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Karz
Directed by	Satish Kaushik
Based on	Karz by Subhash Ghai
Produced by	Bhushan Kumar
Starring	Urmila Matondkar Himesh Reshammiya Shweta Kumar Dino Morea Gulshan Grover Danny Denzongpa Rohini Hattangadi
Cinematography	Manoj Soni
Edited by	Hemal Kothari
Music by	Songs: Himesh Reshammiya Score: Ranjit Barot
Production company	T-Series Films
Distributed by	BIG Pictures
Release date	17 October 2008 (2008-10-17)
Running time	144 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Karzzzz (transl. Debt) is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Satish Kaushik. It stars Urmila Matondkar and Himesh Reshammiya. It is a remake of Karz (1980) and also inspired by The Reincarnation of Peter Proud.

Plot

Ravi Verma has just won a court case against gangster Sir Judah in Kenya, making him the legal recipient of several thousand acres of vineyards. He celebrates the victory by marrying the love of his life, Kamini, and decides to introduce her to his mother and sister. Unbeknownst to Ravi, Kamini is in cahoots with Judah; she sabotages the plane they are travelling in and safely escapes, leaving Ravi with no parachute. He quickly falls to his death. Kamini, now Princess Kamini, inherits Ravi's wealth, forcing his mother and sister to live in abject poverty.

Flash forward to 25 years later, and we are introduced to Monty, the adopted son of J.J. Oberoi and a well-known musician and rock star in Cape Town, South Africa. He has everything at his disposal but feels unhappy. He drives joy from spending time with Tina, the girl he's romantically interested in, and Dr. Dayal, his friend and close confidante. Monty starts getting flashbacks of events from Ravi's life and plans to trip to Kenya to understand why. Once there, he meets Tina's caretaker, Kabira, who appears to be happy about Tina and Monty being together.

Eventually, Monty realises that he is actually the reincarnation of Ravi. After complete recollection of events surrounding his accident, Monty sets out to find his/Ravi's mother and sister. He befriends Princess Kamini, who incidentally knows Tina as well. She's now Judah's mistress and the heiress to Ravi's property. Monty tells her about the reincarnation but insists he doesn't remember how he/Ravi died. She proceeds to mislead him about the circumstances of the accident and lies that his/Ravi's mother and sister are deceased. Later, Monty discovers that they have been living with his/Ravi's nephew and niece this entire time. He hatches a plan with Tina and Kabira to bring Princess Kamini to justice.

Monty convinces Princess Kamini to marry him. He furnishes the actual papers for Ravi's properties in an attempt to persuade her, and it works. They get married on stage at Monty's show. During the performance, he reenacts the accident to make Princess Kamini believe that he remembers she killed him/Ravi. Following a showdown between Monty and her, she confesses, albeit in anger, to Ravi's murder.

Monty brings in his/Ravi's mother and sister (accompanied by her kids) and warns Princess Kamini that they will get their dues. In the meantime, Kabira appears with the police in tow, who have her confession on record. Suddenly, Judah comes along holding Tina hostage and demands Princess Kamini's release. A fight ensues, with Kabira tackling Judah and rescuing Tina. Princess Kamini tries to run away, with Monty at her heels. They arrive at the same spot where Ravi was killed in his previous birth, as she boards a plane and shoots Monty. During the hullabaloo, Monty's car overturns with fuel leakage. As Princess Kamini's plane approaches him, Monty sets the car on fire that soon engulfs the plane. With Princess Kamini dead, Monty and Tina are united as the end credits roll.

Cast

• Himesh Reshammiya as Monty Oberoi; Reincarnation of Ravi Shanta Prasad Verma
• Urmila Matondkar as Kamini Verma, Ravi Verma's wife
• Dino Morea as Ravi Shanta Prasad Verma (Shanta's son, Jyoti's brother and Kamini Devi's husband) (special appearance)
• Danny Denzongpa as Kabira (Kabir Uncle / "Kabir Chacha")
• Raj Babbar as G.G. Oberoi, Neha's husband (Monty's Guardian; Music Producer)
• Imran Hasnee as Mahesh Khandelwal; Tina's dad
• Smita Bansal as Jyoti Shanta Parasad Verma 'aka' Pinky, Shanta's daughter and Ravi's sister
• Shweta Kumar as Tina Khandelwal, Monty's love-interest
• Shiva Rindani as Sir Judah's man
• Rohini Hattangadi as Mrs. Shanta Prasad Verma, Ravi and Jyoti's mother
• Gulshan Grover as Sir Judah, A Left-Handed Robot-boss of Kamini Devi
• Bakhtiyaar Irani as Dr. Dayal, Monty's friend
• Himani Shivpuri as Mrs. Neha Oberoi, G. G. Oberoi's wife
• Tareena Patel as Julie, Monty's fan (special appearance)
• David Hallart as dancer, background actor
• Asrani as Verma Catering College Principal Mr. Joe D'Souza
• Sudhir Dalvi as Dr. Shastri, Dr. Dayal's Senior
• Sudhir Pandey as John
• Dinesh Lamba as Kabira's sidekick
• Jenny Freeman as White Extra
• Daniel Green as Obsessed Fan
• Sujeet Kumar Sharma

Production

The film was flagged on 25 January 2008. Filming took place in Mumbai, India and in South Africa. Reshammiya performed his own stunts. On 16 February 2008, Reshammiya had given a live performance in South Africa of the two ultimate dance numbers namely "Sisak Sisak Ke" and "Hari Om". The sound recording was entirely done in Singapore. Reshammiya performed his songs "Lut Jaaon" and "Ek Haseena Thi" at Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009's first show.

Reception

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave Karzzzz 4 stars out of 5 claiming it to be a "Mass entertainer" and further saying that "Karzzzz is rich in entertainment. Himesh's tremendous popularity amongst masses, its chartbusting musical score and the fact that it's a remake of a much-loved film will only lure masses in hordes. Besides, it's an open ground for Karzzzz at the ticket window, what with the euphoria of all past releases having dried up. At the box-office, the film should fetch a thunderous start and in due course, should be amongst the biggest achievers of the year in terms of business, Critics praised Urimilla performance in the film ." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film one star and said "It's a lazy rip-off where everything from characters to dialogues has been more-or-less duplicated, the only changes being superficial ones which grate rather than update." IndiaTimes gave 3 out of 5 stars and labelled it as a 'paisa vasool' film.

Soundtrack

Himesh Reshammiya composed the film's music while Sameer penned the lyrics. The song "Ek Haseena Thi" is taken from the original movie of 1980, Karz, whose music was by Laxmikant Pyarelal. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 1,300,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's eleventh highest-selling.

All lyrics are written by Sameer

Awards and nominations

References

1. "Karz". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
2. Singh, Nisha (11 December 2019). "Wahiyat Wednesday: How Himesh Reshammiya destroyed Karz with his Karzzzz". India Today. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
3. "Himesh, the action hero!". Rediff.com. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
4. Adarsh, Taran (17 October 2008). "Karzzzz : Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
5. Masand, Rajeev (20 October 2008). "Masand's Verdict: Karzzzz, a lazy rip-off". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
6. "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Karzzzz at IMDb

• 2008 films
• 2000s Hindi-language films
• Indian action films
• Films about reincarnation
• Remakes of Indian films
• Films scored by Himesh Reshammiya
• Reliance Entertainment films
• Indian films about revenge
• Films directed by Satish Kaushik