Kurbaan

About the film

Kurbaan (transl. Sacrificed) is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film directed by Rensil D'Silva and produced by Karan Johar under Dharma Productions. It is based on a story by Johar, who co-wrote the screenplay with D'Silva. Starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, the story revolves around Avantika Ahuja (Kapoor), a psychology professor in New York who returns to Delhi, India, to caretake her ailing father and develops a relationship with Ehsaan (Khan). Avantika and Ehsaan fall in love, get married, and leave for the United States, where she discovers that Ehsaan and his family are linked to Islamic terrorist groups after witnessing the house arrest, domestic abuse, and murder of now family member Salma (Nauheed Cyrusi). The film's backdrop on global terrorism forms the crux.

The original story was conceptualized by Johar, who wanted D'Silva to direct it. In his directorial debut, D'Silva framed the script through the lens of the female protagonist, the romance between Kapoor and Khan, the thriller element, and a social message. The film was shot across Philadelphia, Brooklyn, New York City, Delhi and Mumbai between January 2009 to June 2009. The background score and soundtrack album are composed by the duo Salim–Sulaiman. The song sequences were choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant. Anurag Kashyap and lyricist Niranjan Iyengar have penned the dialogues.

Plot

Avantika Ahuja, a psychology professor living in the United States, returns to Delhi after her father falls ill. While in Delhi, she meets Ehsaan Khan, a university professor from Mumbai; the two become friends and fall in love. Avantika receives an invitation to return to work in the United States. Ehsaan readily agrees to emigrate for her. The couple is married and living in America. Avantika helps Ehsaan get a job, and he is appointed as a professor to teach "Islam and the Modern World" at the same university. The pair lives a happy life in a quiet suburb populated by many South Asian families.

Salma, Avantika's neighbour, is effectively being confined in her own home by her husband, Hakil. She manages to inform Avantika about her situation of house arrest and requests that she contact Rehana, a friend and TV reporter. Avantika meets with Rehana and her boyfriend Riyaz, a Muslim American journalist who has just arrived from Iraq. They discuss Salma's problem to conclude that Salma is probably the victim of domestic violence. Rehana plans a meeting with Salma, but is unable to meet her since she is leaving for Iraq as part of a United Nations envoy.

Meanwhile, Avantika is overjoyed when she finds out that she is pregnant. While waiting for Ehsaan, she takes a walk around her street close to her home. Overhearing voices, she decides to investigate and finds out that a group of men from her neighborhood, led by the family elder Bhaijaan, are planning a mission. They aim to bomb the plane that Rehana is travelling in since it is carrying a large group of diplomats and media personnel. Avantika realises they are part of a terrorist group and also comes across Salma's dead body. The men see her and chase her to her house, where she meets Ehsaan. At first, he consoles her but soon reveals that he is also a part of the terrorist group. Avantika realizes that she is nothing but a pawn in Ehsaan's game - he married her to legitimately obtain residency in the United States.

Production

In February 2008, Khan and Kapoor were confirmed as leads for the film. Kapoor called her role challenging and hinted of John Abraham featuring in the film. In December 2008, UTV Motion Pictures acquired the distribution rights of the film. In an interview with Rediff, D'Silva agreed that its Karan Johar's story. Johar told him about the film and for the next few months, D'Silva couldn't get it off his head. D'Silva learnt from a common friend that Karan loved the story, so he asked D'Silva to direct it. D' Silva went on to add that the film is a very intricate story from India to the US, pondering into state of Islam in the modern world. He acknowledged it as a woman's story, where Avantika Ahuja (Kapoor) plays a psychology lecturer living in New York. She comes to India to take care of her ailing father and joins Delhi University. She meets Ehsaan Khan (Khan), they fall in love, marry and go back to the US. Post the movement, things with them turn topsy-turvy. D'Silva cleared that the film was not based on 9/11 attacks.

When Johar was quizzed on the film script bearing resemblance to Arlington Road (1999), he stated it does have theme of terrorism. As per D'Silva, the film story has three elements - the romance between Khan and Kapoor; the thriller element; and it also carries a social message. In January 2009, Anurag Kashyap stated the title of the film as Jihaad in an interview with The Telegraph. In an interview with Livemint, D'Silva was quoted saying: "The character played by Khan is an “urban, educated, liberal" Muslim, in love with a Hindu girl played by Kapoor." He noted a fair urban shift in the cinema on portraying Muslim characters. Adding further on Khan's character; which was not "the decadent, sozzled nawab cavorting with courtesans; not “Khan chacha", the benevolent other, or wearing a Faiz topi".

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