36 China Town
| 36 China Town | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Abbas-Mustan |
| Produced by | Subhash Ghai |
| Screenplay by | Shyam Goel |
| Story by | Shyam Goel |
| Starring |
Shahid Kapoor Kareena Kapoor Akshaye Khanna Vivek Shauq Isha Koppikar Upen Patel Paresh Rawal Payal Rohatgi Johnny Lever Tanaaz Currim |
| Music by | Himesh Reshammiya |
| Cinematography | Ravi Yadav |
| Edited by | Hussain A. Burmawala |
Production company |
Trans TV |
| Distributed by | Mukta Arts |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 141 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ₹370 million (US$5.5 million)[1] |
36 China Town is a 2006 Bollywood comedy murder mystery film directed by Abbas-Mustan and produced by Subhash Ghai. It is an official adaption of the 1992 American film Once Upon a Crime (which in turn is a remake of the 1960 Italian film Crimen).
The film stars an ensemble cast of Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Vivek Shauq, Isha Koppikar, Upen Patel (in his film debut), Paresh Rawal, Payal Rohatgi, Johnny Lever and Tanaaz Currim, while Priyanka Chopra and Tanushree Dutta make special appearances. The film follows the investigation of a police officer trying to find the killer of a wealthy casino owner, Sonia Chang. The comedy scenes enacted in the movie by Paresh Rawal, Johny Lever and Tanaz Kareem are the plus point of the movie. The film was declared "hit" at the Box office.[1]
Summary
When Raj Malhotra (Shahid Kapoor), a cash strapped wannabe Bollywood actor, meets Priya (Kareena Kapoor), a runaway jilted girl who has discovered the true nature of her gold-digger lover, neither has an inkling of the plot about to unfold. The duo soon find a baby, who seems to be the lost infant son of Sonia Chang (Isha Koppikar). Sonia is the owner of the titular casino in Goa. After her baby was kidnapped, the kidnapper & the baby both went missing. The distraught Sonia is contemplating changing her will, when the duo inform her of the development.
Soon the duo come to Goa with her baby, only to find that Sonia has been murdered just some time before. Horrified, they try to run, only to be caught by Inspector Karan (Akshaye Khanna). The circumstances make the duo look like murderers, but something is not right. With a host of interesting characters who had a motive to kill Sonia, will the killer ever be caught?
Plot
Multimillionaire Sonia Chang (Isha Koppikar) finds out her only 2 year son is kidnapped. She lives in her huge mansion named "36 China Town" with a servant couple Mr.Lobo (Dinyar Contractor) and Mrs.Lobo (Roshan Tirandas) in Goa. Sonia is consoled by Rocky (Upen Patel), a local flirt. Sonia declares 25 lakh reward if anyone returns the child to her.
The story then focusses upon Raj (Shahid Kapoor), a struggling actor & Priya (Kareena Kapoor), a runaway jilted girl. They both meet each other after both of their dreams have been shattered. They find a child who is dumped in Mumbai. They take pity on him, but after seeing a missing persons ad, they realise that the child is the only son of Sonia Chang. The ad says that they will get a lot of money if they return the son back. They both need the money so they decide to return the baby to her. Before leaving for Goa, they call Sonia Chang and tell that they have her child. She was discussing the change in her will with her lawyer Mr.Dixit (Vivek Vaswani), when the duo inform her about her baby. Meanwhile, Raj falls in love with Priya. But she is irritated by his presence.
Sonia is overjoyed & calls them to Goa. During midnight, her casino is hosting some interesting people. One of them is Natwar (Paresh Rawal), a notorious gambler who has come along with his wife Gracy (Payal Rohatgi). Natwar has pawned his hotels to Sonia & has only one hotel left in his possession. When he loses money, he is forced to pawn the last hotel too. He keeps this a secret, but Gracy knows the fact. Another person is KK (Johny Lever), who has come along with his wife Ruby (Tanaaz Currim). There is also Rocky among them, who is a big hit with ladies, especially Sonia. Rocky flirts with Ruby. Ruby wins a lot of money in casino. But when she doesn't get the money even after claiming it, she enters 36 China town to meet Sonia in a very angry mood. Even Natwar goes inside the mansion to meet Sonia and pawn the last hotel. Upset by this, Gracy goes to 36 China Town in an angry mood. Then, she goes her bedroom with Rocky. Meanwhile KK and Natwar decide to play together and they lose all of their money. They fight and get out of the casino.
