Murder is a 2004 Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
erotic
Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...
romantic thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
, directed by
Anurag Basu
Anurag Basu (born 8 May 1974) is an Indian director, screenwriter, actor and producer. He began his directing career in television, moving to feature films in 2002. Basu achieved initial success with his films tackling the themes of passion and ...
and produced by
Mukesh Bhatt
Mukesh Bhatt (born 5 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film producer and actor who has produced several Bollywood films. He is the younger brother of Mahesh Bhatt, and also the co-owner of the production company Vishesh Films, set up in 19 ...
. It is the first installment in the ''
Murder film series
''Murder'' is a series of Indian thriller films produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt under the banner of Vishesh Films. The first film directed by Anurag Basu was released in 2004, second film by Mohit Suri was released in 2011, and thi ...
''. It stars
Emraan Hashmi
Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hashmi debuted in 2003 with the crime thriller film ''Footpath'' and subsequently appeared in films include ''Murder'' (2004), '' Kalyug'' ...
,
Ashmit Patel
Ashmit Patel (born 13 January 1978) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films and was seen on ''Bigg Boss''.
Personal life
Patel is the son of Amit Patel and Asha Patel, and the younger brother of actress and model Ameesha Patel, and ...
and
Mallika Sherawat
Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in films like ''Khwahish'' (2003) and ''Murder'' (2004), Sherawat ...
and is set in
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population ...
. This film is based on the 2002 American film
''Unfaithful'', which itself was inspired by the French film ''
The Unfaithful Wife
''The Unfaithful Wife'' (french: La Femme infidèle) is a 1969 French crime thriller film directed by Claude Chabrol. The film had a total of 682,295 admissions in France.
Plot
Insurer Charles Desvallées lives in a beautiful house in the countrys ...
'' (1969).
''Murder'' released on 2 April 2004 and, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, managed to become a highly successful venture at the box office, earning a "super hit" status from
Box Office India
Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014.
About
Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its owne ...
.
[90 crore] The film was a huge breakthrough for its lead actors, particularly Hashmi and Sherawat. It received an
A certificate
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
from the
Indian Censor Board
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
for its erotic subject and scenes. The film was remade in Kannada as ''
Ganda Hendathi
''Ganda Hendathi'' () is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language erotic thriller film, directed by Ravi Shrivatsa and produced by Shailendra Babu. The film stars newcomers Vishal Hegde, Sanjjanaa and Thilak Shekar.
The film is a remake of Hindi hit fil ...
'' (2006).
It had a cult following fan base upon release, and began a
film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series.
This article explains what film series are ...
which continued with ''
Murder 2
''Murder 2'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film and the second installment in the ''Murder film series''. A quasi-sequel to the 2004 film, ''Murder'', it stars Emraan Hashmi, Jacqueline Fernandez and Prashant Narayana ...
'' in 2011 and ''
Murder 3
''Murder 3'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film. It is the third instalment in the ''Murder film series'' and sequel to the 2011 film, '' Murder 2''. Directed by Vishesh Bhatt and produced by Mukesh Bhatt from Vishesh ...
'' in 2013.
Plot
Simran Sehgal (
Mallika Sherawat
Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in films like ''Khwahish'' (2003) and ''Murder'' (2004), Sherawat ...
) is a young woman married to Sudhir (
Ashmit Patel
Ashmit Patel (born 13 January 1978) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films and was seen on ''Bigg Boss''.
Personal life
Patel is the son of Amit Patel and Asha Patel, and the younger brother of actress and model Ameesha Patel, and ...
), a workaholic who was previously married to Simran's elder now deceased sister, Sonia. Simran only married Sudhir in order to give motherly love to Sudhir and Sonia's son. She leads an unhappy, lonely and passionless married life. After accidentally meeting her former flame, Sunny (
Emraan Hashmi
Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hashmi debuted in 2003 with the crime thriller film ''Footpath'' and subsequently appeared in films include ''Murder'' (2004), '' Kalyug'' ...
), she decides to engage in an affair with him. The affair starts to consume her life and Simran finds herself constantly lying to her husband and neglecting her motherly duties. After some time, she decides to end the relationship, but to her surprise, she finds that Sunny has also been simultaneously seeing another woman named Radhika. She regrets her unfaithful act and tries to cut all ties with Sunny.
Meanwhile, Sudhir has started to have doubts about his wife, and hires a detective to trace Simran's whereabouts. The detective is able to provide Sudhir with pictures of Sunny and Simran having sex and sleeping together. He tells Sudhir that Sunny is a serial womanizer with many former girlfriends.
