Kurbaan (2009 film)

In February 2008, Khan and Kapoor were confirmed as leads for the film.[2] Kapoor called her role challenging and hinted of John Abraham featuring in the film.[3] In December 2008, UTV Motion Pictures acquired the distribution rights of the film.[4] In an interview with Rediff, D'Silva agreed that its Karan Johar's story. Johar told him about the film and for the next few months, D'Silva couldn't get it off his head. D'Silva learnt from a common friend that Karan loved the story, so he asked D'Silva to direct it.[5] D' Silva went on to add that the film is a very intricate story from India to the US, pondering into state of Islam in the modern world. He acknowledged it as a woman's story,[6] where Avantika Ahuja (Kapoor) plays a Psychology lecturer in New York. She comes to India to take care of her ailing father and joins the Delhi University. She meets Ehsaan Khan (Khan), they fall in love, marry and go back to the US. Post the movement, things with them turn topsy-turvy.[7] D'Silva cleared that the film was not based on 9/11 attacks.[7]

When Johar was quizzed on the film script bearing resemblance to Arlington Road, he stated it does have theme of terrorism.[8] As per D'Silva, the film story has three elements - the romance between Khan and Kapoor; thriller element; and it also carries a social message.[9] In January 2009, Anurag Kashyap stated the title of the film as "Jihaad" in an interview with The Telegraph.[10] In an interview with Livemint, D'Silva was quoted saying: "Character played by Khan is an “urban, educated, liberal" Muslim, in love with a Hindu girl (Kapoor)."[11] He noted a fair urban shift in the cinema on portraying Muslim characters. Adding further on Khan's character; which was not "the decadent, sozzled nawab cavorting with courtesans; not “Khan chacha", the benevolent other, or wearing a Faiz topi".[11]

Shanoo Sharma was roped in as the casting director.[12] Kirron Kher plays the role of an Afghan for the first time.[13] She worked on her dialect and at times, arranged for her own clothes. She was clear about how she wanted to look and play the role.[14] Before Oberoi was finalized, Akshaye Khanna and Irrfan Khan were considered.[15] In an interview with The Telegraph, Aki Narula confirmed designing the costumes for the characters.[16] Tara Sharma was approached for a role but rejected due to personal reasons.[17] In an interview with Subhash K Jha, Oberoi was quoted saying: "When I read the script, my first question to Karan was, why me? He laughed and said it was because I was talented and I could pull it off. And I love working with Kareena. We share a great rapport after Yuva and Omkara." The casting was finalized by Karan Johar.[6]

Kareena Kapoor[18]

Aki Narula discussed with D'Silva on the screenplay and locales to design the costumes. As she knew filming schedules in Delhi around October (winter season) she researched the different styles by going to the colleges, canteens and the local markets. For Kapoor she designed full sleeve t-shirts with v-necks and dark coloured ankle length churidars with Jaipuri work, mojri and scarves. Her costumes featured rust, burgundy, olive green, blue and purple colors as observed during Delhi University scenes. Accessories worn were silver oxidized jewels. In the track "Shukran Allah", Kapoor's salwar was of 60 metres of fabric. As the plot progresses to US, Narula kept the leads' outfits with the ideology that "travelling abroad you'd carry some clothes with you". She avoided designing or collaborating with US brands to keep the transitions real. Additionally, Narula gave her trench coats (Zara), jeans and track pants, sporting her sacred pendant. Towards the terror plot, she is donned more of grey, blue and blacks are seen in costumes.

Saif Ali Khan[18]

Narula kept Khan's costumes simple with jeans and shirts in blue, grey and green with v-neck sweaters apart from pathani kurtas with jeans. After moving to US too, his outfits introduced were long jackets in blue and grey. During the terror scenes he was made to wear of darker colors in leather. Johar, D'Silva and Narula decided that a stubble or beard gives grittiness to the character. Hence, Khan is seen unshaven.

