, Raghavan holds the whole university hostage and demands the cancellation of Project Milaap along with the return of Captain Khan and Ram as hostages in exchange for all the students' and teachers' lives. On being informed about this situation, Ram immediately returns to the university. Before completely entering the hostage situation, Ram encounters Madhu and apologises for lying to her and Lucky.
Aware of what Ram's impending actions, Madhu accepts him as her second son. Ram informs Khan that Raghavan is doing nothing for the country and is only carrying out a misplaced feud on the Pakistanis for killing his son, and offers an opportunity to Khan to do something for the country. Accompanying Khan, Ram enters the building and gets subsequently shot by Khan. Ram survives, and Khan informs him that his heart has changed regarding his allegiances and proceeds to kill the guards, thus freeing the students. Raghavan shoots Khan dead at point blank range for his betrayal. During a prolonged combat between Ram and Raghavan, Ram finally kills Raghavan by removing the safety pin from Raghavan's hand grenade.
Lucky helps Ram escape from the ensuing explosion from aboard a helicopter and the two happily embrace each other as brothers. Project Milaap is a success and all the prisoners are exchanged triumphantly. Ram and Lucky immerse Shekhar's ashes together with Madhu tearfully looking on. In the end, Lucky and Ram finally graduate from the university, and the entire university rejoices.
Cast
[edit]- Shah Rukh Khan as Major Ram Prasad Sharma
- Suniel Shetty as Raghavan Dutta (an ex-army Major and terrorist)
- Sushmita Sen as Chandini Chopra (Ram, Sanjana, and Lucky's chemistry protestor and Ram’s love interest)
- Amrita Rao as Sanjana Bakshi, General Amarjeet's daughter
- Zayed Khan as Laxman Prasad “Lucky” Sharma, Ram's half-brother and Sanju’s love interest
- Boman Irani as Yogendra "Yogi" Agarwal, college principal
- Kirron Kher as Madhu Sharma, Ram's stepmother and Lucky's mother
- Bindu as Mrs. Sonali Kakkar
- Murali Sharma as Captain Khan, an ex-army Captain and Raghavan's second-in-command
- Kunal Kumar as Baman Shastri, Ram's friend
- Kabir Bedi as General Amarjeet Bakshi, Sanju's father and Ram's superior officer
- Naseeruddin Shah as Brig. Shekhar Prasad Sharma, Ram and Lucky's father (special appearance)
- Satish Shah as Prof. Madhav Rasai
- Rakhi Sawant as Mini
- Praveen Sirohi as Vivek
- Rajiv Panjabi as Percy
- Nassar Abdullah as Rajat Saxena, Project Milaap's TV host
- Tabu as Aparna (uncredited cameo appearance)
- Geeta Kapoor as girl dancing in the song "Gori Gori" (cameo appearance)
- Sajid Khan as band member in the song "Gori Gori" (cameo appearance)
Production
[edit]Development
[edit]Development for the film had begun in 2001. Filming was scheduled to begin in October 2001, but later that year, Shah Rukh Khan had injured himself while shooting for Shakti: The Power (2002), and had to be treated in the UK, leading to the film being shelved. Farah Khan revived the film in 2003 following Khan's recovery. Farah initially titled the film as The Outsider but changed it upon the suggestion of her friends. Khan was unhappy with the film's title at that time, believing it was too short, but changed his mind upon listening to the film's title song.
Casting
[edit]Upon the film's revival in 2003, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Sohail Khan were all offered to play the role of Lucky. None of the three accepted due to unknown reasons, leading to Zayed Khan getting cast. Ameesha Patel was offered the role of Sanju, but declined due to date issues, as did newcomer Ayesha Takia, after which Amrita Rao was cast.[6]
Shah Rukh Khan asked Farah Khan to approach Kamal Haasan, suggesting that Haasan owed him a favor for his role in Hey Ram.[7] Haasan read the script, but turned down the role citing that it would portray him as an anti-national.[8]
Soundtrack
[edit]| Main Hoon Na | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | 27 February 2004 |
| Recorded | YRF Studios (Mumbai) |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Language | Hindi |
| Label | T-Series |
| Producer | Anu Malik |
The film's music was composed by Anu Malik,[9] with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. The soundtrack earned Malik his second 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 one of the highest selling Bollywood soundtracks of the year. Sonu Nigam received several award nominations and won an MTV Immies Best Male Playback Singer Award.[10]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Hoon Na" | Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal | 06:02 |
| 2. | "Tumese Milke Dilka Jo Haal" | Sonu Nigam, Altaf Sabri, Hashim Sabri, Ravi Khote | 06:00 |
| 3. | "Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha" | Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Shreya Ghoshal | 05:42 |
| 4. | "Gori Gori" | Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, K.K., Anu Malik | 04:30 |
| 5. | "Chale Jaise Hawaien" | Vasundhara Das, K.K. | 05:25 |
| 6. | "Main Hoon Na (Sad Version)" | Abhijeet Bhattacharya | 04:18 |
| 7. | "Yeh Fizayein" | K.K., Alka Yagnik | 05:19 |
| 8. | "Main Hoon Na (Remix)" | Ranjit Barot | 02:31 |
| Total length: | 43:55 | ||
Reception
[edit]Main Hoon Na received positive reviews from critics.
