Krrish

The film stars Hrithik Roshan in a dual role as father and son, with Priyanka Chopra, Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha, Sharat Saxena and Manini Mishra feature in supporting roles. A sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), it is the second installment in the Krrish franchise, and relates the story of Krishna (Roshan), the son of the previous film's protagonist, who inherits his father's superhuman abilities. After falling in love with Priya (Chopra), he follows her to Singapore, where he takes on the persona of "Krrish" to keep his identity secret while saving children from a burning circus. From that moment on, he is regarded as a superhero, and must later thwart the plans of the evil Dr. Siddhant Arya (Shah), who has a connection to Krishna's father, Rohit.

Krrish
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rakesh Roshan
Screenplay by	Sachin Bhowmick Rakesh Roshan Akarsh Khurana Honey Irani Robin Bhatt
Story by	Rakesh Roshan
Produced by	Rakesh Roshan
Starring	Hrithik Roshan Priyanka Chopra Naseeruddin Shah Rekha Sharat Saxena Manini Mishra
Cinematography	Santosh Thundiyil
Edited by	Amitabh Shukla
Music by	Score: Salim–Sulaiman Songs: Rajesh Roshan
Production company	Filmkraft Productions Pvt. Ltd
Distributed by	Adlabs
Release date	June 23, 2006 (2006-06-23)
Running time	175 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹40 crores
Box office	₹126.55 crores

Krrish was conceived to be a film of global significance and a trendsetter in Indian cinema, with visual effects on par with those from Hollywood. To that end, the effects team was aided by Hollywood's Marc Kolbe and Craig Mumma, and the stunts were choreographed by Chinese martial arts film expert Tony Ching. The music was composed by Rajesh Roshan, with the background score by Salim–Sulaiman. Filming was done to a large extent in Singapore as well as India.

Krrish released worldwide on 23 June 2006 at a budget of ₹40 crore and on 1000 prints, both near-record amounts for an Indian film at the time. Krrish received positive reviews from critics in India, got a record opening week at the box office. A blockbuster, Krrish grossed a worldwide total of ₹126 crore, becoming the second highest-grossing Indian film of 2006.

Krrish received 8 nominations at the 52nd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Rakesh), Best Actor (Hrithik) and Best Supporting Actress (Rekha), and won 3 awards, including Best Special Effects. At the 8th IIFA Awards, the film received 9 nominations, and won 3 awards, including Best Actor (Hrithik). It also won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects. The third film in the series, Krrish 3 was released in 2013.

Five-year-old Krishna Mehra is the orphaned son of the late scientist, Dr. Rohit Mehra, and his late wife, Nisha, and lives in the small town of Kasauli with his grandmother, Sonia. He is undergoing an intelligence quotient test by his school principal, Father Robericks, who suspects that Krishna has biologically inherited his father's superpowers due to the latter answering all the questions flawlessly. Shocked at learning this, Sonia takes the young Krishna to a remote mountain village in North India to conceal his unique abilities, not wanting to lose her grandson the same way she lost her son and daughter-in-law. Two decades later, an adult Krishna meets vacationing girls, Priya and Honey, who are taken camping near his home by Krishna's friend, Bahadur. After Krishna saves Priya from a hang glider accident, the two become friends and grow close, just before Priya and Honey depart for their home in Singapore, but Krishna has the stronger feelings of love. Before leaving, Priya and Honey have witnessed first-hand some of the special abilities that Krishna exhibits, like talking to animals and superhuman strength.

After returning to Singapore, Priya and Honey are fired by their boss for taking non-permitted 5-days extension of vacation. In an attempt to keep their jobs, Honey suggests inviting Krishna to Singapore and making a television program about him. Aware of Krishna's love towards her, Priya invites him to join her in Singapore. However, Sonia protests to this by stating that the people there will only wish to exploit his abilities, and then explains to Krishna that his father, Rohit, was invited to Singapore and hired by a scientist, Dr. Siddhant Arya, to help create a computer to see the future in order to prevent wars and help prepare against natural disasters. However, on the night of Krishna's birth, Rohit contacted his mother to inform that his superpowers were being misused, and reportedly died in a laboratory accident that night (although his dead body was not recovered), causing Krishna's mother, Nisha, to die shortly after as well, unable to bear the shock. Shocked at learning this, Krishna promises Sonia that he will never reveal his powers, so she permits him to go, aware of his feelings towards Priya.

