''Hum Kaun Hai? ''() is a 2004 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by Ravi Shankar Sharma. The film stars

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

Dimple Kapadia Dimple Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian actress predominantly appearing in Hindi films. Born and raised in Mumbai by wealthy parents, she aspired to become an actress from a young age and received her first opportunity through her fathe ...

, and

Dharmendra Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...

in lead roles. It is a remake of the 2001 Spanish film '' The Others''.

Plot

After the mysterious disappearance of her maid, butler, and gardener, Mrs. Sandra Williams, the wife of Major Frank, who lives in a palatial house with their two children, Sara and David, writes a letter to the local employment agency to get replacements. Martha Pinto, Edgar and Maria (a mute woman) apply for these vacancies. Sandra hires them and also lets them know that her children's eyes suffer from a condition that could cause them to be damaged by sunlight, hence the curtains are to be drawn at all times. Also she gets migraines by any loud noise, hence everyone must remain quiet, there is no electricity and all work must be done during the daytime, and the entire house is candle-lit. The staff gets busy with their work, and it is then Sara tells her mom that she has noticed other people in the house that are visible to her only, and she draws the picture of a male, a female (his wife), their son, Vicky, and an elder woman with magical powers. Sandra disbelieves her, but when she starts feeling someone's presence in her house, as well as hearing noises, she decides to investigate. She finds out that the letter she had sent to the employment agency is still lying in the mailbox. She must now find out how Martha, Edgar and Maria came to know of the vacancies, and of the presence of an album with dead people's photos. Watch as events beyond her control unfold, leading her, Sara and David face to face with the other unseen people in this household.

Cast

as Frank James Willams/ Major Frank John Willams (Dual role) *

as Virendra “Viru” *

as Sandra Willams *

Moushumi Chatterjee Moushumi Chatterjee is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019; she was previously a member of ...

as Martha Pinto, the butler *

Seema Rahmani Seema Rahmani is an American film actress, television presenter, writer, producer, director, singer, event host, poet, and a philanthropist. Early life While her family background links to Pune, India, Seema was born and raised in Kuwait. Her ...

as Maria, the maid * Abhijit Lahiri as Edgar, the gardener *

Hansika Motwani Hansika Motwani (born 9 August 1991) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. Motwani began her career as a child actor in Hindi films, and later went on to appear in lead roles in Telugu films, including '' ...

as Sara Williams *Master Rehmaan as David Williams *

Vikram Gokhale Vikram Gokhale (14 November 1945 – 26 November 2022) was an Indian film, television and stage actor, noted for his roles in Marathi theatre, Hindi films and television. He was the son of the Veteran Marathi theatre and film actor, Chandrakan ...

as Virendra's Boss *

Suhasini Mulay Suhasini Mulay (born 20 November 1950) is an Indian actress in Assamese, Bollywood and Marathi films as well as television. She won five National Film Awards. Early life and education Suhasini was born in a Marathi-speaking family in Patna w ...

as Anita *

Prem Chopra Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. Life and education Chopra, the third of six children of Ranveerlal and Rooprani Chopra, a Punjabi Hindu family, was ...

as Anita's Husband *Master Vicky as Vicky

Production

The film was shot at

Rajendra Kumar Rajendra Kumar (born as Rajendra Kumar Tuli; 20 July 1927 – 12 July 1999), was an Indian actor who starred in Bollywood films. Starting his career in 1949, he appeared in more than 80 films in a career spanning over four decades. Kumar was on ...

's sold

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

Reception

Arnab Banerjee of ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and commented, "Mystical elements as a genre seldom catch the fancy of Bollywood. It comes as a whiff of fresh air thus to see supernatural elements woven into mainstream format in a film."

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, as well as his reviews for Bollywood Hungama. Career Taran Adarsh started his journ ...

from

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides n ...

gave the film 1.5 out of five stars, calling it "an experiment that may find its share of believers and non-believers." Adarsh praised the performances, particularly Kapadia's, writing that the film "revolves mostly around Dimple Kapadia's beliefs and perceptions and the actress is up to the task of making it look one thousand per cent convincing. Undeniably talented, Dimple's performance can be rightly referred to as the soul of the enterprise."

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Manish Gajjar commended Kapadia's work and argued that the film "has a great screenplay." Malishka Mendonsa of Rediff concluded in a negative review, "Hum Kaun Hai did not answer any questions for me. Instead, it left me asking, 'theatre mein iss waqt hum kyun hai? hy are we in this theatre?" Rama Sharma of ''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) * ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune' ...

'', however, called it an "enthralling suspense thriller", and further noted, "With no smiles, no songs it is a clean spooky affair. Go for it if you have the spunk."

References

External links