Krrish is a 2006 Indian science fiction superhero film directed, produced, and written by Rakesh Roshan, and starring Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Rekha and Naseeruddin Shah. It is the second film in the Krrish series, being the sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya, and relates the story of Krishna, the son of the previous film's protagonists, who inherits his father's superhuman abilities. After falling in love with Priya, he follows her to Singapore, where he takes on the persona of "Krrish" to keep his identity secret while saving children from a burning circus. From that moment on he is regarded as a superhero, and must later thwart the plans of the evil Dr. Siddhant.
Krrish was conceived to be a film of global significance and a trendsetter in Indian cinema, with visual effects on par with those from Hollywood. To that end, the effects team was aided by Hollywood's Marc Kolbe and Craig Mumma, and the stunts were choreographed by Chinese martial arts film expert Tony Ching. The music was composed by Rajesh Roshan, with the background score by Salim-Sulaiman. Filming was done to a large extent in Singapore as well as India. The film was released worldwide in June 2006 at a cost of over INR45 crore (US$6.9 million) and on 1000 prints, both near-record amounts for an Indian film at the time.
Krrish received mixed reviews from critics in India, but was widely appreciated by audiences, who gave it a record opening week at the box office. The film became the second highest earning Indian film of 2006 and grossed a worldwide total of INR117 crore (US$18 million). It was given a "blockbuster" rating by Box Office India. The film won both the National and Filmfare awards for special effects, while actor Hrithik Roshan received praise and numerous best actor awards for his role. The third film in the series, Krrish 3 has released in 2013.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Development
3.2 Filming
3.3 Music
4 Release
4.1 Critical reception
4.1.1 India
4.1.2 Overseas
4.2 Box Office
4.3 Accolades
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Plot[edit]
The plot of the film connects with the predecessor. For more information on the predecessor's plot, see Koi... Mil Gaya.
Five-years-old Krishna Mehra undergoes an intelligence quotient test by a professor, who suspects that his family has superpowers. His grandmother Sonia (Rekha) takes the young Krishna to a remote mountain village to conceal his unique abilities. Years later, Krishna (Hrithik Roshan) meets Priya (Priyanka Chopra) and her friend Honey (Manini Mishra) when Krishna's friend Bahadur (Hemant Pandey) takes the girls camping near his home. Krishna saves Priya from a hang glider accident and falls in love with her when spending time with her.
After returning home to Singapore, Priya and Honey are fired by their boss (Archana Puran Singh) for taking a non-permitted extension of 5-days in their vacation. In order to keep their jobs, Honey suggests her boss making a television program about Krishna. Aware of Krishna's love towards her, Priya calls him to join her in Singapore. Krishna's grandmother objects to him leaving, saying that people will want to take advantage of his abilities. She then explains that his father Rohit was hired by Dr. Siddhant Arya (Naseeruddin Shah) to design a computer that could see the future in order to prevent wars and help prepare against natural disasters. However, Rohit later found out that the purpose of the computer was not for good and he destroyed the machine. Rohit reportedly died in a laboratory accident that night, with Krishna's mother dying of a broken heart shortly thereafter. Krishna promises his grandmother that he will never reveal his powers, so she permits him to go. In Singapore, during the program's production, Krishna keeps his word and reveals nothing exceptional about himself. Priya and Honey are once again fired.
Krishna later meets with Kristian Li (Bin Xia), who attempts to raise funds to pay for his young sister's leg surgery. He invites Krishna and Priya to the Great Bombay Circus, where during the performance a fire beaks out in the tent. Several children remain trapped in the blaze, and Krishna is faced with the dilemma of saving the children without revealing his abilities. He dons a broken black mask and puts his jacket on inside-out, creating the persona of Krrish. Later, when Kristian Li sees Krrish fighting some goons and removing his mask, he discovers his friend Krishna as Krrish. As Krrish is being offered a reward for his deeds, Krishna asks Kristian to assume the identity, so that he can pay for his sister's surgery.
Meanwhile, Priya also comes to know that Krishna is Krrish when she sees the footage from her video camera. She and Honey decide to release the footage on TV to make Krishna a star. Krishna arrives and overhears them talking about how Priya had lied to him, and how they will reveal his identity. Just before Priya confesses to Honey that she has genuinely fallen in love with Krishna, he leaves, dejected.
After being confronted by Krishna at his hotel about what she said, Priya realises her mistake and stops her boss from revealing Krrish's identity. She then meets Vikram Sinha (Sharat Saxena), who has been searching for Krishna for years. He informs them that Krishna's father Rohit is still alive, and that after completing the machine, he and Rohit tested it and saw Siddhant holding a gun to Rohit's head. Rohit understood that Siddhant was going to kill him and then use the machine for his own selfish needs. He was able to destroy the machine, before being taken prisoner by Siddhant.
Meanwhile, in the present timeline, Siddhant has rebuilt the computer after many years. He uses it to reveal his future and sees Krrish killing him. Siddhant then kills Kristian, thinking that he is Krrish. Krishna later follows Siddhant to his island lair. When Siddhant looks into the future again, he sees the same thing, and is shocked to see Krrish still alive and on his island.
When Krrish enters the compound, there is a vicious fight with Siddhant's thugs. Krrish eventually defeats them and saves Priya and Rohit. In the final scene, Krrish wounds Siddhant. Before he dies, Siddhant asks Krrish who he is, and Krishna reveals himself. After revealing to Rohit that he is his son, Krishna takes Priya and his father back to India, reuniting him with Sonia. Rohit then uses the computer to call Jadoo, whose spaceship can be seen from a distance.