In Singapore, during the production of the television program, Krishna keeps his word, causing Priya and Honey to be fired again with the program revealing nothing exceptional about him. Later, Krishna meets with a stunt performer, Kristian Li (Bin Xia), who is attempting to raise funds to pay for his handicapped young sister's leg surgery. He invites Krishna and Priya to the Great Bombay Circus, but during the performance, a firework explodes and ignites the tent, which is swiftly evacuated. Several children remain trapped in the blaze, and Krishna is faced with the dilemma of saving the children without revealing his abilities. He applies a broken black clown's mask lying on the floor and wears his jacket on inside-out, creating the persona of "Krrish". After a few days, Kristian witnesses Krrish fighting some goons and removing his mask. He is shocked to learn that his friend Krishna is Krrish. As Krrish is being offered a reward for his deeds, Krishna asks Kristian to assume his identity, so that he can pay for his sister's surgery.

Meanwhile, Priya and Honey are too shocked to learn that Krishna is Krrish when they see the footage from the video camera that was in Priya's hand. They decide to release the footage on TV to enable Krishna to become a world-famous celebrity. During their discussions, Krishna arrives and overhears the girls talking about how Priya had been lying to him, and will create a big sensation by revealing his identity to the world. Just before Priya confesses to Honey that in this drama she has genuinely fallen in love with Krishna, he leaves, dejected. After being confronted by Krishna at his hotel about what she said, Priya realises her mistake and to stop her boss from revealing Krrish's identity, age rushes to the speech event of Rohit's former colleague, Dr. Arya, which her boss has been attending. In the process, Priya meets Vikram Sinha, the senior security officer of Dr. Arya, who has been searching for Krishna and his grandmother for the past 20 years. With the help of Priya, Sinha meets Krishna and shockingly reveals to him that Rohit is still alive. He explains that he and Rohit had become very close friends, and after completing the machine, both Rohit and Sinha tested it and were shocked to see Dr. Arya holding Rohit at gunpoint. Rohit understood that Dr. Arya was going to kill him and then use the machine for his own selfish needs. He was able to destroy the computer, before being taken as a prisoner by Dr. Arya, who spread the fake news that he died in a laboratory accident.

Meanwhile, back in the present time-line, Dr. Arya has rebuilt the computer after 20 years. He tests the computer to reveal his future and is shocked to see Krrish killing him. In an attempt to change his future, Dr. Arya quickly visits Kristian's house and shoots the latter dead, believing him to be Krrish. After learning about Kristian's death and seeing Dr. Arya leaving from his house, Krrish uses his superhuman speed to pursue Dr. Arya's car to his office and his helicopter to his remote island where he has imprisoned Rohit. When Dr. Arya looks into the future again, he sees that the visual has not changed, and is shocked to see Krrish still alive and on his island. When Krrish enters the compound, there is a vicious fight with Dr. Arya's thugs whom Krrish eventually defeats, but Dr. Arya shoots Sinha dead and holds Priya and Rohit at gunpoint. In the final scene, Krrish saves Priya and Rohit and injures Dr. Arya fatally. With his last breath, Dr. Arya asks Krrish who he is, and Krishna reveals himself. After revealing to Rohit that Krishna is his son, Krishna and Priya take Rohit with them back to India, reuniting him with his mother. Rohit finds out that his wife, Nisha, had died after he disappeared. He mourns her along with his mother, son and daughter-in-law, and uses the supercomputer created by his late father to summon his alien friend, Jadoo, whose spaceship can be seen from a distance.

