| Kai Po Che! | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Abhishek Kapoor |
| Produced by |
Ronnie Screwvala Siddharth Roy Kapur |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | The 3 Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat |
| Starring |
|
| Music by |
Amit Trivedi Background Score: Hitesh Sonik |
| Cinematography | Anay Goswamy |
| Edited by | Deepa Bhatia |
Production company |
UTV Motion Pictures |
| Distributed by | UTV Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 126 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ?30 crore |
| Box office | ?72 crore approx. |
Kai Po Che! (also known as Kai Po Che: Brothers... for Life) is a 2013 Indian buddy drama film directed by Abhishek Kapoor based on Chetan Bhagat's novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life, with music by Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. Sushant Singh Rajput, Rajkummar Rao and Amit Sadh star as the three main protagonists while Amrita Puri plays the female lead. The film title Kai Po Che! is originally a Gujarati phrase that means "I have cut" which refers to Makar Sankranti (known as Uttarayan in Gujarat) where one of the competitors uses his kite to cut off another competitors kite and yells "Kai Po Che!" The shooting started mid-April in Vadnagar and Ahmedabad.
Set in Ahmedabad, the story revolves around three friends, Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput), Omi (Amit Sadh) and Govind (Rajkummar Rao), who want to start their own sports shop and sports academy; the film also revolves around the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and Godhra train burning. The film tracks their deep friendship, and innocence tarnished by religious politics and communal hatred. Kai Po Che! had a world premiere at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2013 where it was the first ever Indian film to feature in the World Panorama section. Kai Po Che! released worldwide on 22 February 2013 and met with critical acclaim among Indian reviewers, but mixed reviews internationally.
Contents
Plot
The film begins with Govind "Govi" Patel (Rajkumar Rao) giving a presentation in a school about the services provided by his sports club. In a parallel scene, Omkar "Omi" Shastri (Amit Sadh) is released from prison. While halting at a restaurant mid-way, Govind and Omi recall their days back to the year 2000 with the life of their late friend Ishaan.
12 years ago
Ishaan "Ish" Bhatt (Sushant Singh Rajput) is an ex-district level cricketer who is a victim of politics in the cricketing selection fraternity, Omi is the nephew of a Hindu politician, Bittu, who funds his father's temple and Govind is a geek with a penchant for business and numbers. Together they open a sports shop and an academy to train and promote talented budding cricketers. After toiling hard, they succeed in establishing it as a center for cricket among the local youth and start to incur profits.
Ishaan requests Govind to teach his sister Vidya "V" Bhatt (Amrita Puri) mathematics as her exams are coming up. Govind is reluctant at first but agrees eventually. Vidya and Govind gradually fall in love with each other and secretly begin a physical relationship. Omi discovers the same and warns Govind of the consequences, as Ishaan is very protective of his sister.
The three friends spot a budding cricketing talent in a local boy, Ali Hashmi (Digvijay Deshmukh), who has a rare talent, and Ishaan starts training him vigorously. Govind is ambitious and wants to expand the budding business by opening a shop in a mall being constructed in Navrangpura, an upcoming part of the city. With financial help coming from Omi's maternal uncle, Bishakh "Bittu" Joshi (Manav Kaul), the trio secure the deal and set up shop in the mall. Disaster strikes when a destructive earthquake hits Gujarat and the mall is destroyed. Govind is shattered as the amount of money they invested was very large and they are now loaded with a huge debt. Omi is reluctantly forced to work for Bittu's right-wing party due to the money they owe him.
When relief camps of Bittu's party declines to give Muslims shelter in troubled times, Ishaan and Omi quarrel over their politico-religious outlook and temporarily break off their friendship. They again reunite after India's surprise win in the test match against Australia. Omi gets busy with religious politics and joins Bittu's party. Ishaan and Govind, meanwhile, are busy with Ali and Vidya respectively. Tension arises in the political sphere when Bittu loses the elections in his constituency to his opponent. As a part of their campaigning, Bittu sends pilgrims (kar sevaks) to Ayodhya to the Ram Temple. Omi's parents were also among them. On the returning day, the shocking news of the Godhra train massacre reaches the people. Omi is shattered but Bittu convinces him to take revenge on the murderers of his parents.
