Yahaan

2005 Indian film

Yahaan

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Shoojit Sircar
Written by| Piyush Mishra (dialogues)
Screenplay by|

* Piyush Mishra
* Somnath De
* Shoojit Sircar
* Sameer Kohli

Story by|

* Sabapati
* Mahesh

Produced by|

* Garry Grewal
* Shoojit Sircar
* Robby Grewal

Starring|

* Jimmy Sheirgill
* Minissha Lamba
* Yashpal Sharma
* Mukesh Tiwari

Cinematography| Jakob Ihre
Edited by| Chandrashekhar Prajapati
Music by| Songs:
Shantanu Moitra
Nizami Bandhu
Background Score:
Sameer Uddin
Abhishek Arora

Production
companies

* Sahara One Motion Pictures
* Red Ice Films

Release date

* 29 July 2005 (2005-07-29)

Country| India
Language| Hindi
Budget| ₹3.5 crore[1]

Yahaan (English: Here) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language war film directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by Sahara One Motion Pictures and Red Ice Films.[2] The film stars Jimmy Sheirgill, Minissha Lamba (in her film debut) and Yashpal Sharma in lead roles and had its theatrical release on 29 July 2005.[3] Yahaan was also screened at the 7th Ocean's Cinefan Film Festival where it was awarded with the Special Jury Prize.[4]

## Plot

[edit]

Kashmir is in turmoil because of terrorists trying to take over the land and the Indian army trying to find and eliminate them. Army commander Aman meets Adaa when posted to Kashmir to fight the insurgents. Adaa lives with her father, grandmother, and a mute adopted sister. Adaa's brother Shakeel has joined hands with the terrorists. Circumstances soon lead to Aman and Adaa falling in love. Aman does not let the army know about his new relationship. He is given the task of finding and eliminating terrorists; he captures their leader, who happens to be Shakeel's mentor. Adaa's family learns about her affair with Aman. Her grandmother approves of the relationship, but her father requests Aman to stay away from them, as their love will not be approved in that place.

A disappointed Aman is then given another mission. Acting on a tip, he and his men go to raid a terrorist hideout but are attacked by the terrorists. Many insurgents are killed, and Aman and four comrades are taken captive by Shakeel. They demand the release of their leader from the government in exchange for the soldiers. But Adaa finds her brother's hideout, goes there, and pleads with him not to harm Aman. Using the opportunity, Aman breaks free and escapes with Adaa, just as the army besieges the place and rescues the captured army men.

Now Aman and Adaa's affair becomes known to the army. Suspicion falls on Aman that he is in cahoots with the terrorists, as he is not at their hideout, and he has run off with Adaa. As soon as he arrives in the city, he is arrested and courtmartialed. Adaa does all she can to help Aman. She goes to the chief minister, who agrees to help her but on the condition that she deny any relationship with Aman in public, as it can affect the reputation of the army. Adaa does not agree to that. Instead, on the advice of her mute sister, she writes a letter to the prime minister, telling him her story and seeking help for Aman. As fate would have it, she is called by a TV channel for a live interview and to tell her story to the world. This news spreads, and the terrorists are irked. They advise Shakeel to put an end to it all: He takes over a mosque, holding people hostage in exchange for their leader and Adaa's silence. They also bomb Adaa's house (at their leader's orders), injuring her grandmother gravely. Adaa decides to broadcast her story live, no matter what. Shakeel demands from the government that he negotiate with the man who had a relationship with his sister, Aman.

In the climax, Aman enters the mosque alone and faces Shakeel. Shakeel beats him black and blue, then sees that his father is one of the hostages in the mosque. At the same time, Adaa tells her story live on TV. Everyone listens to the heart-wrenching tale of the two lovers and a plea for Shakeel to return. Aman tells Shakeel that the terrorist leader bombed Shakeel's house and his grandmother is in the hospital. The terrorists then decide to leave, holding a man and a few hostages as guards. As soon as they step out, pre-planned by Aman, who is wearing a bulletproof jacket, a sniper commando shoots him. He falls from the impact, thus giving the sniper a chance to aim at other terrorists. The army invades and forces the other terrorists to surrender. In the end, Adaa arrives, and they leave the scene together.

## Cast

[edit]

* Jimmy Sheirgill as Captain Aman
* Minissha Lamba as Adaa
* Yashpal Sharma as Shakeel Ahmed
* Banwari Taneja as Alsami, Terrorist Head
* Mukesh Tiwari as Major Rathod
* Saurabh Dubey as Army Commander
* Dolly Ahluwalia as Adaa's grandmother
* Gyan Prakash as Adaa's father
* Nimrat Kaur as Journalist
* Harish Khanna as Majid
* Gajraj Rao as Home Minister
* Neeraj Sood

## Music

[edit]

Yahaan

Soundtrack album by

Shantanu Moitra and Nizami Bandhu

Released| 24 June 2005 (2005-06-24)
Recorded| 2005
Genre| Feature film soundtrack
Length| 36:24
Language| Hindi
Label| Times Music

The soundtrack album of Yahaan consists of 5 songs, 2 remixes and a theme track. Shantanu Moitra and Nizami Bandhu composed the songs, which were written by Gulzar and Nizami Bandhu,[5] while the remixes and theme track were done by Sameeruddin and Abhishek Arora, who have also composed the background score of the film.[6] The soundtrack album was launched on 24 June 2005 on Times Music[7] while on digital platforms the album was made available on 9 August 2005.[8] Aakash Gandhi of Planet Bollywood praised the soundtrack and gave it a rating of 8.5 out of 10 in his music review.[9]