Main cast

• Hrithik Roshan in a dual role as:
  • Dr. Rohit Mehra, a scientist, Krishna's father
  • Krishna Mehra / Krrish, Priya's love interest, Rohit's son and Sonia's grandson
• Priyanka Chopra as Priya, Krishna's love interest, Honey's friend
• Rekha as Sonia Mehra, Krishna's grandmother and Rohit's mother
• Naseeruddin Shah as Dr. Siddhant Arya, a scientist
• Sharat Saxena as Vikram Sinha, Dr. Arya's senior security officer
• Manini Mishra as Honey Arora; Priya's friend
• Puneet Issar as Komal Singh; Priya's camp leader
• Akash Khurana as Father Robericks, a Catholic school principal
• Hemant Pandey as Bahadur, Krishna's friend

Supporting cast

• Ahmad Khan as Dr. Mathur
• Bin Xia as Kristian Li
• Edgar Noordanus
• Mithilesh Chaturvedi
• Zain Khan as Chintu, Krishna's friend
• Fardeen Hussaini as Krishna's friend
• Mickey Dhamijani as Krishna's friend
• Yu Xuan as Kristian's sister

Special appearances

• Archana Puran Singh as Nayantara, Priya and Honey's boss
• Kiran Juneja as Priya's mother
• Preity Zinta as Nisha Mehra, Krishna's mother and Rohit's wife
• Rakesh Roshan as Dr. Sanjay Mehra, Krishna's grandfather and Rohit's father (archived footage)

Development

In November 2004, the Roshans confirmed they would produce a sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya (2003). They announced that actors Hrithik Roshan and Rekha would return for the sequel, but that Preity Zinta would be replaced by Priyanka Chopra. Chopra also confirmed the same, adding, "The story will start where Koi... Mil Gaya ended." Before Chopra, Amrita Rao was cast as the female lead, and she and Hrithik starred in a photoshoot. However, the results of the photoshoot left Rakesh Roshan dissatisfied, and thus Rao was removed from the project. Rakesh Roshan hoped that the film would be remembered as the first to prove that the Indian film industry is equal to Hollywood. He decided to push the story forward by focusing on the son of the previous films's protagonist, who would inherit his father's special abilities. The story combined elements of Indian mythology (the main character's name Krishna alludes to the Hindu Lord Krishna), Chinese martial arts and Hollywood films to set itself up as a film of global significance.

Pre-production

Rakesh Roshan wanted Krrish to be a trendsetter in Indian cinema, with visual effects on par with Hollywood films. He hired Hollywood special effects experts Marc Kolbe and Craig Mumma, who had both previously worked on such films as Independence Day, Godzilla and Sky Captain, to help create the visual effects for the film. Roshan also hired Hong Kong action director Tony Ching after admiring his work in Hero. Before production began, Hrithik Roshan went to China to train with Ching for the cable work that would be needed to make his character "fly". A story board of the film was prepared and sent to Ching to help him develop the action sequences. Additional production credits include: Farah Khan – choreographer, Samir Chanda and Sham Kaushal – art directors, Baylon Fonesca and Nakul Kamte – sound, Nahush Pise – makeup artist, Sham Kaushal – assistant action director.

Filming

Krrish was the first Indian film to be shot in Singapore under the Singapore Tourism Board's Film-in-Singapore subsidy scheme, and over 60% of the film was shot there. Shooting was accomplished on location over a span of 2 months, from September to November 2005. Locations featured included the Singapore Zoo, the Gateway building, and the Singapore National Library. Another major filming location was Robinson Road, where heavy rains caused production delays. The Singapore police were on location to block roads and protect the filming equipment, such as when the film's action scenes required two 250-foot high industrial cranes. Author Audrey Yue noted that the film shoot benefited Singapore by leading to domestic and Indian film-induced tourism.

Filming also took place in Manali and Film City in Mumbai. During filming of a flying stunt, one of the wires that was tied to Hrithik Roshan broke, causing him to fall 50 feet, though he landed safely on a shop's canopy. Hrithik described the incident as a "freak accident", stating, "I was skydiving to my death till I fell on a six-feet-long canopy of a shop that was out because of the slight drizzle. The canopy had iron rods. But I missed those rods too. What do I say? I guess the right word to describe the situation would be jadoo (magic)." Roshan also suffered other injuries during the film's production. He tore the hamstring in his right leg during a circus scene, singed his hair while running through fire in another action scene, and broke his thumb and toe during strenuous training for the wirework.

