Barah Aana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barah Aana
Directed byRaja Krishna Menon
Written byStory and Dialogues: Raja Krishna Menon
Screenplay:
Raj Kumar Gupta
Produced byRaj Yerasi
Giulia Achilli
Raja Krishna Menon
StarringNaseeruddin Shah
Vijay Raaz
Arjun Mathur
Tannishtha Chatterjee
CinematographyPriya Seth
Release date
  • 13 March 2009 (2009-03-13)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget4.5 crore[1]
Box office0.82 crore[1]

Barah Aana is a 2009 Indian black-comedy drama film written and directed by Raja Menon. The title refers to Barah (12 in Hindi) and in Hindustani aanas (or annas), meaning 3/4 Rupee (or 75 paise), which was a unit of Indian currency before decimalisation. Barah Aana stars Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, Arjun Mathur, and Tannishtha Chatterjee. The film depicts the lives of working-class Indians in a globalized milieu and how events spiral out of control when the characters try their hands at crime.[2]

Plot[edit]

Set in today's Mumbai, Barah Aana revolves around three friends: Shukla, a driver, Yadav, a watchman, and Aman, a waiter. Shukla is an older man, stoic and steady. Yadav, in his 30s, is meek and something of a pushover at work but exhibits an underlying mischievous nature. Aman, is young, dynamic, and ambitious. In typical Mumbai fashion, the three are roommates, and the clash of their personalities regularly results in humorous, tongue-in-cheek banter.

Things take a turn when the watchman becomes prey to misfortune; his son gets typhoid and he has to arrange 5000 rupees for the medical tests. He goes door to door asking for money in the society he works for but no one helps him. Upset, he sits near a road side stall where a few miscreants trouble him. In anger and frustration he hits one of them. However, he brings the injured man home. After consultation with Shukla and Aman, Yadav decides to leave the man on the road as he has not seen anyone's face. He goes out for six hours and in the same evening the three of them leave the man somewhere on a secluded road and Yadav calls the man's relative to pick the man from there. It is later revealed that Yadav has actually taken a ransom of 30,000 rupees from that man's father-in-law to release him safely. This changes his perspective, boosting his self-confidence enough to make him think that he has a new, low-risk way to make money. The next day Yadav reveals the truth to Aman. As Aman loves a foreigner named Kate, he needs money to get settled with her. He joins Yadav's further plans to execute kidnapping in similar fashion. Both of them persuade Shukla to join them and Shukla shows initial reluctance but later joins them both. The three now embark on the journey of regularly kidnapping people to get smaller amounts as ransom.

As they get more and more mired in the events that follow, the three characters go through changes while they are pushed more and more against the wall.[3]

Cast[edit]

Actor Role
Naseeruddin Shah Shukla
Vijay Raaz Yadav
Arjun Mathur Aman
Tannishtha Chatterjee Rani
Violante Placido Kate
Benjamin Gilani Mr. Mehta
Jayati Bhatia Mrs Mehta
Barry John Yuri
Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal Cutlet Aunty
Pankaj Tripathi Municipal babu
Kuldeep Sareen

Gang leader

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b BARAH AANA. BoxOffice India
  2. ^ [1] Archived 6 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Enjoy Barah Aana on ShemarooMe!". www.shemaroome.com. Retrieved 30 July 2019.

External links[edit]