# Kalyug (2005 film)
**Kalyug** (कलयुग) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller directed by [Mohit Suri](https://www.edgepedia.org/mohit-suri), in which a newlywed couple's honeymoon night is secretly filmed and posted on a pornographic website, driving the bride to suicide and sending her husband into the European pornography underworld to find those responsible.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/) It was produced by Mukesh Bhatt for Vishesh Films, released on 9 December 2005, and stars [Kunal Khemu](https://www.edgepedia.org/kunal-khemu), Emraan Hashmi, Deepal Shaw, Smiley Suri, and [Amrita Singh](https://www.edgepedia.org/amrita-singh).[2](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/2565/bollywood.hindi/kalyug/index.htm) • [3](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Kalyug_2005)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / producer | Mohit Suri; produced by Mukesh Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt for Vishesh Films[2](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/2565/bollywood.hindi/kalyug/index.htm) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kalyug_2005) |
| Release | 9 December 2005, Hindi language[3](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Kalyug_2005) |
| Runtime | 2 hours 6 minutes[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kalyug_2005) |
| Lead cast | Kunal Khemu (Kunal Darr), Smiley Suri (Renuka), Deepal Shaw (Annie), Emraan Hashmi (Alibhai), Amrita Singh (Simi Roy), Ashutosh Rana (Johnny)[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kalyug_2005) • [5](https://www.moviemeter.com/movies/crime/kalyug) |
| Budget and gross | Budget ₹40 million (₹4 crore); India net ₹69.7 million (₹6.97 crore), worldwide gross ₹95.5 million (₹9.55 crore), verdict "Above Average"[3](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Kalyug_2005) |
| IMDb rating | 6.5/10 from about 3,700 user votes[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/ratings/) |
| Notable songs | "Jiya Dhadak Dhadak Jaye" (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan) and "Aadat" (Atif Aslam)[7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/kalyug-mw0001486329) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story opens eighteen years earlier, when Pushkaran Dhar (Yatin Karyekar) and his son Kunal were forced to leave Kashmir by terrorists, part of the displacement of [Kashmiri Pandits](https://www.edgepedia.org/kashmiri-pandits), and resettled in Bombay.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/) After his father dies in a train accident, Kunal takes in Renuka (Smiley Suri), a young woman his father had promised to look after; the two fall in love within a week and marry.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/)
On their wedding night in a hotel, the couple is secretly recorded by Johnny ([Ashutosh Rana](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashutosh-rana)), working for porn-website operator Simi Roy (Amrita Singh), and the footage is released online.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/) The couple is arrested for producing pornography; unable to bear the humiliation, Renuka commits suicide, and Kunal, after proving his innocence, sets out for revenge.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/)
His search takes him to Zurich, where Ali ([Emraan Hashmi](https://www.edgepedia.org/emraan-hashmi)), the owner of an adults-only shop, helps him trace Annie (Deepal Shaw), a porn star who appears on the same website and who is herself a victim, having been sold to Johnny by her uncle.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/) • [8](https://indiaeuropefilmconnections.com/title-item/kalyug/) In a fight, Kunal kills Johnny, but Ali is fatally wounded and, dying, reveals that Simi Roy is the mastermind behind the porn sites and also runs the red-light district in Zurich.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/) Kunal enlists Simi's abused daughter Tanya (Nisha Lalwani), who confronts and shoots her mother; the film ends with Kunal and Annie ready to start a new life together.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/) • [8](https://indiaeuropefilmconnections.com/title-item/kalyug/)
## Production and themes
The film deals with two social abuses, human trafficking and pornography, as its Prime Video synopsis states.[9](https://www.primevideo.com/-/hi/detail/0TEJTM6SB3R0O4IWB8CCLR04XN) Reviewer Taran Adarsh, a film trade critic at Bollywood Hungama, wrote that the film addresses porn websites, prostitution, and human trafficking, and noted that it takes its inspiration from a real-life incident while bearing slight similarities to the Hollywood film *Boogie Nights* (1997).[10](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kalyug-2/critic-review/kalyug-2-movie-review/) The film was earlier titled *Blue Film*.[11](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kalyug-2/songs/music-critic-review/)
**Casting marked several returns and debuts.** Kunal Khemu, known as a child artist, made his first lead role as an adult with this film, and Amrita Singh returned to cinema after years away, playing a woman who controls the pornographic industry.[12](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/kalyug/20051209.htm) Emraan Hashmi appeared in a special appearance as Alibhai, a sex-shop owner, with pierced eyebrows and red hair.[2](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/2565/bollywood.hindi/kalyug/index.htm)
**European locations were largely simulated.** According to a location analysis by Kaushik Bhaumik of the India-Europe Film Connections project, the film has remarkably few sequences actually shot in Zurich; most shots standing in for the city were filmed in Thailand. Zurich is introduced around the 56th minute with a cramped shot of Ali's porn-shop front, and a daylight aerial shot of the city appears around the 1 hour 48 minute mark, leading into a brief sequence in the Zurich Pride March.