Post-production

Indian firm Prasad EFX assigned a team of more than 100 VFX specialists to work with Marc Kolbe and Craig Mumma to create the visual effects for the film. Included were sophisticated 3D modelling and computer animation, including whole body scans, 3D replicas of vehicles, fire sequences, complicated wire removals and compositing work. They prepared over 1,200 VFX shots, accounting for approximately 90 minutes of screen time. Describing the effects, Rakesh Roshan stated, "If you liked the visual effects in Koi... Mil Gaya, you will find them far better in Krrish. I do not think audiences have seen anything like this in Hindi films."

The film's soundtrack, composed by Rajesh Roshan, was released on 28 April 2006 by T-Series. Lyricists included Ibraheem Ashk, Nasir Faraaz, and Vijay Akela. Salim–Sulaiman provided the background score. It became the seventh best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year.

Hindi

Tamil

Critical reviews of the soundtrack were generally favourable, though some in the media called it a disappointment. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave the album a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, saying that it was "another good outing for Bollywood music lovers." He especially praised the songs "Chori Chori", "Koi Tumsa Nahi" and "Pyaar Ki Ek Kahaani." Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave a favourable review for the soundtrack's "catchy" songs. However, she felt that while the songs meshed with the film, "none of them bear the staying power of Rajesh Roshan's earlier soundtracks." Shruti Bhasin of Planet Bollywood enjoyed the original songs, giving 7.5 out of 10 stars, but was disappointed with the remixes. Dr. Mandar V. Bichu of Gulf News said that it did not live up to the pre-release expectations.

As a part of the marketing, Merchandise were offered for sale prior to the film's release to maximize profits. These included action figures, masks, and other toys.

A Krrish game was made in 2006 by Indiagames after the release of Krrish.

Theatrical

The final budget of Krrish came to ₹40 crore, which at that time was considered a big-budget film by Hindi film standards. The film was released on 23 June 2006 with 1,000 prints. Krrish was simultaneously released along with dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu languages. It was the first Indian film to receive payments in advance for product placement, music, and international distribution rights.

Home media

The film's DVD was released in Region 1 on 18 August 2006, by Adlabs. On 21 August 2006, it was released for all regions by Filmkraft. Adlabs also released a Blu-ray version.

Film festivals

It was also notably screened under the "Informative Screening (Feature)" film category at the 2014 Pyongyang International Film Festival in North Korea.

Box office

Krrish had a good opening week, and tickets were reportedly selling for many times the original cost at some locations. Total gross collections were an Indian record of ₹41.6 crore (₹29.7 crore nett) for its opening week. Krrish became the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2006, earning over ₹69 crore nett in India alone, and was classified as a "Blockbuster" by Box Office India. It also grossed ₹31.68 crore in the overseas market, where it was declared a "hit". The final worldwide total gross was ₹126 crore. One week after Krrish was released, another superhero film, Superman Returns was released in India. Rakesh Roshan stated, "I was a little skeptical that Superman might hurt me, but fortunately it didn't." In fact, Krrish fared better at the box office in India than Superman Returns did.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.

