Main Hoon Na

About the film

Main Hoon Na (transl. I'm Here) is a 2004 Hindi-language masala film co-written and directed by Farah Khan in her directorial debut, and produced by Gauri Khan and Ratan Jain under the banners of Red Chillies Entertainment and Venus Movies. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Amrita Rao, Zayed Khan, and Suniel Shetty alongside Kabir Bedi, Naseeruddin Shah, Boman Irani, and Kirron Kher. The film follows Major Ram Prasad Sharma, an Indian Army officer, sent on a covert mission to pose as a college student and protect the general's daughter from a dangerous rogue soldier and reunite with his father's long lost family.

Development for the film began in 2001; however, it faced a number of delays during production. Main Hoon Na is notable for approaching the Indo-Pakistani conflict from a neutral perspective. Filming took place at St. Paul's School and the surrounding state of West Bengal. The film is also the first production of Red Chillies Entertainment.

Plot

India launches Project Milaap, a Pakistan prisoners release program, in an attempt to de-escalate tensions between the two nations. Expectation was that once India takes the first step, Pakistan may reciprocate. Raghavan Dutta, a former Indian special forces soldier discharged for executing Pakistani citizens in revenge for his son's death, runs a militant group with a former comrade, Captain Khan, where he sets against peace between the two rival countries. During a press conference, Raghavan attempts to shoot General Amarjeet Bakshi, but Brigadier Shekhar Sharma takes the bullet for him. On his deathbed, Shekhar informs his son, Major Ram Prasad, that his wife and Ram's stepmother, Madhu, and their son and Ram's half-brother, Lakshman Prasad, had abandoned him 20 years ago, as Shekhar had cheated on Madhu with Ram's late biological mother. Shekhar requests Ram to reconcile with his estranged family and that his ashes will be immersed by both his sons, stating that he can finally be at peace only if his family forgives him.

Meanwhile, General Bakshi sends Ram on an undercover operation to protect his estranged daughter, Sanjana, who is studying at St. Paul's College in Darjeeling. Ram reluctantly accepts when Bakshi informs him that Lakshman is also studying in the same college. Bakshi convinces Ram to enter the college as a student than as a teacher, in order to better watch over Sanjana. Upon arriving, Ram struggles with adjusting to college life as he is much older than all the students, including some professors. Ram encounters Sanjana and her crush, Lucky, but both do not want to be near him due to his age. A college student helps Ram hack the college computer to find out Lakshman's identity, only to learn that Lucky is actually his half-brother Lakshman. During a race to capture the college flag from the roof, Lucky ends up hanging off the roof of the university, but Ram heroically saves his life. As a result, both Lucky and Sanjana agree to befriend Ram, who soon moves in with Lucky and Madhu as well. Outside a theatre, Ram saves one of his classmates, Percy, from an attempted murder by Khan, and captures Khan in the process. However, Ram's own identity is discovered by Raghavan, who then arrives at the university masquerading as the new physics professor after his gang kidnaps Madhav Rasai, a physics professor, and threatens him to resign and recommend Raghavan as "Professor Raghav Dutta" …

Ram also brings Madhu and Lakshman closer by helping them bond during his stay there. Meanwhile, Ram falls in love with his chemistry professor, Chandni, while Lucky also falls in love with Sanjana after Ram and Chandni give her a makeover. During a prom, Ram thwarts Raghavan's gang from abducting Chandni. After meeting with Sanjana, Ram requests Raghavan to drop them both off with her father at her hostel, where Sanjana reconciles with her father. After that night, Sanjana and Chandni discover Ram's true identity as an army officer. At the same time, Raghavan learns about Ram and Lucky's relationship and reveals Ram's true identity to Lucky and Madhu.

Production

Development for the film had begun in 2001. Filming was scheduled to begin in October 2001, but later that year, Shah Rukh Khan had injured himself while shooting for Shakti: The Power (2002), and had to be treated in the UK, leading to the film being shelved. Farah Khan revived the film in 2003 following Khan's recovery. Farah initially titled the film as The Outsider but changed it upon the suggestion of her friends. Khan was unhappy with the film's title at that time, believing it was too short, but changed his mind upon listening to the film's title song.

Upon the film's revival in 2003, Hrithik Roshan, Sohail Khan, and Abhishek Bachchan were all offered to play the role of Lucky. None of the three accepted due to unknown reasons, leading to Zayed Khan getting cast. Ameesha Patel was offered the role of Sanju, but declined due to date issues, as did newcomer Ayesha Takia, after which Amrita Rao was cast.

Shah Rukh Khan asked Farah Khan to approach Kamal Haasan, suggesting that Haasan owed him a favor for his role in Hey Ram. Haasan read the script, but turned down the role citing that it would portray him as an anti-national.

Key details