[8](https://indiaeuropefilmconnections.com/title-item/kalyug/)
## Music
The soundtrack was credited to [Anu Malik](https://www.edgepedia.org/anu-malik) along with guest musicians including Faizal Rafi, Rohail Hyat, and Goher Mumtaz.[13](https://ksboxoffice.com/kalyug-2005-movie-box-office-collection-budget-and-unknown-facts/) AllMusic's reviewer Bhasker Gupta called it a resourceful continuation of the earlier Bhatt film *Zeher* and named "Jiya Dhadak Dhadak Jaye", sung by Pakistani qawwali singer [Rahat Fateh Ali Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/rahat-fateh-ali-khan), and [Atif Aslam](https://www.edgepedia.org/atif-aslam)'s "Aadat" (with a DJ Suketu remix) as the two high points that placed the album among the year's top soundtracks.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/kalyug-mw0001486329) The soundtrack was the 12th highest-selling album of 2005 according to one trade compilation.[13](https://ksboxoffice.com/kalyug-2005-movie-box-office-collection-budget-and-unknown-facts/)
## Reception and box office
Critical response was mixed. Taran Adarsh rated the film 2.5 out of 5, calling it "a well-made film that has a contemporary and modern feel to it" and praising Khemu's debut performance and Singh's comeback, while predicting it would depend on word of mouth against a week with three releases.[10](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kalyug-2/critic-review/kalyug-2-movie-review/) A Rediff.com review titled "Kalyug is just about average" criticized script flaws but called Khemu's first adult performance very good in places.[12](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/kalyug/20051209.htm) Subhash K. Jha, reviewing for Nowrunning, praised it as an original and thought-provoking film that explores net-porn "without getting sleazy".[14](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/2565/bollywood.hindi/kalyug/607/review.htm) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 69% audience score on the Popcornmeter with 500+ ratings, with no critic reviews counted on the Tomatometer.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kalyug_2005)
**Box office returns were modest but profitable.** Sacnilk reports a budget of ₹40 million (₹4 crore) against an India net collection of ₹69.7 million (₹6.97 crore) and a worldwide gross of ₹95.5 million (₹9.55 crore), with a verdict of "Above Average"; opening day net was ₹5.7 million (₹0.57 crore).[3](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Kalyug_2005) Bollywood Hungama's trade figures put India net at ₹72.1 million (₹7.21 crore) and worldwide gross at ₹100.6 million (₹10.06 crore),[15](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kalyug-2/box-office/) while an ABP Live retrospective lists the budget as ₹40 million (₹4 crore) and worldwide earnings as ₹102.7 million (₹10.27 crore).[16](https://www.abplive.com/entertainment/bollywood/saiyaara-director-mohit-suri-movies-zeher-aashiqui-2-murder-2-budget-and-worldwide-collection-2982006) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records only $1,435 grossed in its domestic (United States) release, distributed by Kria.[17](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0499041/)
## Legacy
The film established Mohit Suri's association with the Bhatt camp's low-budget thrillers; an ABP Live retrospective on Suri's career lists *Kalyug* among his early small-budget films that earned more than their cost.[16](https://www.abplive.com/entertainment/bollywood/saiyaara-director-mohit-suri-movies-zeher-aashiqui-2-murder-2-budget-and-worldwide-collection-2982006) Its subject matter, the non-consensual distribution of intimate video, has remained a recurring theme in later Indian cinema and law, and the film is frequently cited as an early mainstream Hindi treatment of it.
## References
1. [Kalyug (2005) - Plot, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/plotsummary/)
2. [Kalyug Hindi Movie overview, Nowrunning](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/2565/bollywood.hindi/kalyug/index.htm)
3. [Kalyug (2005) Box Office Collection, Sacnilk](https://www.sacnilk.com/movie/Kalyug_2005)
4. [Kalyug (2005), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kalyug_2005)
5. [Kalyug (2005), MovieMeter](https://www.moviemeter.com/movies/crime/kalyug)
6. [Kalyug (2005) - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499041/ratings/)
7. [Kalyug Original Soundtrack review by Bhasker Gupta, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/kalyug-mw0001486329)
8. [Kalyug, India-Europe Film Connections (location analysis by Kaushik Bhaumik)](https://indiaeuropefilmconnections.com/title-item/kalyug/)
9. [कलयुग, Prime Video](https://www.primevideo.com/-/hi/detail/0TEJTM6SB3R0O4IWB8CCLR04XN)
10. [Kalyug Movie Review by Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kalyug-2/critic-review/kalyug-2-movie-review/)
11. [Kalyug Music Review by Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kalyug-2/songs/music-critic-review/)
12. [Kalyug is just about average, Rediff.com](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/kalyug/20051209.htm)
13. [Kalyug 2005 Movie Box Office Collection, Budget and Unknown Facts, KS Box Office](https://ksboxoffice.com/kalyug-2005-movie-box-office-collection-budget-and-unknown-facts/)
14. [Kalyug Movie Review by Subhash K. Jha, Nowrunning](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/2565/bollywood.hindi/kalyug/607/review.htm)
15. [Kalyug Box Office Collection, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kalyug-2/box-office/)
16. [Mohit Suri filmography retrospective, ABP Live](https://www.abplive.com/entertainment/bollywood/saiyaara-director-mohit-suri-movies-zeher-aashiqui-2-murder-2-budget-and-worldwide-collection-2982006)
17. [Kalyug (2005), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0499041/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2000s › Action and thriller films*
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