The next day, Sunny suddenly goes missing. The police come to Sudhir and Simran's house and inquire about him, on a report registered by his girlfriend Radhika. Simran comes across the photographs of her and Sunny amongst Sudhir's things, and realizes that he may have something to do with Sunny's disappearance. Sudhir reveals that he went to Sunny's apartment to confront him about the affair, and the two men began to argue. The situation escalated, and Sudhir fatally beat Sunny and buried him in a panic. Realizing her fault and role in the situation, Simran supports Sudhir and takes the blame for killing Sunny. This develops and strengthens their love and faith in each other. Simran is arrested by the police and pleads guilty, while at the same time, Sudhir claims that it is he who killed Sunny, which confuses the police. Moreover, the body is missing from the burial spot.
In a sudden change of events, Sunny is shown to be alive. It is revealed that the entire situation, from initiating the affair to goading Sudhir into a fight was planned in advance by Sunny, with the help of Radhika. Sunny hoped to have Sudhir imprisoned so that he could continue his affair with Simran. Sunny isolates Simran and chases her into a jungle, where Sudhir arrives and the two begin to fight. Sudhir manages to beat him, and Sunny leaves as he sees the couple together, seemingly realizing their love for each other. However, Sunny then runs up behind Sudhir with a rake but is then shot in the back by a police officer, who arrives just in time. Finally safe, Sudhir and Simran reunite and take care of their son together.
Cast
*
Emraan Hashmi
Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hashmi debuted in 2003 with the crime thriller film ''Footpath'' and subsequently appeared in films include ''Murder'' (2004), '' Kalyug'' ...
as Sunny
*
Ashmit Patel
Ashmit Patel (born 13 January 1978) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films and was seen on ''Bigg Boss''.
Personal life
Patel is the son of Amit Patel and Asha Patel, and the younger brother of actress and model Ameesha Patel, and ...
as Sudhir Sehgal
*
Mallika Sherawat
Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in films like ''Khwahish'' (2003) and ''Murder'' (2004), Sherawat ...
as Simran Sehgal
*
Raj Zutshi
Rajendranath Zutshi, more commonly known as Raj Zutshi (born 4 February 1961), is an Indian film and television actor.
Personal life
Zutshi was born on 4 February 1961 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India into a Kashmiri Pandit family. Raj Zu ...
as Inspector Rajvir Singh
*
Sheeba Chaddha
Sheeba Chaddha is an Indian film, stage and television actress.
Early life and career
Chaddha grew up in Delhi, where she developed interest in theatre and started taking theatre workshops. She majored in English literature from Hans Raj Colleg ...
as Nargis, Simran's friend
*
Kashmera Shah
Kashmera Shah (born 2 December 1972) also known as "Kashmeera" is an Indian actress. Born in Mumbai, she is the granddaughter of noted Hindustani classical singer Anjanibai Lolekar. She has appeared in numerous Hindi and Marathi films. She was ...
as a
Lounge singer
Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The rang ...
, special appearance in item song "Dil Ko Hazaar"
* Krish Chawla as Kabir Sehgal
Reception
''Murder'' received mixed reviews from film critics in India.
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media.
Career
Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...
of ''
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000.
The website provides ...
'' rated it 3 out of 5 and called it an "engrossing entertainer".
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...
in her review for ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' called Sherawat "the hero of the film" but criticized the screenplay. At the box office, it opened well and grossed over 247.5 million.
The film was elevated to "super hit" verdict by ''
Box Office India
Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014.
About
Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its owne ...
'' after its second weekend.
It was also the ninth highest-grossing film of the year 2004.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by
Anu Malik
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...
. Lyrics were penned by
Sayeed Quadri
Sayeed Quadri is an Indian lyricist and poet who works in Bollywood. He was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. He won the Best Lyricist award at the 6th IIFA Awards for ''Murder'', and Standout Performance by Lyricist at the Stardust Awards 2005 for ...
and
Rahat Indori
Rahat Indori, born as Rahat Qureshi, (1 January 1950 – 11 August 2020) was an Indian Bollywood lyricist and Urdu poet. He was also a former professor of Urdu language and a painter. Prior to this he was a pedagogist of Urdu literature at DAVV ...
. According to the Indian trade website
Box Office India
Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014.
About
Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its owne ...
, with around 22,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fourth highest-selling. The song 'Jana Tere Pyaar' is not portrayed in the film.
Track listing
Awards
;
50th Filmfare Awards
The 50th Filmfare Awards, honoring Cinema of India, took place on 26 February 2005 in Mumbai. This was the awards' golden jubilee year and to commemorate the occasion, the Filmfare award trophy (The Black Lady statue) was made in gold. Moreover, ...
