Underplayed Gems

Kahaani (2012)

Kahaani poster
Original title
कहानी
Directed by
Sujoy Ghosh
Genre
drama film
Country
India
Runtime
2h 02m
Rating
7.2 of 10 from 352 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A pregnant woman arrives in Kolkata during a festival to search for her missing husband. She gets help from a local police officer while navigating the city and facing obstacles.

suspensefulgrittyurbanmysteriousintimateurgentgrounded

What happens

Kahaani (IPA: [kəˈɦaːni]; transl. Story) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language vigilante action thriller film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Sujoy Ghosh. It stars Vidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman looking for her missing husband in Kolkata during the festival of Durga Puja, assisted by Assist Sub-Inspector Satyoki "Rana" Sinha (Parambrata Chatterjee) and Inspector General A. Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Made on a budget of ₹80 million (US$840,000), Kahaani was conceived and developed by Ghosh, who co-wrote the film with Advaita Kala. The crew often employed guerrilla-filmmaking techniques on Kolkata's streets to avoid attracting attention. Its creative portrayal of the city and its use of local crew and cast made it a notable film. Kahaani explores themes of feminism and motherhood in a male-dominated Indian society. The film also makes several allusions to Satyajit Ray's films, such as Charulata (1964), Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), and Joi Baba Felunath (1979). The film's musical score and soundtrack were composed by Clinton Cerejo and Vishal–Shekhar respectively, with cinematography handled by Setu and editing done by Namrata Rao. Kahaani was released worldwide on 9 March 2012. Critics praised the screenplay, the cinematography and the performances of the lead actors. Following critical acclaim and word-of-mouth publicity, the film earned ₹1.04 billion (US$11 million) worldwide in 50 days. The film won several awards, including three National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. The latter included trophies for Best Director (Ghosh) and Best Actress (Vidya). The film was remade by Sekhar Kammula in Telugu as Anaamika (2014) with Nayanthara reprising Vidya's role. A spiritual successor, titled Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, was released on 2 December 2016. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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