India

Krrish received positive reviews from critics in India. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama believed that the film surpassed expectations, but felt that there were issues with pacing in first hour. Overall, he deemed Krrish to be "a terrifically exciting and compelling experience", and awarded the film 4 of 5 stars. Nikhat Kazmi noted in The Times of India that while the superhero and action sequences were appealing, there were not enough of them. He was also not excited by the romantic parts, comparing them to a sightseeing tour, first in India and then in Singapore. He said that overall, this film lacks the fun of its predecessor. On the other hand, Raja Sen said that Krrish was infinitely better than KMG, though ultimately it was all about Hrithik Roshan. Sen and Sukanya Verma, writing for Rediff, both gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and both said that it was a good film for children. Sen summarised, "So, is it a good superhero movie? No, but it's well-intentioned. It's a full-on kiddie movie, and while a lot of us might be scornful of Krrish, it's heartening to see fantasy officially entering mainstream Bollywood." Verma agreed with other critics that it took too long for the action to get started, and said that a lot of attention was spent showing off Roshan's muscles. He summarised, "Krrish neither has the sleek aura nor the deep-rooted ideology of superheroes. What it does have is a super spirited performance from Hrithik Roshan, which is likely to appeal to children. And that's worth a three-star cheer." Saibal Chatterjee wrote in the Hindustan Times that Krrish is a hackneyed, formulaic masala film, with special effects added on top, and hoped that this would not be the future of Bollywood. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN condemned the screenplay and thought that the only thing that made the film watchable was the acting of Hrithik Roshan. He gave the film only 2 out of 5 stars, saying "Krrish is only an average film that could have been so much better if the makers had concentrated as hard on its story as they did on its action and stunts."

Overseas

Overseas reviews were positive. Richard James Havis of The Hollywood Reporter stated, "This Bollywood epic crunches together romance, comedy, extraterrestrials, martial arts, dancing and action to tell an entertaining story about a reluctant Indian superhero" but said it may be "far too crazed for foreign viewers". David Chute of LA Weekly deemed it a "hearty pulp cinema that really sticks to your ribs". Likewise, Laura Kern of The New York Times said it was a blend of carefree romance, show-stopping action and sci-fi. Ronnie Scheib of Variety said that it was an "enjoyable, daffily improbable escapist romp". He praised the action sequences as ingeniously choreographed, but very family-friendly. Though Jaspreet Pandohar of BBC was critical of the script for being "low on originality", he praised Hrithik Roshan's performance and the action scenes. Dr. P.V. Vaidyanathan, in a review for BBC Shropshire, said that the film's excellent special effects were as good as the best from Hollywood, praised Hrithik's acting, but called the music mundane.

Accolades

Krrish was one of India's possible nominations for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, but the country ultimately chose Rang De Basanti as its pick. Despite this, Krrish won numerous awards, including 3 Filmfare Awards—Best Special Effects, Best Action and Best Background Score—and was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Villain at the 52nd Filmfare Awards. At the 2007 IIFA Awards, Krrish won Best Actor, Best Action, and Best Special Effects. Rakesh Roshan won the Creative Person of the Year title at the same ceremony. Additionally, the film was nominated in the following categories at the ceremony: Best Director, Best Music and Best Story.

Hrithik Roshan won other acting awards that year, including the Star Screen Award Best Actor, Zee Cine Award for Best Actor – Male, BFJA – Best Actor Award (Hindi) and GIFA Best Actor. The film's special effects won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects. The film also took Best Picture honours at the Matri Shree Media Awards.

In a showing of the film's popularity with children, Krrish swept the major film categories at the Pogo Amazing Kids Awards, which are voted on by children across India. Winners were: Hrithik Roshan (Most Amazing Actor — Male), Priyanka Chopra (Most Amazing Actor — Female), Krrish (Most Amazing Film), Special Effects in Krrish (Most Amazing Moment in a film).

52nd Filmfare Awards:

Won

• Best Background Score – Salim–Sulaiman
• Best Special Effects – EFX
• Best Action – Tony Ching & Siu-Tung

Nominated

• Best Film – Rakesh Roshan
• Best Director – Rakesh Roshan
• Best Actor – Hrithik Roshan
• Best Supporting Actress – Rekha
• Best Villain – Naseeruddin Shah
• Best Sound Design – Jeetendra Choudhary, Baylon Fonsecai & Nakul KamrE

After the success of Krrish, Rakesh Roshan announced that he would be making a sequel, tentatively titled Krrish 3. He confirmed that Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra would reprise their roles, and that the antagonists would be played by Vivek Oberoi and Kangana Ranaut.

• Science fiction films in India

• Official website
• Krrish at Rotten Tomatoes
• Krrish at Box Office Mojo
• Krrish at IMDb  
• Krrish at Bollywood Hungama