Dia Mirza, Vivek Oberoi, Om Puri, Kirron Kher[18]

Mirza was given short skirts with jackets and work bags, in black formal work outfits whereas Oberoi in lot of dark jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, wind cheaters in navy blue, grey, olive green, and black leather jackets. His outfits were from Zara and H&M. Puri was with suit vests. Intentionally all his pathani kurtas were washed by a dhobi to get the worn look, which he noticed. Kher received a long tunic, long skirts and shawls wrapped around her head to justify her as an Afghan. She was very involved with her outfits. She had her ideas that she shared with Narula and worked together on her looks.[18]

Principal photography commenced in November 2008 in Philadelphia.[11] A set was erected to shoot replica of a terrorist attack.[11] Subway tube scene was shot underground where the train was hired.[19] Khan noted the cold weather conditions an added difficulty to get the pitch and tone right while delivering dialogues. The characters were shooting in sync sound.[20] There were 80 people in the unit.[21] Also, Kapoor also fainted on the sets owing to cold temperature.[22] Some film scenes were filmed in Brooklyn.[23] A three minute erotic scene between Khan and Kapoor (through the song "Rasiya") was requested to be removed from the film print by Kapoor for family. Also, she agreed to do it was because it was integral to the script.[24] In an interview with Press Trust of India, she was quoted saying: "“I've done kissing scenes earlier, but the lovemaking scene is explicit by my yardstick”.[25] Khan flew down to India due to health reasons on 22 December 2008.[26] D'Silva made an attempt to film in UK but cancelled due to lack of permissions and security issues.[27] Filming took place at areas around Rajpath and Delhi Haat[28] in February 2009.[29] The song "Shukraan Allah" was shot close to Humayun's Tomb with 2 lakh people witnessing the shoot.[30] However, owing to the lead pair's popularity, there were huge number of people who had come to see them especially, Jama Masjid and Janpath areas were always too high to shoot. Hence, barring a few shots, wide-angle shoots were cancelled enforcing recreation of scenes planned in Delhi for Mumbai between mid-March to April 2009.[31] The Mumbai scenes bore continuity to the ones filmed in US.[32] In May 2009, filming continued in New York.[33] Johar's production house was accused of not paying its employees on the film's sets in US.[34] In August 2009, the film was set to enter its last schedule in Pune. However, it was cancelled owing to the outbreak of swine flu.[35] As per D'Silva, Oberoi's scenes were 80 percent of the film. His character was central to the drama.[7] Oberoi was in D'Silva's room in Philadelphia every night to discuss diction, dialogues and looks. Oberoi has most single shots in the film.[36] At times, a few scenes' treatments were rewritten by Johar.[7] Filming and post-production was wrapped up by November 2009.[37]

All tracks are written by Niranjan Iyengar, except track 3 written by Irfan Siddiqui.[44].

The Central Board of Film Certification India awarded the film with an A (Restricted to adults) release certificate.[46] Vinayak Azad (The Regional Officer of the Censor Board) noted the setting of the film, which is terrorism, led to the decision. Rensil D’Silva, the director of the film, tried convincing for a ‘U’ or ‘U/A’ certificate, however, there were no changes.[46]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 42% based on 4 reviews. Kurbaan received moderately positive critical reception from critics in India and overseas.

In his review for Economic Times, Gaurav Malani wrote: "Kurbaan is an outcome of sensitive filmmaking, Technically the film is proficient in all departments. Undoubtedly the narrative bears a striking resemblance to Kabir Khan's New York both in terms of the theme and setting of the story and structure of the screenplay." He gave the film a score of 3 (out of 5).[47] Critic Taran Adarsh in his review for Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 (out of 5), noting "Kurbaan is embellished with superlative performances. Saif is extra-ordinary in a role that only proves his versatility once again. He claimed the film as most powerful film to come out of the Hindi film industry in 2009, so far. The film has a captivating plot, gripping screenplay, super performances and a climax.[48] Rajeev Masand noted "It’s a compelling thriller that doesn’t shy away from touching prickly issues, director Rensil D’silva makes a confident debut with a film that is respectable and engaging." He assigned a score of 3 on 5.[49] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the film 3 out of 5, noted: "Written sharply by producer Karan Johar, and directed intelligently by first-timer Rensil D'Silva, the film enunciates, with admirable clarity, contemporary conundrums."[50] A review by Anil Sinanan for Time Out denoted, "However, this has to be applauded for exploring a topical and sensitive subject in the widest commercial context. Interesting, entertaining and solidly executed." The score assigned was 3 on 5.[51] Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 on 5, adding on 'Kudos to Karan Johar for shifting gears completely and entering into serious territory.'[52] Ram Tarat of Future Movies UK, pointed "A chilling yet appropriately tempered and charismatic antidote to your archetypal seasonal fare, Kurbaan is a gripping white knuckle ride that turns at all the right places for the ultimate thrill ride." He added on a score of 4 (out of 5)[53] Baradwaj Rangan, his review for the film pointed: "It is yet another story about yet another terrorist. The hardware is there, but where’s the heart? Kurbaan wears its hot button topicality proudly, like a gleaming medal that’s been well and truly earned. And the members of the cast do most of the earning, each one entrusted with disbursing a bit of the sugar-coated bitter medicine."[54]