Critical reception
[edit]Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote "Main Hoon Na reinforces your faith in Bollywood commercial cinema. The film is a wholesome entertainer that has something for everyone."[12] Jamie Russell of BBC wrote "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."[13] Siddharth Patankar of NDTV termed the movie as "an out and out entertainer. Masala, romance, family drama, and some good old fashioned dhishoom dhishoom," and was positive of the performances.[14]
Box office
[edit]Main Hoon Na was the second-highest grossing Indian film of 2004 behind Veer-Zaara (also a Shahrukh Khan-starrer set against India-Pakistan backdrop).[15] It made ₹480 million (US$5.6 million) in India and an additional ₹19 million (US$220,000) in the overseas market.
Awards and nominations
[edit]| 50th Filmfare Awards[16] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | ||||||||
| Best Film | Red Chillies Entertainment | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Director | Farah Khan | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Actor | Shahrukh Khan | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Supporting Actress | Amrita Rao | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Zayed Khan | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Villain | Suniel Shetty | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Comedian | Boman Irani | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Music Director | Anu Malik | Won | ||||||||
| Best Lyricist | Javed Akhtar | Nominated | ||||||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Sonu Nigam (for "Main Hoon Na") | Nominated | ||||||||
| Sonu Nigam (for "Tumse Milke") | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Action | Allan Amin | Nominated | ||||||||
| Global Indian Film Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | |||
| Best Director | Farah Khan | Won | |||
| Best Actor | Shahrukh Khan | Won | |||
| Best Villain | Suniel Shetty | Won | |||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Abhijeet Bhattacharya (for "Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha") | Won | |||
| Best Art Director | Sabu Cyril | Won | |||
| Best Action | Allan Amin | Won | |||
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | ||||
| Best Director | Farah Khan | Nominated | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Zayed Khan | Nominated | ||||
| Best Villain | Suniel Shetty | Nominated | ||||
| Best Debut Director | Farah Khan | Won | ||||
| Best Music Director | Anu Malik | Nominated | ||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Sonu Nigam (for "Main Hoon Na") | Nominated | ||||
| Best Special Effects | Rajtaru Video Sonic, Eagle Video Films | Won | ||||
| Star Screen Awards | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | ||||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Zayed Khan | Nominated | ||||||
| Best Music Director | Anu Malik | Won | ||||||
| Best Lyricist | Javed Akhtar (for "Main Hoon Na") | Nominated | ||||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Sonu Nigam (for "Main Hoon Na") | Won | ||||||
| Best Background Music | Ranjit Barot | Nominated | ||||||
| Best Choreography | Farah Khan (for "Gori Gori") | Nominated | ||||||
| Best Action | Allan Amin | Nominated | ||||||
| Best Publicity Design | Rahul Nanda and Himanshu Nanda | Nominated | ||||||
| Best Sound Recording | Shirish Kunder and Rakesh Ranjan | Nominated | ||||||
| Zee Cine Awards | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipients and Nominees | Results | |||||||||
| Best Film (Critics) | Red Chillies Entertainment | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Director | Farah Khan | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Actor (Critics) | Shahrukh Khan | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Supporting Actress | Sushmita Sen | Nominated | |||||||||
| Most Promising Director | Farah Khan | Won | |||||||||
| Best Female Debut | Won | ||||||||||
| Best Music Director | Anu Malik | Won | |||||||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Sonu Nigam (for "Main Hoon Na") | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Track of the Year | "Tumse Milke" | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Background Score | Ranjit Barot | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Art Direction | Sabu Cyril | Nominated | |||||||||
| Best Costume Design | Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra | Nominated | |||||||||
Remake
[edit]The film was remade in Tamil as Aegan and was released on 27 October 2008.[17]
Sequel
[edit]A sequel titled Main Bhi Hoon Na is currently in development.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ "Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd". Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ^ "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
- ^ "Farah Khan says SRK was convinced Kamal Haasan would play 'Main Hoon Na' villain". India Today. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ Hungama, Bollywood (30 April 2004). "Main Hoon Na Box Office Collection | India | Day Wise | Box Office - Bollywood Hungama". Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ "16 Years of Main Hoon Na: Farah Khan reveals how SRK's friends played peons, Ayesha Takia DITCHED the film, Hrithik walked out, Kamal Haasan declined & a lot more! : Bollywood News – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 4 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ "16 Years of Main Hoon Na: Farah Khan reveals how SRK's friends played peons, Ayesha Takia DITCHED the film, Hrithik walked out, Kamal Haasan declined & a lot more! : Bollywood News – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 4 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ "Munnabhai in Tamil". web.mid-day.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Main Hoon Na (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Anu Malik". 27 February 2004. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- ^ "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008.
- ^ "Sonu Nigam birthday: The singer has received his only National Film Award for this song". DNA India. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
- ^ "Taran Adarsh — Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 30 April 2004. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "Jamie Russell Main Hoon Na (2004) 28 April 2004 BBC Movies". Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ^ Patankar, Siddharth. "Main Hoon Na - Movie Review". NDTV. Archived from the original on 10 August 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2004.
- ^ "Box Office 2004". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ "Awards for MHN 2004". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- ^ "Aegan". Sify. 25 October 2008. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Main Hoon Na 2 in development; Farah Khan aims to make it with Shah Rukh Khan". Pinkvilla. 5 February 2025.
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External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 2004 films
- Red Chillies Entertainment films
- Films about terrorism in India
- Films directed by Farah Khan
- 2000s Hindi-language films
- Films about hostage takings
- Indian Army in films
- Indian coming-of-age films
- India–Pakistan relations in popular culture
- 2000s masala films
- Indian teen comedy films
- Films set in Darjeeling
- Films scored by Anu Malik
- Hindi films remade in other languages
- 2004 directorial debut films