From Ayushmann Khurrana and Tabu-starrer black comedy thriller Andhadhun to Zaira Wasim and Aamir Khan-starrer musical drama Secret Superstar, there have been many low-budget Bollywood films that have completely exceeded everyone expectations and earned hundreds of crores at the box office. Another name in this list is the 2012 mystery thriller Kahaani, which is headlined by Vidya Balan and features Parambrata Chatterjee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in pivotal roles.
Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, Kahaani is centred around Vidya playing a pregnant woman who arrives in Kolkata during the Durga Puja festival to search for her missing husband. She is assisted by the cop Parambrata, while the intelligence officer Nawazuddin does not want her to continue her search as her missing husband has links to a mysterious fugitive named Milan Damji.
In the film's surprising climax, it is unveiled that Vidya was faking her pregnancy throughout the film to actually searach for the terrorist behind the poisonous gas attack in the Kolkata Metro, that happened two years ago. The thrilling climax won over the minds of the audiences and critics.
Vidya Balan's acting in Kahaani remains one of the best female performances in the last decade and she ended up winning almost all the Best Actress awards at the several film awards in the following year. Even Sujoy Ghosh's masterful direction and writing was appreciated immensely. Kahaani even won three National Film Awards. Sujoy won Best Screenplay (Original), Namrata Joshi won Best Editing, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui was given a Special Jury Award.
Made on a budget of just Rs 8 crore, the 2012 release grossed Rs 104 crore worldwide, as per the trade analyst Taran Adarsh. Kahaani even ran for more than 50 days in the theatres and is regarded as one of the best thrillers made in Indian cinema. Saswata Chatterjee's character of the serial killer Bob Biswas, who only appeared for 8 minutes in the film, acquired a cult status.
Kahaani even had a spiritual sequel titled Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, which starred Vidya Balan and Arjun Rampal. Released in 2016, it couldn't match upto the success of the original. Kahaani even had a spin-off titled Bob Biswas, in which Abhishek Bachchan played the serial killer. The film was released directly on ZEE5 in 2021.
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