The film was released on 29 June 2007.

Plot

The story begins with Shivam (Emraan Hashmi), a heart broken and introvert atheist, gangster, and right-hand man of Bharat Malik (Ashutosh Rana), officially a businessman who runs a chain of hotels in Hong Kong. Shivam is given the responsibility of one of these hotels, which he bears capably and well, making it much more successful than Malik's other hotels. Malik holds Shivam in the highest esteem due to Shivam's loyalty, reliability, and business acumen, and treats him like an adored son whom he entrusts with almost everything - indeed, more so than his biological son, Ronnie (Salil Acharya). This is the cause of much jealousy on Ronnie's part against Shivam, but due to Malik's outspoken support for Shivam, Ronnie does not dare do openly oppose him. Shivam has a very close childhood friend, Kabir (Shaad Randhawa), who assists him with everything.

Malik's brother, Rajan (Ashish Vidyarthi), and Rajan's spoilt son Munna (Purab Kohli) nurture a grudge against Shivam because of Shivam's repeated conflicts with Munna.

One day, Malik asks Shivam to keep an eye on his young mistress Reema (Mrinalini Sharma), whom he suspects of having an affair with someone else, while he is away on a brief business trip. Reema is a young Pakistani girl, a devout Muslim, and a victim of sex trafficking, whom Malik had 'bought' in the Bangkok flesh market. If Reema is found cheating on Malik, Shivam is to inform him immediately.

In Shivam's interactions with Reema, he recalls his lost love, Aliyah (Shriya Saran) in a series of flashbacks. Aliyah was a devout Muslim, who Shivam had met by chance in the marketplace one day. The duo eventually fell in love, but when her father saw them together, he wrathfully confronted them, reprimanding Aliyah physically . He also exposed Shivam's gangster background to a shocked Aliyah, leading to Shivam's instantly offering her father his gun, saying that he was willing to let go of everything, start anew, and legitimately provide for Aliyah if he is allowed to be with her. Aliyah's father recovers from his initial surprise quickly, and shoots at Shivam with the gun, who ducks to avoid the bullet. The bullet hits Aliyah instead, killing her and temporarily driving Shivam over the edge. A feeling of guilt and sorrow, at Aliyah having died because he tried to save his own life, remains with him hereafter. Aliyah's father instantly commits suicide when he realizes what he has done.

Shivam discovers one night that Reema has a secret boyfriend Bilal (Rehaan Khan), who convinces her to run away with him back to Pakistan. Shivam informs Malik, who orders Reema's elimination. However, when he confronts the couple to eliminate them, she dares him to shoot her, claiming that freedom is her right, requesting mercy "for God's sake". Shivam is reminded of Aliyah's religious mannerisms, which bear a strong resemblance to Reema's, and is unable to shoot her, leaving her alive. Malik tries to reach Shivam, who severs contact with the former, leading to Malik finding out about his disobedience.

Shivam plans to quickly run away from Hong Kong back to India with Kabir, who is extremely unwilling to do so. Eventually, he betrays Shivam to Malik, whose regard for Kabir goes up. Malik has Shivam captured, and orders Ronnie to torture Shivam until he agrees to kill Reema when Shivam refuses to do so even after Malik offers him a second chance. Malik is shown to be genuinely hurt and sorrowful at what he perceives as Shivam's betrayal, and hands over Shivam's responsibilities in the business to Kabir. Malik makes up the old feud with Rajan and Munna, and merges their gangs and businesses, with Malik demanding that Shivam be brought before him alive so that Malik can kill him personally. This occurs in Kabir's presence, who is bitterly penitent to the point of not wishing to live any more over his betrayal of Shivam.

