Samrat & Co.

Samrat & Co.

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Kaushik Ghatak
Produced by Kavita K. Barjatya
Rajshri Productions
Written by Kaushik Ghatak
Manish Shrivastav
Starring Rajeev Khandelwal
Madalasa Sharma
Gopal Datt
Music by Ankit Tiwari
Mithoon
Cinematography Sanjay Malwankar
Edited by Nipun Gupta
Production
company
Rajshri Productions
Distributed by Rajshri Productions
Release dates
  • April 25, 2014
Country India
Language Hindi

Samrat & Co. is a 2014 Hindi detective thriller film directed by Kaushik Ghatak and produced by Kavita K. Barjatya under the Rajshri Productions banner. It features Rajeev Khandelwal[1] in the title role of Samrat.[2][3] The film was initially scheduled for release on May 1, 2014 release[4][5] but was released ahead of schedule on Apr 25, 2014.[6][7][8][9]

Plot

A young, beautiful and rich girl, Dimpy Singh (Madalsa Sharma), approaches Samrat Tilakdhari (Rajeev Khandelwal), a private investigator, with a strange case. Their garden got ruined for reasons that appear natural but are not known; leading horticulturists have examined the fading plants but they have not been able to identify the probable reason. Further, her father's favorite horse died; once again the reason for the pre-mature death remains a mystery.[10] That's not the end; Dimpy’s father Mahendra Pratap Singh (Girish Karnad), otherwise a very strong and balanced man, has been experiencing deteriorating health.[11] All these aspects when combined makes the case sound weird and that grabs the attention of Samrat.

Samrat along with his assistant friend, Chakradhar Pandey (Gopal Datt), visits the huge estate of Mahendra Pratap Singh. As he starts investigating, he discovers lots of mysterious facts. The story progresses when a murder takes place in the house, which leads to a series of events, complicating things for Samrat. Every character around seems to be hiding something.[12] How will Samrat unfold the mysteries? Will there be more mysteries while he is investigating? Will the case be solved?

Cast

Reception

Official theatrical trailer was released on Mar 18, 2014 at a suburban multiplex in Mumbai.[13] The trailer received mixed reviews. One review said: Rajeev Khandelwal the main protagonist for Samrat & Co. very happily copies Benedict Cumberbatch, the British actor portraying the character of Sherlock Holmes in the hit series by the same name. Rajeev is desperately trying to be cool and stylish, something that does not come naturally to him and does not look good on him.[14][15] Another review said: "The industry and fans by large, have found the trailer gripping and true to its claims of the film being ‘dilchasp’ and intriguing. Known for his strong acting histrionics and intelligence, Rajeev Khandelwal’s suave and new look as Samrat and his dialogue delivery is also being immensely appreciated, bringing the actor into a new avatar in Bollywood".[16] Strangely, when the director of the film narrated Rajeev Khandelwal the script, he did not narrate the entire script, but did it only till the climax scene. The director Kaushik Ghatak told Rajeev that he would tell him the climax only if he came on board. Once Rajeev agreed to do the film, Kaushik kept his promise of narrating the climax to him, but, to his surprise, Rajeev did not want to hear it and requested him not to. Telling us his reasons for doing that, Rajeev said, "The script had been so gripping that I decided to play Samrat in my head, trying to actually solve the case while shooting the film.".[17] Samrat and Co. received mostly negative reviews. Shubhra Gupta from the Indian Express rated the movie 1 star out of 5 and said "The script allows for lots of silliness, and clueless characters, and sad clues." Rediff gave half star to the movie. Rahul Desai from Mumbai mirror gave 1.5 stars out of 5. Taran Adarsh rated the movie 2.5 out of 5. The movie was released in 566 theaters.

It had a Poor Box Office collection record merely collecting 2 crores in its run.

References

  1. ↑ "'Samrat & Co' actor Rajeev Khandelwal hurt in a car accident". Mid Day. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Madalasa To Debut In Kavita Barjatya's Detective thriller 'Samrat & Co'". India Glitz. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Rajshri’s Detective Saga Samrat And Co To Release". Box Office India. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Rajshri’s Detective Saga Samrat And Co To Release". Box Office India. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Rajeev Khandelwal to play detective in thriller 'Samrat and Co'". IBN Live. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Kangana Ranaut's REVOLVER RANI to take on Subhash Ghai's KAANCHI!". Yahoo India News. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Rajshri Productions to break tradition with 'Samrat & Co.'". The Times of India. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  8. ↑ "Every character in 'Samrat & Co' intriguing, says Kavita Barjatya". India Today. March 20, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  9. ↑ "There's an audience for my films: Rajeev Khandelwal on Samrat & Co". Hindustan Times. March 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  10. ↑ "Rajeev Khandelwal in Samrat & Co.: Meet the first Detective of 2014 - In Pics". Fusion Productions. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Rajeev Khandelwal in Samrat & Co.: Meet the first Detective of 2014 - In Pics". Fusion Productions. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Rajeev Khandelwal in Samrat & Co.: Meet the first Detective of 2014 - In Pics". Fusion Productions. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Trailer of Rajshri's Samrat & Co gets phenomenal response". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  14. ↑ http://businessofcinema.com/trailers-video-2/trailer-review-samrat-co-hollywood-rip/137431
  15. ↑ http://www.india.com/showbiz/rajeev-khandelwals-samrat-co-looks-rip-off-of-sherlock-25326/
  16. ↑ "Samrat & Co trailer gets tremendous response from audience". Bollywood Spice. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "Rajeev Khandelwal in Kolkata for his upcoming film Samrat & Co.". The Insight. Retrieved 16 April 2014.

External links