No.| Title| Lyrics| Music| Performer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|
|

1.| "Naam Adaa Likhna"| Gulzar| Shantanu Moitra|

* Shaan
* Shreya Ghoshal

| 6:21
2.| "Urzu Urzu Durkut"| Gulzar| Shantanu Moitra| Shreya Ghoshal| 4:13
3.| "Mele Chaliyan"| Gulzar| Shantanu Moitra| Shreya Ghoshal| 5:19
4.| "Ajmer Wale Khwaja"| Nizami Bandhu| Nizami Bandhu| Nizami Bandhu| 3:59
5.| "Kahoon Kaise Sakhi"| Nizami Bandhu| Nizami Bandhu| Nizami Bandhu| 5:55
6.| "Mele Chaliyan" (remix)| Gulzar|

* Shantanu Moitra
* Sameeruddin
* Abhishek Arora

| Shreya Ghoshal| 3:31
7.| "Naam Adaa Likhna" (remix)| Gulzar|

* Shantanu Moitra
* Sameeruddin
* Abhishek Arora

* Shaan
* Shreya Ghoshal

| 5:25
8.| "Yahaan Theme"|  |  | Tara| 1:41
Total length:| 36:24

## Response

[edit]

Yahaan was released along with director Kabir Kaushik's Sehar on 29 July 2005. However, due to heavy rains in Mumbai on 26 July 2005, both the movies performed poorly at box office.[10][11] Critics praised the film for being warm and intimate.[citation needed]

### Critical reception

[edit]

Anupama Chopra of India Today praised the acting performance of Jimmy Shergill and the direction of Shoojit Sircar but criticized the slow pacing of the film and its climax which she felt was unconvincing.[12] Raja Sen of Rediff appreciated the realistic nature of the film along with the acting performances of all actors but was critical of the film's "oversimplified" conclusion.[13] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama praised the performances of Jimmy Shergill and debutant Minissha Lamba but felt that the film suffers from a weak screenplay and slow pacing. Taran gave the film a rating of 1.5 out of 5.[14]

## Accolades

[edit]

* Star Screen Award for Best Lyrics (Won) - "Naam Adaa Likhna" (Gulzar)
* Star Screen Award for Best Film \- Robby Grewal
* Star Screen Award for Best Director \- Shoojit Sircar
* Star Screen Award for Best Actress \- Minnisha Lamba
* Star Screen Award for Playback Singer Male - "Naam Adaa Likhna" (Shaan)
* Star Screen Award for Playback Singer Female - "Naam Adaa Likhna" (Shreya Ghoshal)
* Screen Award for Best Lyricist \- "Naam Adaa Likhna" (Gulzar)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Bangla rock icon to sing title track of Yahaan maker's next film". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 June 2006.
2. ^ "Seven years after 'Yahaan' nothing has changed". The Times of India.
3. ^ "Yahaan: First film shot in 'real' Kashmir". Zee News. 25 July 2005.
4. ^ "Platform for new voices - Saibal Chatterjee". Tribune.
5. ^ "Meet Nizami Bandhu, the 'Rockstar Qawwali' singers from Delhi who shared screen with Ranbir Kapoor". The Indian Express. 11 December 2017.
6. ^ "'Rahman has been an inspiration but these days I like Amit Trivedi' - Abhishek Arora". Rediff.
7. ^ "Gulzar, Shantonu Aditya release music of 'Yahaan'". Sify. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018.
8. ^ "Yahaan - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". iTunes.
9. ^ "Yahaan Music Review". Planet Bollywood.
10. ^ "Why Shoojit Sircar's debut film Yahaan deserves a larger audience". The Indian Express. 10 April 2018.
11. ^ "October is a great example of Shoojit Sircar's versatility — the trappings of Bollywood are yet to corrupt him". First Post. 14 April 2018.
12. ^ "Film review: Shoojit Sircar debut movie 'Yahaan' starring Jimmy Shergill, Minissha Lamba". India Today.
13. ^ "Yahaan looks starkly different". Rediff.
14. ^ "Yahaan Review by Taran Adarsh". Bollywood Hungama.

## External links

[edit]

* ...Yahan at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Shoojit Sircar

Director|

* Yahaan (2005)
* Shoebite (cancelled)
* Vicky Donor (2012)
* Madras Cafe (2013)
* Piku (2015)
* October (2018)
* Gulabo Sitabo (2020)
* Sardar Udham (2021)
* I Want to Talk (2024)

Producer|

* Aparajita Tumi (2012)
* Madras Cafe (2013)
* Open Tee Bioscope (2015)
* Pink (2016)
* Running Shaadi (2017)

Writer|

* Pink (2016)

* v
* t
* e

Shantanu Moitra

Film scores|

* 3 Idiots (2009)
* Ente / Naa Bangaaru Talli (2013)
* October (2018)
* Sardar Udham (2021)
* Lost (2022)
* Mujib: The Making of a Nation (2022)

Soundtracks|

* Parineeta (2005)
* Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006)
* Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007)
* Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007)
* 3 Idiots (2009)
* Raajneeti (2010)
* Madras Cafe (2013)
* PK (2014)
* October (2018)
* Mujib: The Making of a Nation (2022)

Singer|

* Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh (2009)
* Maula Tu Malik Hai (2013)
* Ochin Majhi (2022)

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