Main Hoon Na
| Main Hoon Na | |
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 Poster for Main Hoon Na |
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| Directed by | Farah Khan |
| Produced by | Gauri Khan; Sanjiv Chawla; Ratan Jain; Shahrukh Khan |
| Written by | Farah Khan; Rajesh Saathi; Abbas Tyrewal |
| Starring | Shahrukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Zayed Khan, Amrita Rao |
| Music by | Javed Akhtar; Anu Malik; |
| Distributed by | Red Chillies Entertainment, Eros International Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | April 30, 2004 |
| Running time | 179 min. |
| Language | Hindi |
| IMDb profile | |
Main Hoon Na (Hindi: मैं हूँ ना, Urdu: میں ہوں نا, English: Im Here Now) is a Hindi Bollywood film written and directed by Farah Khan and produced by Gauri Khan and Shahrukh Khan; it was released on April 30, 2004 and was considered a box-office success.
It mixes the genres of action, teen comedy, family melodrama and Bollywood musical.
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Plot summary
Main Hoon Na tells the story of Major Ram Prasad Sharma (Shahrukh Khan) and his efforts to foil the terrorist Raghavan (Sunil Shetty). Major Sharma is simultaneously attempting to mend relations with his father's estranged first wife and his half-brother Lakshman; complications ensue.
Raghavan wants to sabotage a military project called Milaap (Unity), a first step towards friendship between India and Pakistan. India will release fifty Pakistanis imprisoned for crossing the border into India -- most of them illiterate villagers who wandered over the border by mistake. Raghavan doesn't want the state of war between India and Pakistan to end; he lost his son in the Indo-Pak wars in Kashmir and cherishes an abiding hatred for Pakistan and all Pakistanis.
First he tries to stop Project Milaap by killing the general in charge, General Bakshi (Kabir Bedi) during a national television interview. This fails, though he does succeed in killing Brigadier Sharma (Naseeruddin Shah), Major Sharma's (Ram's) father.
As the father dies, he tells Ram about his stepmother (Kiron Kher) and half-brother Lakshman (Zayed Khan) and begs Ram to re-establish relations with them, who are to be found at a college town in the Himalayas (Darjeeling). Both brothers should cast their father's ashes into the Ganges.
Raghavan again tries to stop Project Milaap, this time by threatening to kill General Bakshi's daughter Sanjana (Amrita Rao). The General asks Major Sharma to protect Sanjana; Ram pleads that he has family responsibilities. The General points out that, by a strange coincidence, Sanjana attends school in the same town where Lakshman lives, so Ram can protect Sanjana and look for Lakshman at the same time. Ram must go under cover, as Sanjana is estranged from her father and will not accept any military escort.
So Ram pretends to be a college student, returning to college after many years away. He is much older than the other students, who at first make fun of him because of his lack of new-generation styles. He soon proves his worth and becomes a big man on campus.
He finds Lucky Lakshman, who has failed term thrice, befriends Sanjana, and succeeds in foiling Raghavan. He also falls in love with a beautiful chemistry teacher (Sushmita Sen).
The film is notable for lively music and dance sequences (the director got her start as a choreographer) and for thrilling action scenes featuring Matrix-style slow motion effects -- such as the stunning car-chase sequence involving a flaming cycle rickshaw.
Awards
Main Hoon Na was nominated for ten Filmfare Awards, among them Best Actor, Best Comedian, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Villain and Best Film, but ultimately, it only won one award: Filmfare Best Music Director Award for Anu Malik.
HHL Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA)
- 2004 Best Film Main Hoon Naa Red Chillies Entertainment.
Cast
- Shahrukh Khan ... Major Ram Prasad Sharma
- Sushmita Sen ... Miss Chandni
- Zayed Khan ... Lakshman Prasad Sharma a.k.a Lucky
- Amrita Rao ... Sanjana
- Sunil Shetty ... Raghavan
- Kabir Bedi ... General Bakshi
- Naseeruddin Shah ... Brigadier Shekhar Sharma
- Kiron Kher ... Mrs. Sharma
- Bindu ... Mrs. Kakkad
- Boman Irani ... The Principal
- Satish Shah ... Professor Rasai
- Tabu ... Special Appearance
Trivia
- The film was shot in only twenty days (onsite shooting, not counting shooting on set in Bombay)[citation needed]
- The film's end credits include appearances by Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra amongst other media personalities associated with MHN.
- Hrithik Roshan was signed to play Lucky; then Shahrukh, who plays the lead role, injured his back and the movie was put on hold for a while. Hrithik turned down the role of Lucky, which was offered to Zayed Khan, after Sohail Khan and Farhan Akhtar were considered.[citation needed]
- The actor who played Percy, the lovable nerd, is actually a computer specialist.[citation needed]
- The film was shot in St. Paul's School, Darjeeling over the winter vacations, thus the restriction on time.[citation needed]
- In early 2005, the director Farah Khan married the film's editor Shirish Kunder.
- The movie held the record for highest opening week gross in India for 28 weeks. It was finally overtaken by Veer-Zaara.[citation needed]
- Actress Tabu can be seen briefly while Shahrukh Khan's character practices a dance while director Farah Khan's brother Saajid Khan puts in a cameo appearance in the song Gori Gori.
- Boman Irani , who plays the Principal is seen reading the hardback edition of Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix , twice in the movie.
