Ajnabee (2001 film)
| Ajnabee | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Abbas–Mustan |
| Produced by | Vijay Galani |
| Screenplay by |
Sanjeev Duggal Neeraj Vora Robin Bhatt Shyam Goel |
| Story by | Neeraj Vora |
| Starring |
Bobby Deol Akshay Kumar Bipasha Basu Kareena Kapoor |
| Music by |
Songs: Anu Malik Background Score: Surinder Sodhi |
| Cinematography | Rajan Kinagi |
| Edited by | Hussain A Burmawala |
| Distributed by | Film Folks, Venus Records & Tapes Pvt Ltd |
Release date |
|
Running time | 165 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹17 crore[1] |
| Box office |
Worldwide Gross: 31.83 crore India Gross: ₹28.83 crore Total Nett Gross: ₹17.04 crore[2] |
Ajnabee (English: Stranger) is a 2001 Indian Hindi suspense thriller film directed by Abbas-Mustan and produced by Vijay Galani. It stars Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor and debutant Bipasha Basu in the lead with Johnny Lever, Dalip Tahil, Narendra Bedi and Sharat Saxena in supporting roles. The film is an adaptation of the 1992 American thriller Consenting Adults, directed by Alan J. Pakula. It was the second film of Akshay Kumar and Abbas-Mustan after Khiladi and the second film of Bobby Deol and Abbas-Mustan after Soldier.
Plot
Raj (Bobby Deol) and Priya (Kareena Kapoor) meet by chance and fall in love after a whirlwind romance. They marry and reside in Switzerland, where they meet another Indian couple: Vikram (Akshay Kumar) and Sonia (Bipasha Basu). The couples quickly become friends and decide to go on a Christmas vacation together to Mauritius.
During their vacation, Raj sees Vikram with another woman, kissing and looking intimate. At the same time, Sonia begins to try to seduce Raj, who rejects her. Vikram notices Raj looking at Sonia and casually talks to him about wife swapping, this upsets Raj and an argument breaks out between the two men. However, a couple of days later, they resolve their issues and become friends again. On Vikram's birthday, the two men celebrate by getting drunk together, sharing bottles of alcohol. The next morning Raj goes jogging in order to work off his hangover and finds that he cannot recall much of the previous night.
After some time, Sonia is found dead, and Raj is accused of her murder since his fingerprints are found on the murder weapon - an alcohol bottle. Determined to prove his innocence, Raj manages to escape from court, and is chased by the Swiss police. He meets Priya, who eventually believes his innocence and aids him in finding out what really happened. He decides to search Vikram's house, only to be interrupted by Vikram, who calls the police and then reveals that everything was planned in advance. Raj escapes in Vikram's car with Priya.
Raj finds a boarding pass that belongs to Sonia Bajaj, which states that Sonia arrived in Zurich on 29 December — however, Sonia was supposedly murdered on that night. Raj suspects her to be the woman he saw with Vikram, traveling to Geneva together. In Geneva, Raj meets an insurance officer who is trying to find evidence that Vikram was involved in the death of his wife, in order to receive her life insurance payment of $100 million. Working with the insurance agent, Raj traces Vikram to a cruise ship. There, he sees Vikram dancing with a woman who is revealed to be 'Sonia', alive and well.
Raj confronts Vikram, who finally explains the whole devious plan - the woman whom he kissed in Mauritus was his actual wife Sonia Bajaj (Mink Brar), while the woman with him that Priya and Raj were introduced to in Switzerland is his girlfriend Neeta (Bipasha Basu). Vikram, a struggling musician, married the wealthy and glamorous Sonia, and convinced her to take out an insurance plan of $100 million on herself. He then formulated a plan with Neeta to have Sonia killed so that they could collect the money.
Vikram boasts about having pinned the murder on Raj. However, Raj takes Vikram to a computer and shows him his empty bank account. Raj says that he had guessed the password, "Everything is planned", something that Vikram used to say a lot, and used it to transfer the money back to the insurance company. Raj also reveals that everything Vikram said had been recorded. A fight erupts between the two and Neeta dies in the conflict. Angered at losing Neeta, Vikram gets aggressive, killing the insurance officer and seemingly kills Raj. He chases Priya to kill her too, but Raj is able to save her. Vikram dies when he is impaled by an anchor from the cruise ship. Now proved innocent, Raj and Priya move back to India.
Cast
- Bobby Deol as Raj Malhotra
- Akshay Kumar as Vikram Bajaj (Vicky)
- Bipasha Basu as Neeta (fake Sonia Bajaj)
- Kareena Kapoor as Priya Malhotra
- Mink Brar as Sonia Bajaj
- Johnny Lever as Banu Pradhan (BP)
- Amita Nangia as Champa Devi
- Dalip Tahil as Priya's father
- Sharat Saxena as the insurance officer
- Sheela Sharma as Vina Chandra Devi
- Narendra Bedi as Lakhan Pal (LP)
Soundtrack
| Ajnabee | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Anu Malik | |
| Released | 2001 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 50:38 |
| Label | Tips Music |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Planet Bollywood |    |
The soundtrack for Ajnabee is composed by Anu Malik and the lyrics are penned by Sameer. It is released by Tips Music.[4]
In 2011, ten years after the release of Ajnabee, Malik claimed that the song "Character Dheela" from the film Ready is an unauthorised copy of the song "Mohabbat Naam Hai" while informing the media that he will likely file a suit against composer, Pritam for plagiarism.[5] According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 22,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's sixth highest-selling.[6]
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Mohabbat Naam Hai" | Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik | 6:19 |
| 2 | "Mehbooba Mehbooba" | Adnan Sami, Sunidhi Chauhan | 7:27 |
| 3 | "Meri Zindagi Mein Ajnabee" | Kumar Sanu, Sunidhi Chauhan | 6:57 |
| 4 | "Mujhko Neend Aa Rahi Hai" | Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:46 |
| 5 | "Dance Music" | Anu Malik | 1:22 |
| 6 | "Kaun Main Haan Tum" | Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu | 6:44 |
| 7 | "Kasam Se Teri Aankhen Aaiya Re Aaiya" | Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Hema Sardesai | 5:55 |
| 8 | "Jab Tumhe Aashiqui Maloom" | Kumar Sanu | 6:48 |
| 9 | "Mehbooba Mehbooba (E-Groove Mix)" | Adnan Sami, Sunidhi Chauhan, DJ Khalif | 4:20 |
Production
Originally, actress Mahek Chahal was cast in the role of Neeta (Fake Sonia) which eventually was given to Bipasha Basu. The climax of the film was shot in Muscat, Dubai and Bahrain on the Indian-owned cruise liner Ocean Majesty.[7]
Reception
Ajnabee received mostly mixed reviews from critics. The performance of Akshay Kumar was praised and he won the Filmfare Award for Best Villain. Bipasha Basu won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
Box office
The film's Total Nett Gross was ₹17.04 crore and was declared as an "Super Hit" grosser by the Box Office India.[8]
References
- ↑ http://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=663/
- ↑ http://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=663/
- ↑ Bahra, Mandeep. "Music Review – Ajnabee". Planet Bollywood. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
- ↑ "Ajnabee (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. iTunes. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
- ↑ "Character Dheela- a copy of my song: Anu Malik". NDTV. Indo-Asian News Service. 26 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ↑ "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ↑ Hungama, Bollywood (2001-05-01). "Climax of Ajnabee to be shot on a cruise liner: - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ "Ajnabee - Movie - Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-29.