Kyon Ki

About the film

Kyon Ki (transl. Because) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Sunil Manchanda and Mukesh Talreja. It is a remake of Priyadarshan's own 1986 Malayalam film Thalavattam (1986) which in turn was inspired by the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest an adaptation of Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. The film stars Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Rimi Sen and Om Puri in pivotal roles. It tells the story of Anand, a mental hospital patient whose past draws a female doctor, Tanvi, close to him, testing her own beliefs and challenging her authoritarian father, the administrator of the sanatorium in which Anand has been admitted to.

Some portions were filmed in Romania, Ooty and Chennai. It clashed with Garam Masala, also directed by Priyadarshan. While the critical reception was negative upon its release, the film has since earned a cult status due to its storyline, cast performances, and soundtrack.

Plot

Sir Richard's Mental Sanatorium is run by the strict and authoritative Doctor Jogichand Khurana, along with the other two main doctors, Sunil and Tanvi Khurana, who is the daughter of Khurana. Tanvi has treated a female patient who wears no. 36; her process of doing so has always been caring and gentle, rebelling against Khurana's inhumane ways of dealing with mentally ill patients. As she gets discharged, Tanvi doesn't get acknowledged for her efforts, which devastate her and since then, she has become embittered and vows to never come close to any patient, especially no. 36.

A young man, Anand Sharma, is brought to the mental sanatorium by a court order. His elder brother requests the doctors to admit him immediately. However, they insist on evaluating his mental condition before taking any decision. On being asked a few questions, Anand does not show any signs of insanity, and the doctors conclude that there is nothing wrong with him. Just then, Anand spots a housefly on the table. He tries to capture it but it evades him. While Anand's brother insists with the doctors, Anand suddenly becomes very violent, picking up a club and using it to hit everything the fly lands on. This convinces the doctors that he is indeed insane, and they finally admit him.

Anand tries to make friends with other patients in the sanatorium. Sunil develops a caring bond with Anand, as it is revealed that Sunil was made a doctor by Anand's father. Anand makes a commotion almost every day and acts childish which upsets Tanvi and she demands that Anand is thrown out from the asylum.

Release and reception

Kyon Ki released on 3 November 2005 to coincide with the festival of Diwali in India. It performed poorly at the box office and grossed over ₹231 million worldwide. Another Priyadarshan-directed film was released on the same day, the comedy Garam Masala which was commercially successful at the box office, grossing over ₹546 million.

The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Urvashi Asharl of The Times of India commented that the film was "a huge disappointment" as it had a predictable and dull plot with too many songs but praised the performances of Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, and Jackie Shroff. Rediff.com reviewer Patcy N. also felt that there were too many songs and criticised the script and slow pacing of the film. Namrata Joshi writing for the magazine Outlook wrote that the central romance between Khan and Kapoor was not believable and criticised the acting and script saying "all the actors just sleepwalk through their ill-sketched roles". She also described the depiction of violence against mentally ill patients as therapy in the film as "offensive to say the least".

A group of psychiatrists in Mumbai referred the film to the National Human Rights Commission of India asking for certain scenes to be removed. They felt that the film's depiction of mentally ill patients and their treatment was derogatory and misleading.

Soundtrack

The film score was composed by S. P. Venkatesh.

Himesh Reshammiya composed all the songs featured in the film. The lyrics were penned by Sameer. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 13,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fourteenth highest-selling.

Key details