Cast[edit]
Hrithik Roshan as Krishna Mehra / Rohit Mehra / Krrish
Priyanka Chopra as Priya, Krishna's love interest
Rekha as Sonia Mehra, Krishna's grandmother and Rohit's mother
Naseeruddin Shah as Dr. Siddhant Arya, a megalomaniac scientist
Manini Mishra as Honey, Priya's friend and office partner
Sharat Saxena as Vikram Sinha, Rohit's old friend an co-worker
Archana Puran Singh as boss of Priya and Honey
Bin Xia as Kristian Li, circus worker and fake portrayer of Krrish
Hemant Pandey as Bahadur, local tourist guide and friend of Krishna
Punit Issar as Komal Singh, camp leader
Additional minor parts were portrayed by: Akash Khurana as young Krishna's Catholic school principal, Kiran Juneja as Priya's mother, Yu Xuan as Kristian Li's little sister, and Preity Zinta as Rohit's wife Nisha in a flashback cameo.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Following the commercial success of Roshan's Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), audiences speculated for several months whether a sequel would be produced. In November 2004, the Roshans confirmed a second film.[1][3] They announced that actors Hrithik Roshan and Rekha would return for the sequel, but that Preity Zinta would be replaced by Priyanka Chopra.[3] Chopra also confirmed the same, adding, "The story will start where Koi... Mil Gaya ended."[3] Rakesh Roshan hoped that the film would be remembered as the first to prove that the Indian film industry is equal to Hollywood.[4] He decided to push the story forward by focusing on the son of the previous films's protagonist, who would inherit his father's special abilities.[1] The story combined elements of Hindu religion and ancient Indian texts (the main character's name Krishna alludes to the Hindu Lord Krishna),[5] Chinese martial arts and Hollywood films to set itself up as a film of global significance.[6]
Rakesh Roshan wanted Krrish to be a trendsetter in Indian cinema, with visual effects on par with Hollywood films.[7] He hired Hollywood special effects experts Marc Kolbe and Craig Mumma, who had both previously worked on such films as Independence Day, Godzilla and Sky Captain, to help create the visual effects for the film.[8][9][10] Roshan also hired Hong Kong action director Tony Ching after admiring his work in Hero. Before production began, Hrithik Roshan went to China to train with Ching for the cable work that would be needed to make his character "fly".[11] A story board of the film was prepared and sent to Ching to help him develop the action sequences.[12]
Additional production credits include: Farah Khan – dance choreographer, Samir Chanda and Sham Kaushal – art directors, Baylon Fonesca and Nakul Kamte – sound, Nahush Pise – makeup artist, Sham Kaushal – assistant action director.[13]
Filming[edit]
Krrish was the first Indian film to be shot in Singapore under the Singapore Tourism Board's Film-in-Singapore subsidy scheme, and more than 60% of the film was shot there.[14] Shooting was accomplished on location over a span of two months, from September to November 2005.[15] Locations featured included the Singapore Zoo, the Gateway building, and the Singapore National Library.[16] Another major filming location was Robinson Road, where heavy rains caused production delays.[17] The Singapore police were on location to block roads and protect the filming equipment,[17] such as when the film's action scenes required two 250-foot high industrial cranes.[12] Author Audrey Yue noted that the film shoot benefited Singapore by leading to domestic and Indian film-induced tourism.[14]
Filming also took place in Manali and Film City in Mumbai.[18] During filming of a flying stunt, one of the wires that was tied to Hrithik Roshan broke, causing him to fall 50 feet, though he landed safely on a shop's canopy.[19] Hrithik described the incident as a "freak accident", stating, "I was skydiving to my death till I fell on a six-feet-long canopy of a shop that was out because of the slight drizzle. The canopy had iron rods. But I missed those rods too. What do I say? I guess the right word to describe the situation would be jadoo (magic)."[19] Roshan also suffered other injuries during the film's production. He tore the hamstring in his right leg during a circus scene, singed his hair while running through fire in another action scene, and broke his thumb and toe during strenuous training for the wirework.[20]
Indian firm Prasad EFX assigned a team of more than 100 VFX specialists to work with Marc Kolbe and Craig Mumma to create the visual effects for the film.[8][9][10] Included were sophisticated 3D modelling and computer animation, including whole body scans, 3D replicas of vehicles, fire sequences, complicated wire removals and compositing work.[8] They prepared over 1,200 VFX shots, accounting for approximately 90 minutes of screen time.[7][21] Describing the effects, Rakesh Roshan stated, "If you liked the visual effects in Koi... Mil Gaya, you will find them far better in Krrish. I do not think audiences have seen anything like this in Hindi films."[22]
Music[edit]
The film's soundtrack, composed by Rajesh Roshan, was released on 28 April 2006 by T-Series.[23] Lyricists included Ibraheem Ashk, Nasir Faraaz, and Vijay Akela. Salim-Sulaiman provided the background score. It became the seventh best selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year.[24]
Krrish Soundtrack – Track listing
No. Title Singers Length
1. "Pyar Ki Ek Kahani" Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal 6:28
2. "Koi Tumsa Nahin" Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal 6:15
3. "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke" Udit Narayan, Shreya Ghoshal 6:28
4. "Dil Na Diya" Kunal Ganjawala 5:54
5. "Main Hoon Woh Aasman" Rafaqat Ali Khan, Alka Yagnik 6:40
6. "Big Band Mix" Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal 6:01
7. "Mystic Love Mix" Rafaqat Ali Khan, Alka Yagnik 5:12
Total length:
42:58