Hum Kaun Hai?

Hum Kaun Hai?
Hum Kaun Hai?
	Poster
Directed by	Ravi Shankar Sharma
Written by	Talat Rekhi
Based on	The Others; by Alejandro Amenábar
Produced by	Soni Juneja
Starring	Dimple Kapadia; Amitabh Bachchan; Dharmendra;
Cinematography	Ishwar Bidri
Edited by	Rabiranjan Maitra
Music by	Sanjoy Chowdhury
Distributed by	4U2C Films
Release date	3 September 2004;
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Hum Kaun Hai? (transl. Who are we?) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language horror film directed by Ravi Shankar Sharma. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia, and Dharmendra in lead roles. It is a remake of the 2001 Spanish film The Others.

Plot

After the mysterious disappearance of her maid, butler, and gardener, Mrs. Sandra Williams, the wife of Major Frank, who lives in a palatial house with their two children, Sara and David, writes a letter to the local employment agency to get replacements. Martha Pinto, Edgar and Maria (a mute woman) apply for these vacancies. Sandra hires them and also lets them know that her children's eyes suffer from a condition that could cause them to be damaged by sunlight, hence the curtains are to be drawn at all times. Also she gets migraines by any loud noise, hence everyone must remain quiet, there is no electricity and all work must be done during the daytime, and the entire house is candle-lit. The staff gets busy with their work, and it is then Sara tells her mom that she has noticed other people in the house that are visible to her only, and she draws the picture of a male, a female (his wife), their son, Vicky, and an elder woman with magical powers. Sandra disbelieves her, but when she starts feeling someone's presence in her house, as well as hearing noises, she decides to investigate. She finds out that the letter she had sent to the employment agency is still lying in the mailbox. She must now find out how Martha, Edgar and Maria came to know of the vacancies, and of the presence of an album with dead people's photos. Watch as events beyond her control unfold, leading her, Sara and David face to face with the other unseen people in this household.

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan as Frank James Willams/ Major Frank John Willams (Dual role)
Dharmendra as Virendra “Viru”
Dimple Kapadia as Sandra Willams
Moushumi Chatterjee as Martha Pinto, the butler
Seema Rahmani as Maria, the maid
Abhijit Lahiri as Edgar, the gardener
Hansika Motwani as Sara Williams
Master Rehmaan as David Williams
Vikram Gokhale as Virendra's Boss
Suhasini Mulay as Anita
Prem Chopra as Anita's Husband
Master Vicky as Vicky

Production

The film was shot at Rajendra Kumar's sold bungalow.^[1]

Reception

Arnab Banerjee of Hindustan Times gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and commented, "Mystical elements as a genre seldom catch the fancy of Bollywood. It comes as a whiff of fresh air thus to see supernatural elements woven into mainstream format in a film."^[2] Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave the film 1.5 out of five stars, calling it "an experiment that may find its share of believers and non-believers." Adarsh praised the performances, particularly Kapadia's, writing that the film "revolves mostly around Dimple Kapadia's beliefs and perceptions and the actress is up to the task of making it look one thousand per cent convincing. Undeniably talented, Dimple's performance can be rightly referred to as the soul of the enterprise."^[3] BBC's Manish Gajjar commended Kapadia's work and argued that the film "has a great screenplay."^[4] Malishka Mendonsa of Rediff concluded in a negative review, "Hum Kaun Hai did not answer any questions for me. Instead, it left me asking, 'theatre mein iss waqt hum kyun hai? [Why are we in this theatre?]'"^[5] Rama Sharma of The Tribune, however, called it an "enthralling suspense thriller", and further noted, "With no smiles, no songs it is a clean spooky affair. Go for it if you have the spunk."^[6]

References

^ Alimchand, Seema Sonik (25 February 2020). Jubilee Kumar: The Life and Times of a Superstar. Hachette India. ISBN 978-93-88322-40-9.
^ Banerjee, Arnab (1 December 2004). "Hum Kaun Hai". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
^ Adarsh, Taran (3 September 2004). "Hum Kaun Hai". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
^ Gajjar, Manish (3 September 2004). "Hum Kaun Hai". BBC. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
^ Mendonsa, Malishka (3 September 2004). "Why is Amitabh in Hum Kaun Hai?". Rediff. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
^ Sharma, Rama (5 September 2004). "Enthralling suspense thriller". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

External links

Hum Kaun Hai? at IMDb

[1] Alimchand, Seema Sonik (25 February 2020). Jubilee Kumar: The Life and Times of a Superstar. Hachette India. ISBN 978-93-88322-40-9.

[2] Banerjee, Arnab (1 December 2004). "Hum Kaun Hai". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

[3] Adarsh, Taran (3 September 2004). "Hum Kaun Hai". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

[4] Gajjar, Manish (3 September 2004). "Hum Kaun Hai". BBC. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

[5] Mendonsa, Malishka (3 September 2004). "Why is Amitabh in Hum Kaun Hai?". Rediff. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

[6] Sharma, Rama (5 September 2004). "Enthralling suspense thriller". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]