Yuva
Yuva (transl. Youth) is an 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.[3]
| Yuva | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mani Ratnam |
| Produced by | Shekhar Kapoor Mani Ratnam G. Srinivasan |
| Written by | Anurag Kashyap (Dialogues)[1] |
| Screenplay by | Mani Ratnam |
| Based on | Aaytha Ezhuthu by Mani Ratnam |
| Starring | Ajay Devgn Vivek Oberoi Abhishek Bachchan Esha Deol Kareena Kapoor Rani Mukerji |
| 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 |
| Box office | est. ₹26 crore[2] |
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 changes their lives forever.[4] The narrative of the story is partially in hyperlink format.[5]
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 a 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 Meera 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 a 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 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 three 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
- 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.
- Abhishek Bachchan as Lallan Singh, a goon working as muscle for politician Prosenjit Bhattacharya.
- Esha Deol as Radhika, Michael's neighbor and also his love interest.
- Kareena Kapoor as Meera, a girl who is going to Kanpur and Arjun's love interest.
- Rani Mukerji as Shashi Biswas, Lallan's wife who gets abused every day by him.
- Om Puri as Prosenjit Bhattacharya, a ruthless politician and Lallan's boss who wants to get the college students out of politics.
- Sonu Sood as Gopal Singh, Lallan's brother, a goon who had left his brother alone and later gets killed by him.
- Karthik Kumar as Vishnu, Michael's close associate who acts as a partner to him.
- Abhinav Kashyap as Trilok, Michael's close associate who once gets beaten up by Lallan Singh.
- Vijay Raaz as Dablu, Lallan's friend who helps Arjun, Vishnu, and Trilok escape.
- Saurabh Shukla as Gopal
- Anant Nag as IAS Avinash Balachandran, Arjun's father
- Paras Arora as Arun Balachandran, Arjun's younger brother
- Tanusree Chakraborty as Arjun's classmate
- Sujata Sehgal as Michael's sister
- Lekha Washington as the girl at the embassy
- Simran as Radhika, Michael's friend (uncredited)
Production
Hrithik Roshan was initially announced to play a supporting role, but was replaced by Abhishek Bachchan.[6]
Soundtrack
| Yuva | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2004 (India) | |||
| Recorded | Panchathan Record Inn | |||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Label | Venus Records & Tapes | |||
| Producer | A.R. Rahman | |||
| A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
| ||||
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Kabhi Neem Neem" | Madhushree, A. R. Rahman | 04:49 |
| "Dol Dol" | Blaaze, Shahin Badar (Ethnic Vocals) | 03:59 |
| "Dhakka Laga Bukka" | A. R. Rahman, Karthik, Mehboob | 04:56 |
| "Baadal" | Adnan Sami, Alka Yagnik | 05:25 |
| "Fanaa" | A. R. Rahman, Sunitha Sarathy, Tanvi | 04:41 |
| "Khuda Hafiz" | Sunitha Sarathy, Lucky Ali, Karthik | 05:02 |
| "Anjaana Anjaani" (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] It was reported that the movie had the narrative style of the 2000 Mexican movie Amores Perros.[8][9]
Box office
Yuva grossed ₹173.5 million (US$2.4 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 lost around ₹ 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) to ₹ 1 crore (₹ 10 million). Overseas, too, the film has done below average business.[10][11]
Awards
2004 Filmfare Awards
- Best Supporting Actor – Abhishek Bachchan
- Best Supporting Actress – Rani Mukerji
- Critics Award Best Movie – Mani Ratnam
- Best Screenplay – Mani Ratnam
- Best Art Direction – Sabu Cyril
- Best Action – Vikram Dharma
References
- Verma, Sukanya (17 May 2004). "Anurag Kashyap: Yuva has shaped up brilliantly". Rediff.com. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- "Boxofficeindia.com". web.archive.org. 2 November 2013.
- Sarkar, Sonia (18 January 2007). "Bollywood-inspired IITians eyeing polls". The Times of India.
- "Hot spots". Archived from the original on 4 May 2009.
- "rediff.com Movies: Bollywood box office report". www.rediff.com.
- "Bhoot, now in Tamil". Rediff.com. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- "Box Offfice Decade in Review: 2004 - Veer Zaara, Dhoom 1, Main Hoon Naa". Archived from the original on
|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help). - Kumar, S. Shiva (5 October 2018). "Mani is the matter: on Chekka Chivantha Vaanam" – via www.thehindu.com.
- Jha, Subhash K. (16 November 2013). "Was 'Nayakan' inspired by 'The Godfather'?". DNA India.
- "Yuva a loser?". Rediff.
- "Give Yuva a chance. Don't kill it!". Rediff.