Refugee
Poster
Directed byJ. P. Dutta
Written byJ. P. Dutta
Produced byJ. P. Dutta
StarringAbhishek Bachchan
Kareena Kapoor
CinematographyBasheer Ali
Edited byDeepak Y. Wirkud
Vilas Ranade
Music bySongs:
Anu Malik
Score:
Aadesh Shrivastava
Distributed byHR Enterprises
Release date
  • 30 June 2000 (2000-06-30)
Running time
210 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹15 crore[1]
Box office₹35.44 crore[2]

Refugee is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by J. P. Dutta. It marked the debut of both the leading actors, Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor. The film also starred Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty and Anupam Kher. Refugee was an average grosser at the box office and was the fifth highest-grossing film of that year.[3]

It is the story of an unnamed Indian Muslim, who helps illegal refugees from India and Pakistan (including modern-day Bangladesh) cross the border through the Great Rann of Kutch. The film is attributed to have been inspired by the short story "Love Across the Salt Desert" by Keki N. Daruwalla.

Plot

Bihar-based Manzur Ahmad and his family had migrated to East Pakistan after the partitioning of India in 1947. However, after the formation of the state of Bangladesh in 1971, he and several other people were forced to relocate to the western part of Pakistan. To do this by land, they will have to cross India. The route from Dhaka leads to Guwahati in India then to Delhi then to Ajmer then to Bhuj, and then on to Haji Peer in Pakistan.

They get as far as Bhuj, but afterward, they are assisted by an agent known only as "Refugee", who helps them trek their way across the Great Rann of Kutch to Pakistan. Refugee considers his clients as mere items of luggage and refuses to be emotionally involved with them and their stories. Then he meets Nazneen Ahmed, the daughter of Manzur Ahmed, and falls in love with her.

Police on both sides of the border are aware of the illegal refugee traffic and the Indian police regularly question Refugee and his elderly father Jan Muhammad. One day, Refugee helps four men enter the Indian side of the border. These men enlist the help of Mr. Muhammad's other son to get to Delhi. Shortly thereafter, explosions take place in trains, buses, and buildings in the Indian capital.

Refugee crosses the border once again to visit Nazneen. She asks him to take her with him since her father wants her to marry Mohammad Ashraf, a Pakistan Rangers Officer. While crossing the border through the Rann they are captured by Pakistanis rangers. Refugee is beaten and sent to India on a camel. The Indian BSF captures him and gets him treated in the hospital. The Indians inform him that he unknowingly helped terrorists cross into India and caused several deaths. Refugee joins the BSF and fights the terrorists who laid siege to his village.

The film ends with Nazneen giving birth to Refugee's child at the border between the two nations. Indian BSF and Pakistani Rangers personnel discuss the child's nationality in a lighter vein.

Cast

Music

The music of this movie is composed by Anu Malik and lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Refugee's music received two National Film Awards: one for Best Music Direction and the other for Best Lyrics (for the song "Panchhi Nadiyaan". Additionally, Malik also won a Filmfare Special Award for his work in the film. It was one of the highest selling album of the year 2000

Song Singer(s) Duration Picturised on
"Aisa Lagta Hai" Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik 7:28 Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor
"Jise Tu Na Mila" Sukhwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan 10:58
"Mere Humsafar" Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik 7:50 Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor
"Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor 9:46 Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor
"Raat Ki Hatheli Par" Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor 6:58 Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor
"Taal Pe Jab" Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik 7:13 Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor

Taran Adarsh gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and praised the songs by saying "The music touches the heart of every listener. Every moment you feel like a heavenly moment." According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, around 35,00,000 albums were sold.[4]

Locations filmed

The crew having traveled from Mumbai was based at the city of Bhuj and majority of the shooting took place around in the Kutch District of the Indian state of Gujarat including the Great Rann of Kutch (also on BSF controlled "snow-white" Rann within), villages and Border Security Force (BSF) posts in Banni grasslands and the Rann, Lakhpat Fort village, Tera Fort village, a village in southern Kutch, some ancient temples of Kutch, and with parts and a song filmed on set in Mumbai's Kamalistan Studios.

Production

Bipasha Basu was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to play the role of a village belle opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta’s Aakhri Mughal. However the film was shelved, and Dutta changed the script and made Refugee with Kareena Kapoor.[5] Basu was offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.[6] Tabu was signed to play a doctor, but her role eventually got scrapped. Dutta initially wanted Akshaye Khanna to play Shadab Khan's role but decided against it as the role was very small.

