Kisna: The Warrior Poet

Plot

Lady Catherine Williams (née Beckett), a wealthy British woman and former British minister, arrives in India to donate Rs 3500 Crores to charity as part of India's Republic Day celebrations. Before she can hand over the money, she requests a visit to Devprayag, where India's 2 rivers, Bhagirathi and Alaknanda, meet to form the Ganges River. At Devprayag, Lady Catherine remembers her childhood and narrates her story to a small crowd, which include two journalists – Rita and Jimmy.

Catherine was born in India in 1930, to British parents – Jennifer Beckett, who used to serve as a teacher to local children and Peter Beckett, who used to serve as the Deputy commissioner of Pauri Garhwal in British India. She had a privileged and peaceful upbringing. In 1935, a young Catherine befriends Kisna Singh, a local village boy and son of Peter's trusted servant Shriram Singh and Shanta Devi, and the two share a joyous friendship. Upon learning of this, Peter forcefully sends her back to England.

In May 1947, during the Independence Struggle, Catherine comes back to India on holiday and again meets Kisna, now a poet, school teacher and getting trained to be a warrior. Their childhood friendship is rekindled, and over time the feelings slowly develop into love. Their relationship is tested by the fact that they seemingly belong to opposite sides of India's struggle for freedom. Kisna also reveals that he is engaged to be married to Lakshmi, granddaughter of his music teacher and his one-sided but a crazy and possessive lover since childhood who always felt insecure of his friendship with Catherine.

There is growing resentment against colonialism, and Catherine finds herself targeted by an enraged mob of Indian nationalists after Peter is killed and Jennifer is presumed dead. She is protected by Kisna, who faces backlash from his maternal uncle Bhairo Singh and elder brother Shankar and community, who were part of the mob. Kisna is torn between his friendship and love for Catherine, his duty to his country, and the hatred of the British Raj. Supported by his mother Shanta, Kisna takes it upon himself to escort Catherine to the British High Commission, where safe passage back to England can be arranged for her.

The trip reaffirms their love for each other and tested by several trials including their hideout at his friend Nandu's home, their bond with Nandu's wife Rukmini, Jennifer being revealed alive, getting mobbed by rioters on the base of religion due to Partition of India and Kisna being forced to kill a corrupt Bhairo and the local prince Raghuraj Singh (who despite being friend with Peter was obsessed with Catherine and tried to rape her after she denied his proposal and advances when Peter was alive and also when her and Jennifer were caught by him during their escape with Kisna) to protect Catherine, but he is ultimately forced to choose between his feelings for Catherine and his duty to his newly independence gained country. He chooses the latter, and the pair bids an emotional farewell to each other.

In the present, it is revealed that Kisna married Lakshmi and fulfilled his duties to his wife and country, but always loved Catherine till his death. His last wish was for his ashes to be spread at Devprayag, the place where first love blossomed between him and Catherine. Catherine's last wish is also for her ashes to be spread at Devprayag so that, even though they both married different people, she and Kisna can be together forever.

Cast

Vivek Oberoi as Kisna Singh

Karan Desai as young Kisna

Isha Sharvani as Lakshmi Devi (Hindi voice dubbed by Mona Ghosh Shetty)

Manjiri Bhate as young Lakshmi

Daksha Seth as old Lakshmi

Antonia Bernath as Catherine Beckett

Anna Llewellyn as young Catherine

Polly Adams as old Catherine Williams

Amrish Puri as Bhairo Singh

Om Puri as Juman Masum Kishti (Special Appearance)

Yashpal Sharma as Shankar Singh

Manav Tiwari as young Shankar

Sushmita Sen as Naima Begum

Zarina Wahab as Shanta Devi

Shivaji Satam as Shriram Singh

Rajat Kapoor as Prince Raghuraj Singh

Michael Maloney as Peter Beckett

Caroline Langrishe as Jennifer Beckett

Vikram Gokhale as Dada Guru: Kisna's music teacher and grandfather-in-law; Lakshmi's maternal grandfather

Mehul Thakur as Vasu: Lakshmi's cousin

Yash Pawar as young Vasu

Production

The film was shot on sync sound under the direction of Dilip Subramaniam at Ranikhet on a budget of ₹250 million ($5.48 million). Award-winning cinematographer Ashok Mehta, action director Tinu Verma, choreographer Saroj Khan, and production designer/art director Samir Chanda round out the crew.

Kisna: The Warrior Poet has two versions. A two-hour English version for the international market while the Hindi version will be a regular three-hour feature film with songs and dances.

Soundtrack

Subhash Ghai combined the musical talent of A. R. Rahman and Ismail Darbar to create the soundtrack. Ghai roped in his usual associate Rahman originally, but had to sign in Ismail Darbar to complete the project as Rahman was busy with the works of The Lord of the Rings. Ghai says: "Rahman was my original choice because it is an international project and I wanted both the festive and soulful element of Indian music. Then I asked Ismail to do the rest because apart from Rahman he has the knowledge and ability to fuse Western and Indian classical music. The way he has used Ustad Rashid Khan's voice in "Kahe Ujare Mori Neend" is really captivating."

Rahman returned to do the background score of the movie, on Ghai's request. The soundtrack got excellent reviews and was immensely praised. The lyrics were penned by Javed Akhtar. One English song "My Wish Comes True", was written by Blaaze. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 12,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's twelfth highest-selling.