36 China Town
| 36 China Town | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Abbas-Mustan |
| Screenplay by | Shyam Goel |
| Story by | Shyam Goel |
| Produced by | Subhash Ghai |
| Starring | Akshaye Khanna Shahid Kapoor Upen Patel Paresh Rawal Kareena Kapoor |
| Cinematography | Ravi Yadav |
| Edited by | Hussain A. Burmawala |
| Music by | Himesh Reshammiya |
| Distributed by | Mukta Arts |
Release date | May 5, 2006 |
Running time | 141 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹10 crore (US$1.2 million) |
| Box office | ₹30 crore (US$3.6 million) |
36 China Town is a 2006 Bollywood comedy film directed by Abbas-Mustan. A Bollywood adaptation of Once Upon A Crime (1992), the film is a murder mystery that follows the investigation of a police officer trying to find the killer of a wealthy casino owner, Sonia Chang.
The film stars Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in their second film together along with actor Upen Patel making his debut. Other cast members include Akshaye Khanna, Isha Koppikar, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Payal Rohatgi and Tanaz Lal with special appearances by Priyanka Chopra and Tanushree Dutta.
It did moderately well at the box office, becoming an above average grosser.[1]
Summary
When Raj Malhotra(Shahid Kapoor), a cash strapped wannabe Bollywood actor, meets Priya(Kareena Kapoor), a runaway jilted girl who has discovered the true nature of her gold-digger lover, neither has an inkling of the plot about to unfold. The duo soon find a baby, who seems to be the lost infant son of Sonia Chang(Isha Koppikar). Sonia is the owner of the titular casino in Goa. After her baby was kidnapped, the kidnapper & the baby both went missing. The distraught Sonia is contemplating changing her will, when the duo inform her of the development.
Soon the duo come to Goa with her baby, only to find that Sonia has been murder just some time before. Horrified, they try to run, only to be caught by Inspector Karan(Akshaye Khanna). The circumstances make the duo look like murderers, but some thing is not right. With a host of interesting characters who had a motive to kill Sonia, will the killer ever be caught?
Plot
Raj & Priya just meet each other after their dreams have been shattered. They find an infant & realize that he has been dumped there by someone. They take pity on him, but after seeing a missing persons ad, they realize that the baby is the only son of Sonia Chang, a millionairess in Goa. Sonia lives in a huge mansion, with Mr. & Mrs.Lobo(Dinyaar Contractor & Roshan Tirandaaz), her servants. She is discussing the change in her will with her lawyer Mr.Dixit(Vivek Vaswani), when the duo inform her about her baby.
Sonia is overjoyed to learn this & calls them to Goa. Meanwhile, her casino is hosting some interesting people. One of them is Natwar(Paresh Rawal), a notorious gambler who has come along with his wife Gracy(Payal Rohatgi). Natwar has pawned his hotels to Sonia & has only one hotel left in his posssession. When he loses money, he is forced to pawn the last hotel too. He keeps this a secret, but Gracy knows the fact. Another person is KK(Johnny Lever) who has come along with his wife Ruby(Tanaaz Currim). There is also a playboy named Rocky(Upen Patel) among them, who is a big hit with ladies, even Sonia.
Raj & Priya come to Goa, where they run into a drunkard(Raj Zutshi), who is loitering near the mansion. The drunkard runs away on seeing them. The duo are surprised to see the mansion to be in dark, since they expected Sonia to be waiting for them. They enter the mansion & call for Sonia. When she doesn't answer, they realize that something is amiss. On seeing the state of the house, they realize that Sonia has been robbed, but are later horrified to see Sonia dead. The duo run, but with police on heels, Raj tells Priya to run away. Karan suspects & arrests Raj, but latter doesn't reveal a thing about Priya. Priya comes to rescue Raj & soon the duo become prime suspects.
To shield the other person, both Raj & Priya lie. Karan starts interrogating other people and realizes that almost everybody has a shaky alibi. Soon everybody starts lying for one reason or other. Nevertheless, this results in everybody's lie falling apart. Karan is able to reconstruct what actually happened that night. Based on Mr.Dixit's statement about the will & everybody's statement, Karan is able to find the truth. First, he procures the drunkard, whom Raj & Priya believe to be the murderer. But, Karan goes on to explain that he is in fact, the kidnapper.
Karan goes on to explain that the kidnapper was hired by someone to kidnap the baby & leave it somewhere it won't be found. The masterminds thought that Sonia will be forced to change her will, but when the baby was rediscovered, they knew that Sonia had to be killed before being united with her baby. Hence, they murdered her, while other people incriminated themselves by fooling others to believe that it was robbery gone wrong. Based on the testimonies, Karan points out that only two persons had the motive: Mr. & Mrs.Lobo. He catches their lie too & arrests them. Everybody else is exonerated, while Raj & Priya decide to marry & adopt the baby.
Cast
- Isha Koppikar as Sonia Chang
- Akshaye Khanna as Chief inspector Karan
- Shahid Kapoor as Raj
- Kareena Kapoor as Priya
- Upen Patel as Rocky
- Paresh Rawal as Natwar
- Payal Rohatgi as Gracy
- Johny Lever as KK
- Tanaaz Currim as Ruby
- Dinyar Contractor as Lobo
- Roshan Tirandaaz as Mrs. Lobo
- Vivek Vaswani as Mr. Dixit (lawyer)
- Raj Zutshi as the Drunkard
- Vivek Shauq as Inspector Ravi
- Priyanka Chopra Special Appearance as Seema
- Tanushree Dutta Special Appearance in song 'Jab Kabhie'
- Sambhavna Sheth as Simran
- Nassar Abdullah as Raj's father
Box office
The movie was modestly successful and was declared an above average grosser as it earned around 30 crore.[1]
Nominations
- Filmfare Award for Best Music - Himesh Reshamiya
- Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer Male - Aashiqui Meri (Himesh Reshamiya)
- Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer Female - Aashiqui Meri (Sunidhi Chauhan)
Soundtrack
The music is composed by Himesh Reshammiya. Lyrics are penned by Sameer.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "24x7 I Think Of You" | Sameer | Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan | 5:13 |
| 2. | "Aashiqui Meri" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:53 |
| 3. | "Badi Dilchaspi Hai" | Sameer | K K, Arya | 5:26 |
| 4. | "Dil Tumhare Bina" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Alka Yagnik | 5:23 |
| 5. | "Jab Kabhi" | Sameer | Kunal Ganjawala, Alka Yagnik | 5:21 |
| 6. | "24x7 I Think Of You - Remix" | Sameer | Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan | 4:16 |
| 7. | "Aashiqui Meri - Remix" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:16 |
| 8. | "Badi Dilchaspi Hai - Remix" | Sameer | K K, Arya | 4:08 |
| 9. | "Dil Tumhare Bina - Remix" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Alka Yagnik | 4:51 |
| 10. | "Jab Kabhi - Remix" | Sameer | Kunal Ganjawala | 3:02 |
| 11. | "Jab Kabhi - Remix - I" | Sameer | Kunal Ganjawala, Alka Yagnik | 5:02 |
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