Meanwhile,Raj & Priya come to Goa, where they run into a drunkard (Raj Zutshi) loitering near the mansion. The drunkard runs away on seeing them. The duo are surprised to see the mansion to be in dark, since they expected Sonia to be waiting for them. They enter the mansion & call for Sonia. When she doesn't answer, they realise that something is wrong. On seeing the state of the house, they realise that Sonia has been robbed, but are later horrified to see Sonia dead. The duo run, but find that the child is left inside the mansion. Raj enters the mansion again to take him. He witnesses two eyes and legs of the killer behind a cupboard. Terrified, he gets out of the mansion with the child. Raj and priya then inform Goa police about the murder. They keep the child inside a police van and run away. But Priya finds that she has left her suitcase inside the mansion inside which her passport is kept. Meanwhile audience watch that Sonia's body is kept inside Priya's suitcase by somebody and kept outside the mansion. KK reaches the mansion and finds the suitcase. Thinking that it is containing lot of money, he takes it and reaches his room in hotel where Ruby is waiting for him. Meanwhile, Raj and Priya go back to the mansion to take her suitcase. Raj enters the mansion but is arrested by Inspector Karan (Akshaye Khanna), the investigating officer and Ravi (Vivek Shauq). Meanwhile, KK and Ruby find out that the suitcase contains dead body, not money. They decide to dispose the suitcase. Meanwhile Priya, who wants to help Raj, gets arrested. Priya and Raj become the prime suspects of the murder. Inside the cell both fall for each other. Meanwhile KK and Ruby unable to dispose the suitcase, are arrested by police. KK tells the truth to Karan about Natwar. Karan goes to meet Natwar. Natwar lies to him that he was in his room with his wife,Gracy. Karan goes away. Natwar then finds out that Gracy was with Rocky in the room. Next day, Karan comes to meet Natwar and Gracy. Natwar tells him that it was he who was in the room and he got out from pipe directly to the neighbouring house's bedroom (Which actually Rocky did). But to his shock, the room turns to be Sonia Chang's mansion's bedroom where she was murdered. Natwar is arrested.
Natwar then tells the truth to Karan about Rocky. Karan calls Rocky to police station. But seeing Rocky's eyes, Raj recollects that it was rocky's eyes and shoes which he had seen behind the cupboard. Rocky then tells that he was in Gracy's room that night. He had got out from the pipe to sonia's bedroom only to find her already murdered. When he was about to get out from the house, Raj and Priya had entered with the child and started searching for Sonia. Then, when Raj had entered the mansion again to take the child, he had seen his (Rocky's) eyes and legs. Karan is able to reconstruct what actually happened that night. Based on Mr. Dixit's statement about the will & everybody's statement, Karan is able to find the truth. First, he procures the drunkard, whom Raj & Priya believe to be the murderer. But, Karan goes on to explain that he is in fact, the kidnapper.
Karan goes on to explain that the kidnapper was hired by the killer but the kidnapper lost the baby's possession, who was then found by Raj and Priya in Mumbai. After Sonia is informed by Raj & Priya about the baby's discovery, the mastermind found that his/her plan was failing. Hence, he/she murdered Sonia, while other people incriminated themselves by fooling others to believe that it was robbery gone wrong. The actual killer was Mr. and Mrs. Lobo, Sonia's servants. According to Sonia Chang's initial will, after her death, the person who was most close to her son (which were her servants) would inherit everything but then one day she found out about their evil intentions and decided to change her will, which led to them murdering her.
Cast
- Suspects
- Shahid Kapoor as Raj Malhotra
- Kareena Kapoor as Priya
- Upen Patel as Rocky
- Paresh Rawal as Natwar
- Payal Rohatgi as Gracy
- Johny Lever as KK
- Tanaaz Currim as Ruby
- Dinyar Contractor as Mr. Lobow
- Roshan Tirandaaz as Mrs. Lobow
- Raj Zutshi as Drunkard
- Supporters
- Akshaye Khanna as Chief Inspector Karan
- Vivek Vaswani as Mr. Dixit Lawyer
- Vivek Shauq as Inspector Ravi
- Cameo
- Isha Koppikar as Sonia Chang
- Priyanka Chopra Special Appearance as Seema (Karan's wife)
- Tanushree Dutta Special Appearance in song 'Jab Kabhie'
- Sambhavna Seth as Simran (Rocky's girlfriend)
- Preeti Puri as Rosy
- Nassar Abdullah as Raj's father
- Dajianja Kapoor as The Police
Awards and nominations
Winner
- IIFA Awards for Best Debutant (Male) - Upen Patel
- Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut - Upen Patel
- Global Indian Film Awards for Best Debut Actor - Upen Patel
Nominated
- Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Sunidhi Chauhan for Aashiqui Meri
- Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer (Male) - Upen Patel
Soundtrack
The music is composed by Himesh Reshammiya. Lyrics are penned by Sameer. The Music was released by Tips Music.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "24x7 I Think of You" | Sameer | Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan | 5:13 |
| 2. | "Aashiqui Meri" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:53 |
| 3. | "Badi Dilchaspi Hai" | Sameer | K K, Arya | 5:26 |
| 4. | "Dil Tumhare Bina" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Alka Yagnik | 5:23 |
| 5. | "Jab Kabhi" | Sameer | Kunal Ganjawala, Alka Yagnik | 5:21 |
| 6. | "24x7 I Think of You – Remix" | Sameer | Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan | 4:16 |
| 7. | "Aashiqui Meri – Remix" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:16 |
| 8. | "Badi Dilchaspi Hai – Remix" | Sameer | K K, Arya | 4:08 |
| 9. | "Dil Tumhare Bina – Remix" | Sameer | Himesh Reshammiya, Alka Yagnik | 4:51 |
| 10. | "Jab Kabhi – Remix" | Sameer | Kunal Ganjawala | 3:02 |
| 11. | "Jab Kabhi – Remix – I" | Sameer | Kunal Ganjawala, Alka Yagnik | 5:02 |