Krrish

Plot

Five-year-old Krishna Mehra, son of Rohit and Nisha Mehra, undergoes an intelligence quotient test by a professor, who suspects that he has superpowers, due to Krishna answering all the questions flawlessly. 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 crew near his home to camp. 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 to ask her mother permission to marry her. Krishna's grandmother objects to this, 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 purposes and he destroyed the machine. Rohit reportedly died in a laboratory accident that night, with Krishna's mother, Nisha 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 much to the disappointment of Honey and Priya, who get fired again.

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 fire breaks out during the performance. Several children remain trapped in the blaze, and Krishna gets 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. However Vikram gets shot in the head by Siddhant. In the final scene, Krrish wounds Siddhant fatally. 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 his father's special computer to call Jadoo, whose spaceship can be seen from a distance.

Cast

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.

Development

In November 2004, the Roshans confirmed he would produce a sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya (2003). They announced that actors Hrithik Roshan and Rekha would return for the sequel, but that Preity Zinta would be replaced by Priyanka Chopra. Chopra also confirmed the same, adding, "The story will start where Koi... Mil Gaya ended." Rakesh Roshan hoped that the film would be remembered as the first to prove that the Indian film industry is equal to Hollywood. 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. The story combined elements of Hindu religion and ancient Indian texts (the main character's name Krishna alludes to the Hindu Lord Krishna), Chinese martial arts and Hollywood films to set itself up as a film of global significance.

Rakesh Roshan wanted Krrish to be a trendsetter in Indian cinema, with visual effects on par with Hollywood films. 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. 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". A story board of the film was prepared and sent to Ching to help him develop the action sequences.

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.

Filming

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. Shooting was accomplished on location over a span of two months, from September to November 2005. Locations featured included the Singapore Zoo, the Gateway building, and the Singapore National Library. Another major filming location was Robinson Road, where heavy rains caused production delays. The Singapore police were on location to block roads and protect the filming equipment, such as when the film's action scenes required two 250-foot high industrial cranes. Author Audrey Yue noted that the film shoot benefited Singapore by leading to domestic and Indian film-induced tourism.

Filming also took place in Manali and Film City in Mumbai. 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. 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)." 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.

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. Included were sophisticated 3D modelling and computer animation, including whole body scans, 3D replicas of vehicles, fire sequences, complicated wire removals and compositing work. They prepared over 1,200 VFX shots, accounting for approximately 90 minutes of screen time. 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."

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack, composed by Rajesh Roshan, was released on 28 April 2006 by T-Series. 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.

Critical reviews of the soundtrack were generally favourable, though some in the media called it a disappointment. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave the album a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, saying that it was "another good outing for Bollywood music lovers." He especially praised the songs "Chori Chori", "Koi Tumsa Nahi", and "Pyaar Ki Ek Kahani." Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave a favourable review for the soundtracks's "catchy" songs. However, she felt that while the songs meshed with the film, "none of them bear the staying power of Rajesh Roshan's earlier soundtracks." Shruti Bhasin of Planet Bollywood enjoyed the original songs, giving 8.5 out of 10 stars, but was disappointed with the remixes. Dr Mandar V. Bichu of Gulf News said that it did not live up to the pre-release expectations.

Release

The final budget of Krrish came to ₹450 million (US$7.0 million), which at the time was considered big-budget film by Bollywood standards. The film was released on 23 June 2006 with 1,000 prints, and in five languages simultaneously. It was the first Indian film to receive payments in advance for product placement, music, and international distribution rights. There was also related merchandise offered for sale prior to the film's release to maximize profits. These included action figures, masks and other toys. The film's DVD was released in Region 1 on 18 August 2006, by Adlabs. On 21 August 2006, it was released for all regions by Filmkraft. Adlabs also released a Blu-ray version. After the success of Krrish, Rakesh Roshan announced that he would be making a sequel, tentatively titled Krrish 3. He confirmed that Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra would reprise their roles, and that the main antagonist would be played by Vivek Oberoi.

