Kurbaan () is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film directed by Rensil D'Silva and produced by Karan Johar under Dharma Productions. It is based on a story by Johar, who co-wrote the screenplay with D'Silva. Starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, the story revolves around Avantika Ahuja (Kapoor), a psychology professor in New York who returns to Delhi, India, to caretake her ailing father and develops a relationship with Ehsaan (Khan). Avantika and Ehsaan fall in love, get married, and leave for the United States, where she discovers that Ehsaan and his family are linked to Islamic terrorist groups after witnessing the house arrest, domestic abuse, and murder of now family member Salma (Nauheed Cyrusi). The film's backdrop on global terrorism forms the crux.
The original story was conceptualized by Johar, who wanted D'Silva to direct it. In his directorial debut, D'Silva framed the script through the lens of the female protagonist, the romance between Kapoor and Khan, the thriller element, and a social message. The film was shot across Philadelphia, Brooklyn, New York City, Delhi and Mumbai between January 2009 to June 2009. The background score and soundtrack album are composed by the duo Salim–Sulaiman. The song sequences were choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant. Anurag Kashyap and lyricist Niranjan Iyengar have penned the dialogues.
Kurbaan was released on 20 November 2009 and received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its direction, screenplay, soundtrack, and performances of the cast, with particular praise directed towards Kapoor's performance. However, despite critical acclaim, it was declared a flop by Box Office India.
At the 55th Filmfare Awards, Kurbaan received 2 nominations – Best Actress (Kapoor) and Best Male Playback Singer (Sonu Nigam & Salim Merchant for "Shukran Allah").
Plot
Avantika Ahuja, a psychology professor living in the United States, returns to Delhi after her father falls ill. There, she meets Ehsaan Khan, a university professor from Mumbai. The two become friends and eventually fall in love. When Avantika is invited to return to the United States for work, Ehsaan agrees to accompany her. They marry and settle in America, where Avantika helps Ehsaan secure a position as a professor of "Islam and the Modern World" at her university. The couple lives in a quiet suburb with a large South Asian community.
Avantika befriends her neighbour Salma, who is being confined to her home by her husband, Hakil. Salma manages to inform Avantika of her situation and asks her to contact Rehana, a friend and television reporter. Avantika meets Rehana and her boyfriend Riyaz, a Muslim American journalist who has recently returned from Iraq. They conclude that Salma is likely a victim of domestic violence. Rehana plans to meet Salma but is unable to do so after being assigned to Iraq as part of a United Nations envoy.
After discovering that she is pregnant, Avantika overhears a group of men from the neighbourhood, led by the elder Bhaijaan, planning to bomb a plane carrying diplomats and members of the media, including Rehana. She realises that the men are members of a terrorist organisation and discovers Salma's body. The men pursue Avantika to her home, where she is reunited with Ehsaan. He initially comforts her before revealing that he is also a member of the organisation. Avantika learns that Ehsaan married her partly to obtain legal residency in the United States.
Bhaijaan orders Ehsaan to kill Avantika after she discovers the group's activities. However, upon learning of her pregnancy, Ehsaan refuses. He instead holds her captive and threatens to harm her father in India if she reveals what she knows. Avantika manages to telephone Rehana and leaves a warning on her voicemail, but Rehana has already boarded the targeted plane. The bomb detonates, killing Rehana and the other passengers.
Riyaz discovers Avantika's message and begins investigating the bombing. He goes undercover by attending Ehsaan's lectures and befriending him. Meanwhile, Avantika and the other wives of the organisation's members are kept under the supervision of Aapa, Bhaijaan's wife. Aapa explains the group's interpretation of jihad and reveals that Ehsaan was originally an Afghan man without a political ideology until his first wife and son were killed in an American bombing.
While attempting to dispose of Salma's body, Hakil and Ehsaan attract the attention of the police. Ehsaan kills Hakil and the officers before setting their vehicle on fire. Salma's partially burned body is subsequently discovered, prompting the FBI to distribute photographs of her in an attempt to identify her.
Ehsaan considers Riyaz a suitable replacement for Hakil and introduces him to Bhaijaan. Suspicious of Riyaz, Bhaijaan tests his loyalty by ordering him to shoot a man working at a fast-food counter. Riyaz appears to comply, but the gun is unloaded. Having passed the test, Riyaz is recruited for the organisation's next operation, which involves bombing several subway stations in New York City.
