Yuva

Yuva
Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman
Released	2004 (India)
Recorded	Panchathan Record Inn
Genre	Film soundtrack
Label	Venus
Producer	A.R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology

Yuva
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mani Ratnam
Produced by	Shekhar Kapoor; Mani Ratnam; G. Srinivasan
Written by	Anurag Kashyap (Dialogues)
Screenplay by	Mani Ratnam
Based on	Aaytha Ezhuthu; by Mani Ratnam
Starring	Abhishek Bachchan; Ajay Devgn; Vivek Oberoi; Rani Mukerji; Kareena Kapoor; Esha Deol
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Cinematography	Ravi K. Chandran
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Distributed by	Madras Talkies
Release date	21 May 2004
Running time	162 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	?120 million (equivalent to ?300 million or US$4.5 million in 2017)
Box office	?172.5 million (equivalent to ?440 million or US$6.5 million in 2017)

Yuva (English : Youth), originally titled Howrah Bridge, is a 2004 Indian political thriller film directed by Mani Ratnam and released in 2004. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil as Aaytha Ezhuthu and in Hindi, and is based on the storyline of students entering politics.

The film tells the stories of three young men from completely different strata of society and how one fateful incident on Kolkata's Howrah Bridge which changes their lives forever. The narrative of the story is partially in hyperlink format.^[6]

Background

The film is set in Kolkata. Michael (Ajay Devgn), Arjun (Vivek Oberoi), Vishnu (Karthik Kumar) and Trilok (Abhinav Kashyap) are leaders of a student organisation who want to remove the corruption involved in politics. However, their lives take an unexpected turn when Lallan Singh (Abhishek Bachchan), a goon working for ruthless politician Prosenjit Bhattacharya (Om Puri), tries to eliminate them.

Plot

Lallan Singh (Abhishek Bachchan) is a goon, originally from Bihar but settled in Kolkata, West Bengal because his brother Gopal Singh (Sonu Sood) has left him alone and he had no option of earning back home. He loves, marries and abuses his wife, Shashi Biswas (Rani Mukerji).

Michael Mukherjee (Ajay Devgn) is an influential student leader who wants politicians like Prosenjit Bhattacharya (Om Puri) to keep away from college elections. His closest associates are his best friends Vishnu (Karthik Kumar) and Trilok (Abhinav Kashyap). Among the two, Vishnu acts as an partner to Michael. Michael, in his personal life, is in love with his neighbour Radhika (Esha Deol) who lives with her uncle and aunt.

Arjun Balachandran (Vivek Oberoi) is the carefree and spoiled son of an IAS officer. He wants to relocate to the U.S. for a better future. He falls in love with Meera (Kareena Kapoor), whom he just met. Arjun asks Mira for coffee and takes her to the beach and realizes that Meera loves him back.

One day, Arjun and Meera get into a quarrel on the road and Mira gets into an taxi. Arjun gets lift from Michael to catch up with Meera, who is going that way. Suddenly, Michael is hit by a bullet, and he is saved by Arjun. After talking to Michael, Arjun changes his mind and wants to be a politician. Prosenjit is worried when he hears news of students standing in the election. He uses every possible way to get them out of politics. First he provides scholarship of a prestigious foreign university to Michael. When Michael refuses the bribe, he orders his goon Gopal Singh to take control. Gopal orders Lallan to beat up Trilok, which he does; but faces very strong retaliation from Michael and his fellow students. After that Lallan Singh takes charge and kills Gopal. He kidnaps Arjun, Vishnu and Trilok. However, they escape with the help of Lallan Singh's ally Dablu (Vijay Raaz). Lallan follows Arjun and beats him up. While running, Arjun calls Michael for help. He comes to rescue Arjun at Vidyasagar Setu. A fight ensues between the 3 men but Lallan overpowers Arjun but is defeated by Michael who chooses to spare him and leave him for the police.

Lallan is handed to the police. Michael, Arjun, Vishnu and Trilok win the four seats they had contested for and thus enter into politics. Shashi leaves for her hometown while Lallan remains in prison.

Cast

Abhishek Bachchan as Lallan Singh, a goon working as muscle for politician Prosenjit Bhattacharya.
Ajay Devgn as Michael Mukherjee, an activist who wants to encourage students to enter politics.
Vivek Oberoi as Arjun Balachandran, a wealthy young man who dreams of going to America.
Rani Mukerji as Shashi Biswas, Lallan's wife who gets abused every day.
Kareena Kapoor as Meera, A girl who is going to Kanpur and also Arjun's love interest.
Esha Deol as Radhika, Michael's neighbor and also his love interest.
Om Puri as Prosenjit Bhattacharya
Sonu Sood as Gopal Singh, Lallan's brother, also a goon
Karthik Kumar as Vishnu
Saurabh Shukla
Paras Arora as Arun Balachandran, Arjun's younger brother
Vijay Raaz as Dablu, a friend of Lallan Singh
Anant Nag as IAS Avinash Balachandran, Arjun's Father
Abhinav Kashyap as Trilok
Tanusree Chakraborty as Arjun's classmate
Simran as Michael's friend (uncredited)
Lekha Washington as the girl at the embassy
Sujata Sehgal as Michael's sister

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features six songs by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Mehboob. The rap and lyrics for the song Dol Dol were by Blaaze.

Song	Artist(s)	Duration
"Dhakka Laga Bukka"	A. R. Rahman, Karthik, Mehboob	04:59
"Khuda Hafiz"	Sunitha Sarathy, Lucky Ali, Karthik	05:02
"Kabhi Neem Neem"	Madhushree, A. R. Rahman	04:57
"Dol Dol"	Blaaze, featuring ethnic vocals by Shahin Badar	03:59
"Baadal"	Adnan Sami, Alka Yagnik	05:25
"Fanaa"	A. R. Rahman, Sunitha Sarathy, Tanvi Shah	04:41
"Anjanaa Anjani" (Additional song as a background score)	Sunitha Sarathy, Karthik	01:04

Reception

Critical reception

Abhishek Bachchan was praised by the critics for hints of a rustic 'angry young man' type performance in the film.^[7]

Box office

Yuva grossed ?173.5 million (US$2.6 million) at Indian box office. Yuva did well in multiplexes. But it has not done well in single screen theatres. Compared to other parts of the country, it has fared better in Mumbai. The Mumbai distributor will recover the cost of the film, but his sub-territory distributors in places like Surat and Gujarat lost money.In places like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, even the south India, distributors lostaround ? 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) to ? 1 crore (? 10 million). Overseas, too, the film has done average business.^[8]^[9]