Ishaan and Govind hide in Ali's house, fearing the communal riots which were about to start. As expected, the violence starts by sunset, and the mob led by Bittu storms into the Muslim locality, killing each and every Muslim in sight. A fight ensues between Ali's father Nasir (Asif Basra) and Bittu.Nasir stabs Bittu in defense and rushes to save Ali and take shelter in their attic. Omi, enraged at the death of his uncle Bittu, follows him with a gun. Meanwhile, Ishaan comes to know about Vidya and Govind's relationship, when he reads Vidya's text message in Govind's mobile phone about her periods. Enraged, he starts thrashing Govind while Omi enters the premises with a gun in hand, desperate to find and kill Ali and Nasir. Ishaan and Govind break their own fighting and try to stop Omi as he desperately searches for Ali and Nasir. Omi finally aims and shoots at Ali. Ishaan in a bid to save Ali takes the bullet himself and consequently dies, leaving both friends and Vidya devastated.
Present Day
The film then goes back to where it started, with Omi being released from prison ten years later. Govind and Vidya are married and have a son, whom they have named Ishaan after their late friend. The film ends with a now grown up Ali (Tahir Raj Bhasin) debuting for the Indian cricket team against Australia. He plays his first shot by hitting the ball to the boundary with a cover drive just like Ishaan had taught him.
Cast
- Sushant Singh Rajput as Ishaan "Ish" Bhatt
- Amit Sadh as Omkar "Omi" Shastri
- Rajkummar Rao as Govind "Govi" Patel
- Amrita Puri as Vidya Bhatt
- Digvijay Deshmukh as Ali Hashmi
- Asif Basra as Nasir Hashmi, Ali's father
- Manav Kaul as Bishakh "Bittu" Joshi, Omi's uncle
- Tahir Raj Bhasin in a special appearance as an adult Ali
- Ishaan Bhagat as Ishaan Patel in a special appearance
- Dinesh Kumar as John
- Ashish Kakkad as Vishwas
- Ajay Jadeja in a cameo appearance as cricket commentator
- Gaurav Kapur in a cameo appearance as cricket commentator
Production
Filming
Filming began in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of Gujarat along majority of scenes canned in old Ahmedabad and continued further in Porbandar, Diu. A scene featuring the trio was shot at Hatkeshwar Mahadev temple. One of the songs Meethi Boliyan was exclusively shot around Daman and Diu. Reportedly, Sushant Singh Rajput had to undergo four months cricket training under two coaches to fit into the book adapted character of 'Ishaan'. A cricket match sequence was shot at the Sabarmati Railway stadium sabarmati in Ahmedabad. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has granted the director permission to use footage from a historic India–Australia Kolkata test match from 2001 in Kai Po Che!. Director Abhishek Kapoor has admitted that the leading Bollywood stars didn't want to be a part of the film. Former cricketer Ajay Jadeja has been roped in for a special appearance in this film.
Title
Chetan Bhagat, whose book is adapted for the screen, first revealed the title of the film. Subsequently, a short contest was announced by him on Twitter to create the awareness about the film and its title.
Marketing
The director had a four-city promotional strategy. There were plans of bonding with friends in four cities and hanging out with them. Sushant Singh Rajput was to host a private screening of Kai Po Che! in his hometown of Patna for his childhood friends. On 18 February 2013, a star-studded premiere was organised in Cinemax, Versova, Mumbai.
Actors like Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Huma Qureshi, Arshad Warsi praised the film.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Amit Trivedi. Lyrics were penned by Swanand Kirkire and Shruti Pathak (Gujarati lyrics in Shubhaarambh), while the background music has been scored by Hitesh Sonik.
| Kai Po Che! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Amit Trivedi | ||||
| Released | 12 February 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2012–2013 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 12:21 | |||
| Language | Hindi | |||
| Label | UTV Music | |||
| Producer | Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Amit Trivedi | |||
| Amit Trivedi chronology | ||||
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