Kidnap (2008 film)

Plot

Sonia (Minissha Lamba) lives with her mother, Mallika (Vidya Malvade) and grandmother (Reema Lagoo); her parents had divorced when she was ten. A fortnight before her eighteenth birthday, she picks an argument with her mother about her coming home late after the Christmas Party. Her mother tells her to stay within limits and arrive home in time. She is reluctant to abide by the rule and after much negotiation demands that she would listen to everything if she gets to meet her father. Then she leaves home and goes swimming in the sea to vent out. Far into the sea, she vanishes underwater.

She wakes up in the evening in a cottage which has no exit. At first she doesn't believe that she has been kidnapped and thinks that her friends are playing a prank on her. The abductor Kabir (Imran Khan) tells her how she came there. When she went swimming in the open sea, he pulled her below the water surface and knocked her unconscious using a bottled chloroform.

Meanwhile, everyone is worried at her home. Next morning, her mother receives a call from Kabir wherein he says that he is interested in speaking to Sonia's father, Vikrant Raina (Sanjay Dutt), a New York-based Indian business tycoon, with whom he has an old score to settle.

Vikrant Raina is introduced as a cruel and heartless but a very wealthy man, worth USD 51.7 billion. He is in India because he believes someone has emptied a large share of his money. Mallika meets him and tells him that Sonia has been kidnapped and that the kidnapper wants to speak only to him.

Its around 3 p.m. when the kidnapper calls again. Vikrant and Sonia speak to each other for the first time in eight years. Kabir tells Vikrant that the money is safe in his account. Vikrant wants to know the reason behind the kidnapping. Kabir tells him that he has to do a few things as ransom to release his daughter. The very first of them is saying "Sorry" to Sister Margaret whom he would find on a train from Panvel at 4 pm. Vikrant says its crazy to reach there in half an hour. But Kabir tells him that she has a clue of how they can meet. Vikrant is determined to reach the place by 4 p.m. and he has to overcome unwarranted circumstances. Sister Margaret hands over a piece of paper which has a poem written on it. Vikrant knows there is something in it so he involves a detective Irfan (Rahul Dev) who has solved many corporate kidnapping cases successfully in the past.

But Kabir is interested in playing a dangerous game with Vikrant. He is asked to perform daring tasks (like robbery from a business rival's house) which would reward him with a clue to identify the kidnapper and the motive of kidnapping. At the same time Kabir starts to lose control emotionally with Sonia but stays away from her.

On the other hand, it is hard to believe for Sonia that she has been kidnapped. Initially Kabir is good with her but when she tries to stab Kabir by pretending to flirt with him and stabs his leg. He becomes furious and tries to molest her but he remembers that this is not his aim and leaves her but he ties her up.

Once Sonia realises that Kabir is probably frustrated but not a bad human being she gets a little comfortable with him. She subsequently realises that she is being kept in a bungalow which was once owned by her father. On inquiring further Kabir reveals that several years earlier Vikrant had falsely accused Kabir of kidnapping Sonia. Consequently, Kabir spent his formative years in jail where he underwent undue mental and physical torture. Kabir was simply out to get even with Sonia's father (Vikrant) by kidnapping her for real.

Meanwhile, based on the clues he already has, Vikrant figures out that Kabir is his daughter's kidnapper. Meanwhile unable to reach Vikrant over the phone Kabir decides to pay him a visit. As planned, Vikrant and Irfan intercept the kidnapper and a chase ensues. Eventually, Kabir leads Vikrant to Sonia. After meeting his daughter briefly, Vikrant is told to dismiss Irfan from the case and he hands Vikrant the task to free a prisoner from jail. Vikrant follows the command but during the assignment, Irfan intervenes and shoots Kabir.

An injured Kabir is nursed by Sonia when he reaches the bungalow. Despite having an opportunity, she does not escape, due to her experiencing Stockholm Syndrome. Based on the clue Vikrant receives after freeing the prisoner from jail, he figures out the location of his captive daughter. On reaching his old bungalow he does not find his daughter or the kidnapper but instead discovers the next clue that requires Vikrant to murder someone at a New Year's Eve party. After much deliberation Vikrant commits the murder and realises that he murdered the kidnapper, Kabir. While Vikrant is guilty and pensive at the turn of events, Kabir emerges alive. Kabir makes him realise that Vikrant is a criminal himself even though he committed the crimes to rescue his daughter. Kabir then asks Vikrant to reflect on the past and decide for himself if Kabir was a criminal who deserved the jail time or a teenager who was unduly penalised for an innocent mistake. After, Vikrant apologises to Kabir, Kabir disappears and his jacket leads Vikrant to the final clue which leads him to his daughter.

In the final scene, the Raina family is reunited and enjoying at a gathering. At the gathering, Kabir pays a surprise visit to Sonia and apologises for the trouble he put her through. Both Kabir and Sonia wish each other good luck and bid each other good-bye.

Cast

Box office

Kidnap was released on 3 October 2008. Raw Box Office Net Collections: Rs. 217.2 million (2008) Adjusted Net: Rs. 252.7 million Kidnap Box Office Gross: Rs. 300.7 million (2008) Adjusted Gross: Rs. 349.9 million Overseas: $120,000 (USA), £365,000 (UK) after four weeks and was not expected to recover its Rs 400 million budget.

Awards

Nominated: IIFA Best Villain Award Imran Khan

Critical reception

Kidnap received generally poor reviews from critics. Elvis D'Silva of rediff gave the movie 2 stars out of 5, criticising the performances of Sanjay Dutt and Minissha Lamba. Gaurav Malani of Indiatimes Movies gave the movie 2.5 stars, praising the story line and climax. Taran Adarsh gave the movie 2 stars out of 5, criticising the script as one "that easily ranks amongst the worst of 2008" while praising the performance of Imran Khan. Abhishek Mande of Buzz18 rated the movie 2/5, describing it as "seriously funny." Kidnap did better than Goldie Behl's Drona which came out the same day.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Pritam and Sandeep-Sanjeev and the lyrics were written by Mayur Puri for all songs apart from Mit Jaaye which was by Sandeep Vyas.