''Paanch'' () is a 2003 Indian

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

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. ...

written and directed by

Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to films, the Government of France made him a Knight of the Ordre ...

in his directing debut, starring

Kay Kay Menon Krishna Kumar Menon (born 2 October 1966), known professionally as Kay Kay Menon, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and occasionally in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu films. He is best known for his roles in fil ...

Aditya Srivastava Aditya Srivastava is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films, television and theatre. He is best known for his role as Senior Inspector Abhijeet in India's longest-running television police procedural ''C.I.D. (Indian TV series), C.I.D.'' He ...

Vijay Maurya Vijay Maurya is an Indian actor, screenwriter and director who works in Indian films and theatre. He is best known for his work in the 2019 film ''Gully Boy.'' Career Theatre Maurya began his career in theatre by enrolling in a workshop under ...

, Joy Fernandes, and

Tejaswini Kolhapure Tejaswini Kolhapure (born 1 January 1980) is an Indian super model and actress. Personal life Kolhapure was born in Mumbai in a Maharashtrian family. Her father, Pandharinath Kolhapure, was a classical singer whose family was from Kolhapur.

. The film is loosely based on the 1976–77 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. ''Paanch'' did not receive a theatrical or home-video release. The

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...

raised objections due to the film's violence, depiction of drug abuse, and use of strong language. After some cuts, the film was cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification in 2001. However, despite the director's protests, it was not approved for release. The story was considered too disturbing for the general public, and the production lacked the budget for reshoots. ''Paanch'' was later made available through torrent websites and screened at several film festivals.

Plot

A kidnapping plot goes awry when four friends plan to kidnap their own friend, who is accidentally killed.

Cast

as Luke Morrison *

as Murgi *

as Pondy * Joy Fernandes as Joy *

as Shiuli *

Sharat Saxena Sharat Saxena (born 17 August 1950) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films along with Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in more than 250 Bollywood films. Saxena started his career in the early 1970s and has mainly played ...

as Inspector Deshpande * Pankaj Saraswat as Nikhil Ranjan *

Vijay Raaz Vijay Raaz (born 5 June 1963) is an Indian actor, film director and narrator, who predominantly appears in Hindi films. He debuted with '' Bhopal Express'' (1999) and since worked in more than 90 films. His breakthrough came when he played the ...

as Anish Ranjan *

Abhinav Kashyap Abhinav Singh Kashyap (born 6 September 1974) is an Indian actor, film director and screenwriter, who gained recognition for directing and co-writing '' Dabangg'' (2010). Early life and education Kashyap was born in Obra, Uttar Pradesh where ...

as Police Salam

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film features music composed by

Vishal Bhardwaj Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian filmmaker, music composer, and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of nine National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. Bhardwaj made his debut as a mu ...

and lyrics written by

Abbas Tyrewala Abbas Tyrewala (born 15 May 1974) is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and director. After making his mark as a screenwriter and dialogue writer in the early 2000s, with award-winning films such as ''Maqbool'' (2003) and ''Munnabhai M.B.B.S.'' ( ...

. Released by BMG Crescendo in May 2002, the album marked the company's entry into the Hindi film music market.

Production

In September 1993,

stayed at the St. Xavier's Boys Hostel, where he spent time with Adam Avil, Eddie Avil, Luke Kenny, and Ulysses Veyra, members of a band initially named Greek, later renamed Pralay. He documented their daily activities in a small notebook, filling forty pages. These notes served as the foundation for a script he began writing in fragments for a film initially titled Mirage, which eventually became Paanch. Kashyap had previously seen former VJ Luke Kenny perform in a play directed by Vikram Kapadia. Impressed by Kenny’s performance, Kashyap approached him with a partially completed script, but the collaboration did not materialize. During his collaboration with Nair, Kashyap discovered files related to the Joshi-Abhyankar Serial Murders, a series of ten murders committed in Pune in 1976.

Release

''Paanch'' was screened at several film festivals, including

Filmfest Hamburg FILMFEST HAMBURG is an international film festival in Hamburg, the third-largest of its kind in Germany (after Berlin and Munich). It shows national and international feature and documentary films in eleven sections. The range of the program stret ...

in 2003,

Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema Osian's-Cinefan was one of Asia's leading film festivals devoted to Asian and Arab cinema, and was part of ''Osian's Film House Division''. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2008. After a two-year break, the 12th staging of t ...

as the closing film in 2005, the

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema< ...

in 2006, and the

Jagran Film Festival Jagran Film Festival (JFF) is travelling film festival that was founded in India in 2010. The festival is an initiative of the Jagran Prakashan, Jagran Prakashan Group, with the aim of promoting the appreciation of cinematic art in smaller towns b ...

in 2016.

References

External links

*
Paanch
at

portal {{Anurag Kashyap 2003 films Unreleased Hindi-language films Indian films based on actual events Crime films based on actual events M Indian crime thriller films 2000s Hindi-language films Films directed by Anurag Kashyap Films set in 1976 Films set in 1977 Films scored by Vishal Bhardwaj Films with screenplays by Anurag Kashyap 2003 directorial debut films Indian serial killer films Films about real serial killers Hindi-language films based on actual events Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police