India

Krrish received mixed reviews from critics in India. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama believed that the film surpassed expectations, but felt that there were issues with pacing in first hour. Overall, he deemed Krrish to be "a terrifically exciting and compelling experience", and awarded the film 4.5 of 5 stars. Nikhat Kazmi noted in The Times of India that while the superhero and action sequences were appealing, there were not enough of them. He was also not excited by the romantic parts, comparing them to a sightseeing tour, first in India and then in Singapore. He said that overall, this film lacks the fun of its predecessor. On the other hand, Raja Sen said that Krrish was infinitely better than KMG, though ultimately it was all about Hrithik Roshan. Sen and Sukanya Verma, writing for Rediff, both gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and both said that it was a good film for children. Sen summarised "So, is it a good superhero movie? No, but it's well-intentioned. It's a full-on kiddie movie, and while a lot of us might be scornful of Krrish, it's heartening to see fantasy officially entering mainstream Bollywood." Verma agreed with other critics that it took too long for the action to get started, and said that a lot of attention was spent showing off Roshan's muscles. He summarised, "Krrish neither has the sleek aura nor the deep-rooted ideology of superheroes. What it does have is a super spirited performance from Hrithik Roshan, which is likely to appeal to children. And that's worth a three-star cheer." Saibal Chatterjee wrote in the Hindustan Times that Krrish is a hackneyed, formulaic masala film, with special effects added on top, and hoped that this would not be the future of Bollywood. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN condemned the screenplay and thought that the only thing that made the film watchable was the acting of Hrithik Roshan. He gave the film only 2 out of 5 stars, saying "Krrish is only an average film that could have been so much better if the makers had concentrated as hard on its story as they did on its action and stunts."

Overseas

Overseas reviews were consistently positive. The Rotten Tomatoes aggregate rating is 100% "Fresh", based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 7 out of 10. Richard James Havis of The Hollywood Reporter stated, "This Bollywood epic crunches together romance, comedy, extraterrestrials, martial arts, dancing and action to tell an entertaining story about a reluctant Indian superhero" but said it may be "far too crazed for foreign viewers". David Chute of LA Weekly deemed it a "hearty pulp cinema that really sticks to your ribs". Likewise, Laura Kern of The New York Times said it was a blend of carefree romance, show-stopping action and sci-fi. Ronnie Scheib of Variety said that it was an "enjoyable, daffily improbable escapist romp". He praised the action sequences as ingeniously choreographed, but very family-friendly. Though Jaspreet Pandohar of BBC was critical of the script for being "low on originality", he praised Hrithik Roshan's performance and the action scenes. Dr. P.V. Vaidyanathan, in a review for BBC Shropshire, said that the film's excellent special effects were as good as the best from Hollywood, praised Hritik's acting, but called the music mundane.

Box office

Krrish had a good opening week, and tickets were reportedly selling for many times the original cost at some locations. Total gross collections were an Indian record of ₹416 million (US$6.5 million) (₹297 million (US$4.6 million) nett) for its opening week. Krrish became the second-highest-grossing film of 2006, earning over ₹ 690 million nett in India alone, and was classified as a "Blockbuster" by Box Office India. It also grossed $4,320,000 in the overseas market, where it was declared a "hit". The final worldwide total gross was ₹1.17 billion (US$18 million). One week after Krrish was released, another superhero film, Superman Returns was released in India. Rakesh Roshan stated, "I was a little skeptical that Superman might hurt me, but fortunately it didn't." In fact, Krrish fared better at the box office in India than Superman Returns did.

Accolades

Krrish was one of India's possible nominations for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, but the country ultimately chose Rang De Basanti as its pick. Despite this, Krrish won numerous awards, including three Filmfare Awards—Best Special Effects, Best Action and Best Background Score—and was nominated for the awards of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Villain. At the 2007 IIFA Awards, Krrish received awards for Best Actor, Best Action, and Best Special Effects. Rakesh Roshan won the Creative Person of the Year title. Additionally the film was nominated in the following categories at the ceremony: Best Director, Best Story, and Best Music Direction.

Hrithik Roshan won other acting awards that year, including the Star Screen Award Best Actor, Zee Cine Award for Best Actor – Male, BFJA – Best Actor Award (Hindi) and GIFA Best Actor. The film's special effects won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects. The film also took Best Picture honours at the Matri Shree Media Awards.

In a showing of the film's popularity with children, Krrish swept the major film categories at the Pogo Amazing Kid's Awards, which are voted on by children across India. Winners were: Hrithik Roshan (Most Amazing Actor — Male), Priyanka Chopra (Most Amazing Actor — Female), Krrish (Most Amazing Film), Special Effects in Krrish (Most Amazing Moment in a film).