Kaun?

Kaun?
Poster
Directed by	Ram Gopal Verma
Written by	Anurag Kashyap
Produced by	Mukesh Udeshi Allu Aravind
Starring	Urmila Matondkar Manoj Bajpayee Sushant Singh
Cinematography	Mazhar Kamran
Edited by	Bhanodaya
Music by	Sandeep Chowta
Production company	Kshitij Production Combines
Distributed by	Video Sound (Canada) Video Sound (USA)
Release date	26 February 1999 (1999-02-26)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Kaun? (transl. 'Who?') is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language psychological horror film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, written by Anurag Kashyap and starring Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpayee and Sushant Singh. It was shot in 15 days making it one the lowest recorded time to complete and wrap up shoot in Indian cinema history. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Yevaru?. The film was remade into Kannada as Shock (2010).

Plot

On a gloomy day, a scared young woman talks to her parents on the telephone, enquiring about when they will be home. As she watches the news of a serial killer at large, the doorbell rings. The visitor identifies himself as Sameer Poonavale, claiming to be a business partner of the homeowner, Mr. Malhotra. The woman is reluctant to open the door, due to the serial killer on the loose. She says that the house doesn't belong to Mr. Malhotra, but to a Mr. Gupta.

Believing that there has been a misunderstanding, Sameer persistently rings the doorbell even after the woman won't let him in. To scare him away, she lies that her husband is asleep upstairs. Sameer says that he has indeed seen a man in the house, and requests to talk to him. Upon hearing this and a noise from within the house, the woman becomes scared and runs outside. Sameer takes her back inside, reassuring her that he will protect her.

Due to a sudden power cut, the woman goes to the kitchen to look for candles, but finds her pet cat dead. Terrified, she runs to the door, only to find a man holding a gun. The man says he is Inspector Qureshi and calls the police station for help. Sameer and the woman are suspicious of Qureshi, and the two men fight. The woman grabs the gun, forcing Qureshi to reveal that he is not actually a policeman but a thief. The woman telephones her mother and asks her to contact the police.

Sameer gravely injures Qureshi, thinking that he is the serial killer. He picks up the telephone to call the police but the phone is not working. Confused, he asks the woman to hide while he tries to fix the phone. The doorbell rings and Sameer answers. He calls out to the woman, saying that there is a man asking for Mr. Malhotra, even though earlier she had insisted that the house belongs to Mr. Gupta.

Bewildered, Sameer searches for her in the attic and stumbles upon Mr. Malhotra's dead body. The woman attacks him but Sameer is stabbed by Qureshi, who believes that he is the killer. The woman begins humming and stabs Qureshi to death.

The next day, the woman begins to remove the bodies, clean up the house, rearrange the furniture and "talk" to her mother with the disconnected telephone, revealing her to be the serial killer. The doorbell rings and there is another man at the door, asking for Mr. Malhotra. The woman turns to the audience and flashes an unhinged smile.

It is never known who the woman really is and how she is committing murders in an unknown house, or if Mr. Malhotra was someone to her.

Cast

• Urmila Matondkar as a nameless woman referred to as Ma'am.
• Manoj Bajpayee as Sameer A. Purnavale
• Sushant Singh as a thief who is initially presented as Inspector Qureshi's false name.

Reception

Anupama Chopra in her review for India Today stated, "Relentlessly experimental, he moved from the MTV love story Rangeela to the spoof-gone-poof Daud to the gritty underworld saga Satya without a pause. In Kaun, Varma takes a shot at an Ittefaq-style songless suspense thriller and almost pulls it off." Suparn Verma of Rediff said, "The film starts with a big scare that leaves you feeling silly and, slowly, as the momentum picks up, it draws you in. You prepare for the worst and end up jumping into the shadows. Though the climax is a little long-drawn and leaves you with some unanswered questions, it delivers the required punch."

According to the Hindustan Times, Kaun enjoys a near cult status today.

External links

• Kaun? at IMDb