Koi... Mil Gaya

About the film

Koi... Mil Gaya (Hindi pronunciation: [ˈkoːi mɪl ɡəjaː] transl. Someone... Has Been Found) is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language science fiction drama film directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. It stars Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta and Rekha. In addition to writing the story, Rakesh also wrote the screenplay with Sachin Bhowmick, Honey Irani, and Robin Bhatt. Koi... Mil Gaya focuses on Rohit Mehra, a developmentally disabled man who contacts an extraterrestrial being later named Jadoo with his late father Sanjay's supercomputer. The film follows his relationship with Nisha, Rohit's friend, who falls in love with him.

After the release of the commercially and critically successful romantic film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), Roshan wanted to work again with his son Hrithik on a different type of film. In June 2001, during the 2nd IIFA Awards, he announced the second film when he received the Best Director award for Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. Principal photography was shot by Ravi K. Chandran and Sameer Arya from November 2001 to March 2003 on sets built by Sharmishta Roy in Canada, India, and New Zealand. Roshan's brother, Rajesh Roshan, composed the film's soundtrack and background score. American artists Mark Clobe and Craig Mumma spent ₹4 crore (US$420,000) on its visual effects.

Plot

Scientist Dr. Sanjay Mehra has created a supercomputer from which he sends variations of the syllable om into space, hoping to attract extraterrestrial life. When he receives a response, his colleagues ridicule him. While driving home, an alien spacecraft appears overhead shortly after responding to his signals through the computer. Distracted, he is involved in a car accident that kills him in an explosion and injures his pregnant wife, Sonia. As a result, their son Rohit is born with a developmental disability. Sonia learns that surgery is the only cure for Rohit's disability, but it could paralyse or kill him. Not wanting to lose her son, she raises him in Kasauli.

Years later, a grown-up Rohit is still in school due to his disability, but has found companionship among six children. A young woman, Nisha, arrives and is initially insensitive towards Rohit because of the childish practical jokes he plays on her, as well as her ignorance of his mental condition. Her friend Raj, who also happens to be Rohit's former classmate, attacks Rohit with his gang, resulting in them breaking his kick scooter. Sonia scolds them for assaulting Rohit, explaining that he did not intentionally make fun of Nisha, and reveals Rohit's condition to her. Realising her mistake, Nisha gifts Rohit a bicycle and introduces him to her parents, who are sympathetic towards him. Rohit and Nisha, now friends, discover Sanjay's old computer, and Rohit inadvertently summons the aliens. The aliens leave hastily, accidentally leaving one of their group behind. Rohit, Nisha, their group of friends, and Sonia befriend the alien, naming him Jadoo, and discover his psychokinetic abilities.

Raj resents Nisha's closeness to Rohit, bullying him and spreading a rumour that he and Nisha are getting married. The rumour upsets both Nisha and Rohit, who is hurt because he believed Nisha was his girlfriend. Jadoo discovers that Rohit is disabled and uses his powers, derived from sunlight, to enhance Rohit's mental and intellectual abilities. The next morning, Rohit develops clear vision. Although only a seventh-standard student, he solves a tenth-standard mathematics problem orally, surprising both his mathematics teacher and the school principal. He also answers questions posed by his computer teacher, who had previously mocked him for his disability, and accidentally beats up Raj's gang as well.

Production

Following the success of the romantic thriller Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), the director Rakesh Roshan wanted to collaborate again with his son, Hrithik Roshan, who starred in the film alongside the debutante Ameesha Patel. The director wanted his next project to be a child-centric film, not just a romance, which Rakesh Roshan had done many times in his career both as a director and actor. He told Bollywood Hungama that he was motivated to make a film that was not "run-of-the-mill" but "an out-of-the-box yet entertaining, mainstream film", after attending the premiere of Lagaan in June 2001 during the 2nd IIFA Awards. He announced it subsequently at the ceremony while he was receiving the Best Director award for Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. The idea to make a film on extraterrestrial life came up when he saw his five-year-old granddaughter watching a series about it on a cartoon network. He later informed Hrithik Roshan of the project when the latter was shooting the 2001 release Yaadein in Delhi; Hrithik Roshan accepted the role immediately.

Rakesh Roshan used a "K" as the film's initial, his favourite letter he used in all of his directorial ventures. The film was originally titled Koi Aap Jaisa (transl. Someone Like You), Koi... Tumsa Nahin (transl. No One... is Like You), and Kaisa Jaadu Kiya (transl. What Kind of Magic You Have Done), before Koi... Mil Gaya (transl. I Have Found Someone...)—which sounded more romantic to him than any of the previous titles—was finally chosen. He wrote the screenplay with Sachin Bhowmick, Honey Irani, and Robin Bhatt. This took between two and three weeks before its first draft was done in Khandala. Unfamiliar with the topic, Rakesh Roshan confessed he was initially reluctant and doubtful of the project, but Hrithik Roshan convinced him. According to Rakesh Roshan, the screenwriters were "contributing new ideas since the premise itself was so new". He described it as "a very emotional, thematic film" and "the greatest challenge" of his life, saying that science fiction was not the main theme of the film. Though many have commented on the film's similarities to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Rakesh Roshan denied being inspired by it. Javed Siddiqui finished the dialogue. Koi... Mil Gaya was produced by Rakesh Roshan under Filmkraft Productions, which he established in 1980, and distributed by Yash Raj Films.

Key details