Shivam manages to escape Ronnie, and seeks refuge in the monastery of a monk whom he had once set free from certain death. He recovers from his injuries, and reminded of Aliyah and her belief in freedom, decides to not continue running all his life to save his own skin, but to "fulfill someone else's dreams" - namely, unite Bilal and Reema and send them to Pakistan. He manages to save Bilal from Malik's henchmen, led by Kabir, whom Shivam still trusts and regards as his best friend, who tearfully reiterates that he is ready to die for Shivam, as he always was. Kabir takes Bilal to the monastery, where arrangements are made to ship Bilal and Reema to Lahore.

Shivam tracks Reema, killing Rajan when he taunts Reema and refuses to divulge where she is. He tricks Munna into revealing Malik's plans regarding Reema, which are to sell her to the person who "enjoys" her the most. Munna tells Shivam everything about it including the location, believing him to be crippled by his wounds and is immediately killed by Shivam upon realizing that's not the case. Shivam finds Reema and Malik, who is madly enraged at Shivam's standing against him, when he had cared for Shivam so much, deriding Shivam's new belief in God and freedom. Shivam kills Malik, escapes with Reema to the shipping docks, where Bilal is waiting. Kabir shows up to fight Malik's men and buy Shivam time, and is brutally murdered in the process. Bilal manages to force a reluctant Reema to escape to the ship, who is hesitant to leave Shivam behind. Ronnie and his men arrive and Shivam manages to kill them all in a gunfight, but is mortally wounded himself. As he lies dying, he comes to terms with his past, forgiving himself and envisioning Aliyah smiling down upon him. The movie ends with Reema in a conference in Pakistan, where she tells her story of the "awara" who sacrificed his life to save her, and incites those present to stand up for victims of trafficking.

Cast

• Emraan Hashmi as Shivam: The protagonist of the film, is an atheist gangster with a tragic past whose love has been murdered.
• Shriya Saran as Aaliyah: A Muslim Indian and Shivam's loved one who induces the idea of God and Freedom into Shivam and was mistakenly murdered by her father due to the criminal life of Shivam.
• Mrinalini Sharma as Reema: A Pakistani girl who was forced into trafficking by some human trafficking people, Malik bought her from them and Malik even asks Shivam to keep an eye on her.
• Shaad Randhawa as Kabir: Shivam's best friend since his childhood and he assists Shivam.
• Ashutosh Rana as Bharat Malik: A crime lord and boss of Shivam who treats Shivam like his own son.
• Salil Acharya as Ronnie Malik: Malik's son.
• Rehan Khan as Bilal: Reema's boyfriend.
• Ashish Vidyarthi as Rajan Malik: Malik's brother.
• Purab Kohli as Munna Malik: Rajan's son.
• Atul Parchure as Monk

Soundtrack

The music for the film was composed by Roxen (band) & Annie Khalid and were recreated in musical arrangements by Pritam. All songs were extremely popular in 2007.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} Some of the singers who have lent their voices for the album include Mustafa Zahid, Suzanne D'Mello, Rafaqat Ali Khan and Annie Khalid. The lyrics have been written by Sayeed Quadri, Asif Ali Baig and Annie Khalid.

The movie had a heavy influence of Pakistani music.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} All four tracks were borrowed from across the border and re-created by Pritam.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} Due to increased awareness of plagiarism, all the tracks have been properly credited to their original sources.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The music was praised highly and appreciated by critics and music followers. Mahiya and To Phir Aao were chartbusters of that time.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} It was Mustafa Zahid's first collaboration with Mohit Suri Later they collaborated for Aashiqui 2 and Ek Villain.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} Annie Khalid's Mahiya was included in the soundtrack.

Track listing

Release

Awarapan was released on 29 June 2007 all over India under the banner of Vishesh Films.

Reception

Critical reception

The film received critical acclaim and was rated 7.3/10 in IMDB.

Box office

Despite the positive reviews, having made worldwide collections of ₹12 crores, including ₹10 crores in India, on a budget of ₹18 crores, it has been described as a "disaster" by Box Office India, being unable to recover its budget.^[5]

References

External links

• {{IMDb title|1020937|Awarapan}}