Inspiration

Refugee is attributed to have been inspired by the story based around the Great Rann of Kutch by Keki N. Daruwalla titled Love Across The Salt Desert.[7] It is included as a short-story in the School Standard 11 and 12 syllabus English textbook of NCERT in India.[8][9][10]

Accolades

Award[a] Date of ceremony[b] Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Bollywood Movie Awards 28 April 2001 Best Male Debut Abhishek Bachchan Nominated [11]
Best Female Debut Kareena Kapoor Won
Best Lyricist Javed Akhtar for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Won
Best Playback Singer Male Sonu Nigam for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Nominated
Best Cinematography Basheer Ali Nominated
Filmfare Awards 17 February 2001 Best Supporting Actor Suniel Shetty Nominated [12]
[13]
Best Male Debut Abhishek Bachchan Nominated
Best Female Debut Kareena Kapoor Won
Best Lyricist Javed Akhtar for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Won
Best Male Playback Singer Sonu Nigam for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Alka Yagnik for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Nominated
Best Dialogue O. P. Dutta Won
Best Cinematography Basheer Ali Won
Special Award Anu Malik Won
International Indian Film Academy Awards 16 June 2001 Best Supporting Actor Suniel Shetty Nominated [14]
[15]
[16]
Best Male Debut[c] Abhishek Bachchan Won
Best Female Debut Kareena Kapoor Won
Best Background Score Aadesh Shrivastava Won
Best Lyricist Javed Akhtar for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer Sonu Nigam for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Nominated
Best Dialogue O. P. Dutta Won
National Film Awards 12 December 2001 Best Music Direction Anu Malik Won [17]
Best Lyrics Javed Akhtar for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Won
Screen Awards 20 January 2001 Best Male Debut Abhishek Bachchan Nominated [18]
[19]
[20]
Best Female Debut Kareena Kapoor Nominated
Best Lyricist Javed Akhtar for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Won
Best Male Playback Singer Sonu Nigam for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Alka Yagnik for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Won
Zee Cine Awards 3 March 2001 Best Lyricist Javed Akhtar for "Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke" Won [21]
[22]
Lux Face of the Year Kareena Kapoor Won

Notes

  1. ^ Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.
  2. ^ Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
  3. ^ Tied with Hrithik Roshan for Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai

References

  1. ^ "Refugee - Movie". Box Office India. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Refugee - Movie". Box Office India. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  3. ^ "boxofficeindia.com". Refugee does moderately well at the box office. Archived from the original on 18 June 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
  4. ^ "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Bipasha thanks Bobby, Akshay for career". Hindustan Times. 27 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Bipasha Basu's Debut-Go-Round Saga!". Movietalkies.com. 5 January 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  7. ^ "LOVE ACROSS THE SALT DESERT". 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
  8. ^ "(iii) Supplementary Reader; Selected Pieces of General English for Class XII; English General - Class XII". 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011.
  9. ^ "INDIA SCHOOL CERTIFICATE (YEAR-12) EXAMINATION MARCH 2011" (PDF). 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009.
  10. ^ "Prescribed Lessons from - 'The Web of Our Life'". education.nic.in. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  11. ^ "The Nominees and Winners for the Bollywood Awards 2001 were". Bollywood Movie Awards. Archived from the original on 7 April 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  12. ^ "46th Filmfare Awards 2001 Nominations". Indian Times. The Times Group. Archived from the original on 10 February 2001. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  13. ^ Dhirad, Sandeep (2006). "Filmfare Nominees and Winners" (PDF). Filmfare. pp. 107–109. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  14. ^ "2nd IIFA Awards 2001 Nominations". MSN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 26 August 2001. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  15. ^ "2nd IIFA Awards 2001 Winners". MSN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 26 August 2001. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  16. ^ "IIFA Through the Years - IIFA 2001: South Africa". IIFA. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  17. ^ "48th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Nominations for 7th Annual Screen Awards are". Screen. 2001. Archived from the original on 19 February 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  19. ^ Express News Service (21 January 2001). "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai all the way, bags 8 trophies". The Indian Express. Mumbai, India. Archived from the original on 24 February 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Screen Award winners for the year 2000 are". Screen India. Indian Express Limited. Archived from the original on 29 October 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Zee Cine Awards 2001". Zee Cine Awards. 3 March 2001. Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
  22. ^ "Zee Cine Awards 2001". Awards and Shows. Retrieved 26 June 2021.

External links

Films by J. P. Dutta
Categories