Riyaz and Avantika secretly cooperate to thwart the operation and expose the organisation. Riyaz arranges to meet with the FBI, but the plan is disrupted when one of the group's members recognises Salma's photograph. Bhaijaan consequently moves the bombing operation forward.
The group proceeds with the attack, with the women travelling together under Aapa's supervision while the men carry bombs intended for separate subway stations. During the operation, Riyaz's colleague accidentally exposes his true identity to Ehsaan and Bhaijaan. Riyaz attempts to escape and shoots Bhaijaan. Before dying, Bhaijaan reveals that three additional bombs have been placed in the women's bags without their knowledge. One of the bombs is being carried by Avantika.
Realising that Avantika and their unborn child are in danger, Ehsaan allows Riyaz to escape and searches for Avantika. Riyaz alerts the FBI, which dispatches teams to the targeted stations. The explosives carried by the women are safely recovered, while one of the male bombers detonates his explosives. Another bomber is apprehended before detonating his device but dies after swallowing a concealed cyanide capsule.
Ehsaan kills Aapa to free Avantika and admits that he loves her, asking her to care for their child. He successfully disarms the final bomb but is fatally wounded while fleeing from pursuing police officers. Before leaving, Avantika asks whether Ehsaan was his real name. He reveals that his real name is Khalid. As Avantika leaves the train, she hears a gunshot, implying that Khalid has taken his own life.
Cast The cast has been listed below:
Production
Development In February 2008, Khan and Kapoor were confirmed as leads for the film. Kapoor called her role challenging and hinted of John Abraham featuring in the film. In December 2008, UTV Motion Pictures acquired the distribution rights of the film. 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. 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, where Avantika Ahuja (Kapoor) plays a psychology lecturer living in New York. She comes to India to take care of her ailing father and joins 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. D'Silva cleared that the film was not based on 9/11 attacks.
When Johar was quizzed on the film script bearing resemblance to Arlington Road (1999), he stated it does have theme of terrorism. As per D'Silva, the film story has three elements - the romance between Khan and Kapoor; the thriller element; and it also carries a social message. In January 2009, Anurag Kashyap stated the title of the film as Jihaad in an interview with The Telegraph. In an interview with Livemint, D'Silva was quoted saying: "The character played by Khan is an “urban, educated, liberal" Muslim, in love with a Hindu girl played by Kapoor." 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".
Casting Shanoo Sharma was roped in as the casting director. Kher plays the role of an Afghan for the first time. 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. Before Oberoi was finalized, Akshaye Khanna and Irrfan Khan were considered. In an interview with The Telegraph, Aki Narula confirmed designing the costumes for the characters. Tara Sharma was approached for a role but rejected due to personal reasons. 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 (2004) and Omkara (2006)." The casting was finalized by Karan Johar.
Costume design Aki Narula discussed with D'Silva on the screenplay and locales to design the costumes. As he knew filming schedules in Delhi around October (winter season), he researched the different styles by going to the colleges, canteens, and the local markets. For Kapoor, he designed full sleeve t-shirts with V-necks and dark-colored ankle-length churidars with Jaipuri work, mojri and scarves. Her costumes featured rust, burgundy, olive green, blue and purple colors, as observed during the 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 the U.S., Narula kept the leads' outfits with the ideology that "when traveling abroad, you'd carry some clothes with you". He avoided designing or collaborating with U.S. brands to keep the transitions real. Additionally, Narula gave her Zara trench coats, jeans, and track pants, while sporting her sacred pendant. Towards the terror plot, she dons more of grey, blue, and blacks costumes.
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 the U.S. too, his outfits introduced were long jackets in blue and grey. During the terror scenes, he was made to wear 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.
Puri was given suit vests to don throughout the film. Intentionally, all his pathani kurtas were washed by a dhobi to get the worn look, which he noticed. Kher received 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. Oberoi was given a lot of dark jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, wind cheaters in navy blue, grey, olive green, and black leather jackets, all from Zara and H&M, while Mirza was given short skirts with jackets and work bags, in black formal work outfits.
Filming