The film was released on 1250 screens across India.[1] The first day box office collections were est. ₹40 million. Despite pre-release hype and controversy, opened to average numbers.[55] Also, the first day occupancy was 40%, below the expected average of 70%.[56] The film's business in territories like Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore and Hyderabad managed 50 to 60 per cent occupancy. However, the A (Restricted to Adult) certificate from the Censor Board limited the audiences. The film went on to earn est. ₹136 million in India in the first weekend of its release. The worldwide first weekend collection were around est. ₹242 million. However, the first week collections improved meagre to est. ₹197 million in India whereas worldwide figure being est. ₹348 million. The all time worldwide gross was recorded as est. ₹429 million.

The film underperformed and hence, was declared as a flop by the Box Office India.[1] In a year end box office performance review by DNA, the film was rounded in the category big budget movies. Siddharth Roy Kapur (distribution rights) admitted that 2009 was a tough year for the Indian film industry.[57] Producer Mohan Kumar added: "Movies which did good business at the box office this year were fun films [...] even though Saif-Kareena starrer Kurbaan had a backdrop of terrorism, it did not do well."[57]

A petitioner, Mohammed Ali, filed a petition in Bombay High Court to stay the release of movie after claiming two of the songs ("Shukraan Allah" and "Ali Maula") were objectionable.[63] However, the Court refused to grant interim relief in a petition seeking a stay on release on the ground that its songs hurt sentiments of minority community.[64] In a related event, a local court rejected a private complaint seeking to delete an obscene shot (portrayed through the song "Rasiya") in the film showing Kapoor and Khan in a partially nude poses.[64] The Magistrate, who rejected the complaint, observed that no offence of alleged obscenity was made out against the film makers and actors.[64] In another event, where the first poster of the film represented Khan bare-chested and Kapoor backless, she stated: "There is love, passion and violence - all combined in the film and what better way than to show it through a single still? You too would agree that there is nothing sleazy or vulgar about it."[65] Women representing the Shiv Sena wrapped a saree around the film's poster during a defense. The party objected that the backless image shown in posters is against the Hindu culture of the state,and hence should had been immediately withdrawn.[66]

Dharma Productions tied up Australia-based Swish Films to film few scenes in Philadelphia and then left owing money to hundreds of local actors and vendors. Both Dharma and Swish Films were sued, according to documents filed in Common Pleas Court. The lawsuit sought in excess of $150,000 to be paid to in unpaid services and expenses for 25 of the vendors.[67][68] The lawsuit requested restraining order that prevented the representatives of Dharma Productions from leaving the US with its assets and the shot footage. There were paid cheques that bounced leaving more than $500,000 in unpaid bills.[68]

Dharma then offered certain workers half the amount they are owed whereas for rest they paid the full amount owed, including to the City of Philadelphia and Teamsters Local 107.[68]

In a few released prints of the film, a scene where Oberoi, Khan and University students interact in the film, the white students are speaking in English to a discussion on Islamic fundamentalism and America, a crux of the theme.[69] D'Silva was miffed with the UTV to dub those lines in Hindi. However, initially UTV assured D'Silva that dubbing was only for a very small number of prints that would go in the Hindi belt where English was not understood. Instead, UTV dubbed the sequence in 500 prints of "Kurbaan". However, Siddharth Roy Kapur added that being an important scene of the core debate, in order to not alienate a non-English speaking audience, they dubbed the scene in certain areas.[69]