Bas Ek Pal

About the film

Bas Ek Pal (transl. Just a moment) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language romantic crime thriller film directed by Onir. It stars Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Suri, and Urmila Matondkar with Jimmy Sheirgill, Rehaan Engineer, and Yashpal Sharma in supporting roles. The film's storyline is an adaptation of Live Flesh, a film by Pedro Almodóvar.

Plot

Nikhil Kapoor decides to return from the US to Mumbai. When he arrives, he visits nightclub and there meets a woman and instantly falls for her; she, however, does ot even introduce herself. After he asks her name, she goes away. The next day, Nikhil meets his old friend Rahul. The two play basketball and hang out together. Whilst in the company of Rahul and Steve (Rehaan Engineer), another one of Nikhil's friends shows up again, and she is revealed to be Anamika Joshi. She walks in with her friend Farhad, and when Nikhil tries to talk to Anamika, Farhad begins to think he is flirting with or disturbing her, and they fight.

Naturally, Rahul and Steve join in as well. Farhad draws a gun impulsively, and Nikhil snatches it from him, pointing it towards him. In the ensuing scuffle, while Steve tries to stop Nikhil by holding him from behind and Rahul tries to draw Farhad away, a bullet is accidentally shot by Nikhil, hitting Rahul in the back. Steve flees in panic. Anamika also disappears. Farhad flees to Australia. The police arrive at the scene and arrest Nikhil. Rahul is paralysed and loses the use of his legs. When Nikhil is kept in a cell by the police for shooting at Rahul, he tells them to ask Rahul himself, who refuses to speak with him. Also, Nikhil has no way to contact Anamika to prove his innocence. Three years after having been imprisoned, Ira Malhotra hears his side of the story and helps bail him out. Now Nikhil meets Rahul and Anamika and eventually learns that he was lured into a trap by someone who is still at large. Eventually, it turns out that Ira and Rahul were having an affair, and Steve learned of it. In order to teach Rahul a lesson that night at the party, he pressed the trigger while he was trying to stop Nikhil, with the gun in Nikhil's hand, making it look like Nikhil had done this. Ira knew this all along, and that is why she helped Nikhil get bailed out. She tries to leave Steve and comes to Nikhil, where an angry Steve confronts both of them and threatens them with a g…

Anamika and Rahul, fearing the worst, reach Nikhil's house, where a dying Nikhil finally succumbs in Anamika's lap. The movie ends with both Anamika and Rahul standing together, silently looking towards the sunset.

Music

The Bas Ek Pal album contains nine songs; three of them are remixes. The soundtrack is notable for its Western flavour, being generally praised by critics. The song "Tere Bin" was voted as one of the best songs of 2006. The soundtrack was released on a two-channel compact disc and cassette tape and received good reviews from critics.

Reception

Taran Adarsh wrote, "On the whole, BAS EK PAL is an uninteresting fare. At the box-office, the film has precious little to offer to the multiplex audience, but nothing for the masses".

Key details