:
Won
*
Best Male Playback Singer –
Kunal Ganjawala
Kunal Ganjawala (born 14 April 1972) is an Indian playback singer whose songs are mostly featured in Hindi and Kannada films. He has also sung in Marathi, Bengali and other official languages of India. Kunal began his career by singing jingl ...
for "Bheege Hont Tere"
Nominated
*
Best Music Director –
Anu Malik
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...
Controversies
The song "Jaana Tere Pyaar" is a reported copy of the Bengali song "Firiye Dao" by
Miles, a pop band from
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. Miles later sued the filmmakers, which resulted in the song being removed from the film's original soundtrack. The Bangladeshi band also sought compensation for 'hurting its business interests'. However, due to challenges in terms of uncertainty about the outcome, lack of information and lack of initiative from the relevant authorities on either side, compensation has not () been yet awarded.
Although the filmmakers denied all the accusations and said that they have bought the copyrights of the songs 'Kaho Na Kaho' and 'Jana Tere Pyaar' from Pakistani singer Amir Jamal whose album titled 'Kaho Na Kaho - A Fusion of Arabic and Urdu' was released in 2002, Amir Jamal took permission from Egyptian singer
Amr Diab
Amr Diab ( ar, عمرو دياب, link=no, ; born on 11 October 1961) is an Egyptian singer, composer and actor. He has established himself as a globally acclaimed recording artist and author. He is a Guinness World Record holder, the best sell ...
, to use his Arabic song
Tamally Maak
Tamally Maak, also often Tamally Ma'ak (in Arabic تملي معاك) is an international Egyptian Arabic language song by the Egyptian pop star Amr Diab in 2000 from his album of the same name.
"Tamally Maak", meaning "Always with you", is writ ...
's a portion of lyrics to be reused in the Kaho Na Kaho song.
Remake and sequels
The film was remade into
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
as ''
Ganda Hendathi
''Ganda Hendathi'' () is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language erotic thriller film, directed by Ravi Shrivatsa and produced by Shailendra Babu. The film stars newcomers Vishal Hegde, Sanjjanaa and Thilak Shekar.
The film is a remake of Hindi hit fil ...
'' in 2006.
A sequel titled ''
Murder 2
''Murder 2'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film and the second installment in the ''Murder film series''. A quasi-sequel to the 2004 film, ''Murder'', it stars Emraan Hashmi, Jacqueline Fernandez and Prashant Narayana ...
'' was released on 8 July 2011 with
Emraan Hashmi
Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hashmi debuted in 2003 with the crime thriller film ''Footpath'' and subsequently appeared in films include ''Murder'' (2004), '' Kalyug'' ...
and
Jacqueline Fernandez
Jacqueline Fernandez (born 11 August 1985) is a Sri Lankan actress and model. She has worked in Indian films, predominantly in Hindi, besides appearing in reality shows and music videos. Debuting with ''Aladin'' in 2009 she has since then es ...
in the lead roles, which was loosely based on
the 2008 Korean film
''The Chaser'' (film). Commercially, the sequel surpassed the collections of ''Murder'', becoming a blockbuster. After the success of the first two instalments, the producers released a third instalment, ''
Murder 3
''Murder 3'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film. It is the third instalment in the ''Murder film series'' and sequel to the 2011 film, '' Murder 2''. Directed by Vishesh Bhatt and produced by Mukesh Bhatt from Vishesh ...
'', on 15 February 2013. The film, which was an official remake of Spanish film ''
The Hidden Face'', starred
Randeep Hooda
Randeep Hooda (; born 20 August 1976) is an Indian actor and Equestrianism, equestrian known for his work predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hooda made his Hindi film debut with ''Monsoon Wedding''. He had a turning point in his career with the ga ...
,
Aditi Rao Hydari
Aditi Rao Hydari is an Indian actress who works mainly in Hindi and Tamil film industry. She made her film debut with the Malayalam film '' Prajapathi'' in 2006. She went on to have major to minor supporting roles in several Hindi films, includ ...
and
Sara Loren
Sara Hussain ( ur, ), better known as Sara Loren, is a Pakistani actress and model mostly known for working in Bollywood, Hindi as well as Lollywood, Urdu movies and television. She is best known for played role as Barkhaa in 2015.
Early lif ...
in the lead roles. However, unlike the earlier parts, it only performed moderately well at the box office. A fourth film is in development with Hashmi returning, after not appearing in the third film.
References
External links
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*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder (Film)
2000s Hindi-language films
2004 films
2000s erotic thriller films
Indian erotic thriller films
Hindi films remade in other languages
Films scored by Anu Malik
Indian thriller drama films
Indian remakes of American films
Indian remakes of French films
Hindi remakes of English films
Films directed by Anurag Basu