Karthik Calling Karthik
| Karthik Calling Karthik | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Vijay Lalwani |
| Produced by | Ritesh Sidhwani Farhan Akhtar |
| Screenplay by | Vijay Lalwani |
| Story by | Vijay Lalwani |
| Starring | Farhan Akhtar Deepika Padukone Ram Kapoor Shefali Shah Vipin Sharma |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Cinematography | Sanu Varghese |
| Editing by | Aarti Bajaj |
| Distributed by | Excel Entertainment Magic Beans |
| Release date(s) | February 26, 2010 |
| Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Karthik Calling Karthik is a 2010 Hindi psychological thriller film, written and directed by Vijay Lalwani and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani under the banner of Excel Entertainment. The film stars Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. Ram Kapoor and Shefali Shah play supporting roles in the film. The film's music was composed by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, while the background score was composed by MIDIval Punditz and Karsh Kale.
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[edit] Plot
Karthik (Farhan Akhtar) is an introvert who lacks confidence and feels trapped in his average job at a construction company. He is continuously troubled by an incident from his childhood: His older brother, Kumar, used to torture him, but whenever he complained to his parents, they did not believe him. One day, Kumar took Karthik to a well and tried to throw him in it, but Karthik escaped. Kumar accidentally fell inside the well and died. Karthik has thought himself responsible for his brother's death ever since.
Shonali Mukherjee (Deepika Padukone) is a co-worker at Karthik's company, whom Karthik is secretly in love with, though she remains unaware of his existence, much less his feelings. After being derided by his boss yet again, Karthik figures his life can’t get any better and decides to commit suicide. Just as he is about to, a stranger with the same, exact voice as him calls and says that he is also Karthik, convincing him that he has the ability to change his life. These phone calls become Karthik's life guide. His chats take place every morning at 5:00 a.m. and the caller provides advice on Karthik's problems, guiding him to become a successful man, win Shonali's heart, and bring color to his otherwise dreary life.
However, when Karthik tells Shonali and his psychiatrist about the phone calls, despite being warned not to, the mysterious caller gets angry and tells Karthik that if he could bring him up, he could also throw him down. As per his word, things start going downhill. Karthik's boss throws him out and Shonali leaves him. Karthik decides that if he goes somewhere he does not know, then the caller wouldn't know where he is either and stop calling him. Karthik travels to an unknown place, takes shelter in a small hotel, and asks the receptionist to remove the telephone and room number plate.
After a few months, Karthik is comfortably living in a small town with a decent job. His life is back to normal except for the fact that he refuses to have a phone line. Upon his boss's request, he is forced to purchase a landline. He goes to great lengths to ensure that he himself is unaware of the phone number. However, one day at exactly 5 a.m, he receives a call from the mysterious caller, who threatens to kill him. Meanwhile, Shonali is contacted by Dr. Kapadia, who reveals the twist: Karthik is actually schizophrenic. He has an alter-ego that is more assertive and advises him on how to live life. All this time, the strange caller was Karthik himself. He has been dealing with this condition from a young age, when he created a fake brother named Kumar. Karthik's phone has the capacity to record messages and act as a playback feature at a certain time. Karthik would wake up in the middle of the night, leave himself messages as his alter ego, and return to sleep, where he would awake once again at 5am to take his own calls.
Eventually, Karthik becomes so disturbed that he attempts to commit suicide again. Shonali, realizing the truth, arrives at the right time to save him. They reconcile and she stands by him, helping him with his condition. After a few months, Karthik is in the process of dealing with his schizophrenia and lives a happy and rehabilitated life with Shonali by his side.
[edit] Cast
- Farhan Akhtar as Karthik Narayan
- Deepika Padukone as Shonali Mukherjee
- Ram Kapoor as Mr. Kamath
- Shefali Chhaya as Mrs. Kapadia
- Vivaan Bhathena
- Vipin Sharma
- Yatin Karyekar
[edit] Production
In an effort to prepare for his role as loner introvert Karthik, Farhan Akhtar isolated himself at home and school and turned off his phone.[1] He also learned to solve the Rubik's Cube, an activity which his character completes in only one try.[2]
[edit] Release
[edit] Critical reception
On the review-aggregation website ReviewGang, the film scored 5.5/10 based on 11 reviews.[3] Film critic Rajeev Masand gave the film 2 out of 5 possible stars. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India rated it 3.5 out of 5, calling it "immensely watchable, purely for the class act by Farhan Akhtar in the title role".[4] Shweta Parande of IBNLive.com gave a rating of 3.5 out of 5, applauding the cast and crew for their performances and their efforts on building up the story as a team.[5] IndiaGlitz gave a 3 out of 5, concluding "Go but with an open mind."[6]
[edit] Box office
Karthik Calling Karthik performed moderately well at the box office, despite the presence of two other films: My Name Is Khan, which was running in its third weekend, and Teen Patti, which was released simultaneously. It grossed Rs.27.5 million on its first day of release. The film has done better at high end multiplexes enabling the film to have average collections on its first day. Karthik Calling Karthik did a net business of approximately Rs.110 million (Rs.11 crores) at the box office in India in four days.[7] After the first week, the film grossed Rs.13.39 crores.[8] It was declared an average grosser at the box office.
[edit] Soundtrack
[edit] Awards and nominations
Nominated[9]
- Best Music - Shankar Ehsaan Loy
[edit] References
- ^ Jha, Subhash (12 June 2009). "Film makes loner out of Farhan Akhtar". Indian Star. http://www.theindianstar.com/index.php?udn=2009-06-21&uan=12197. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- ^ Shah, Kunal M. (12 June 2009). "Farhan's obsessed about Rubik's cube". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Farhans-obsessed-about-Rubiks-cube/articleshow/4648442.cms. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- ^ "Karthik Calling Karthik Reviews". ReviewGang. http://www.reviewgang.com/movies/35-Karthik-Calling-Karthik-Reviews. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ^ Kazmi, Nikhat (25 February 2010). "Karthik Calling Karthik". The Times Of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/moviereview/5615980.cms.
- ^ Parande, Shweta (28 May 2010). "First Cut: 'Karthik Calling Karthik' is touching". IBN Live. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/review-karthik-calling-karthik/112194-47-77.html. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
- ^ "Karthik Calling Karthik Bollywood Movie Review - cinema preview stills gallery trailer video clips showtimes". IndiaGlitz. 2010-02-25. http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/review/12000.html. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
- ^ Businessofcinema.com Team. "Box Office: Karthik Calling Karthik average; No aces up Teen Patti's sleeves". Businessofcinema.com. http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=15560. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
- ^ "Boxofficeindia.com". Boxofficeindia.com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/cpages.php?pageName=earnings. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
- ^ "Nominations for Zee Cine Awards 2011". Bollywood Hungama. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2011/01/01/6977/index.html. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
[edit] External links
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