Short Kut

Shortkut (also known as Short Kut: The Con Is On) is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Neeraj Vora and produced by Anil Kapoor under Anil Kapoor Films Company. The film stars Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi, and Amrita Rao in lead roles. It was released on 10 July 2009 worldwide^[1] to mostly negative reviews from critics.

Short Kut
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Neeraj Vora
Written by	Anees Bazmee
Based on	Udayananu Tharam (Malayalam)
Produced by	Rajat Rawail Anil Kapoor Sunil Manchanda
Starring	Akshaye Khanna Amrita Rao Arshad Warsi
Cinematography	Ashok Mehta Johny Lal Arvind Soni
Edited by	Rajiv Gupta
Music by	Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Production company	Anil Kapoor Film Company Private Limited
Distributed by	Indian Films
Release date	10 July 2009 (2009-07-10)
Running time	156 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

The film was an uncredited remake of the Malayalam-language film Udayananu Tharam.^[2][3]

Plot

The story focuses on Shekhar, who is currently an assistant director, hoping to write and direct his own movies soon. His friend Raju is a struggling actor who has been waiting on Shekhar to write a film script so he can star in his movie. However, when Shekhar rejects him as the film's leading role, Raju decides to steal Shekhar's film script, star in the movie himself and release it without crediting Shekhar. The film is released and it turns out to be a blockbuster, propelling Raju to overnight stardom. Heartbroken Shekhar, now experiences a break-up with his girlfriend Mansi. Nonetheless, Shekhar writes a new and better film script and wants to star Raju in it, however when Raju rejects the script, Shekhar decides to film the movie without Raju ever knowing that he is in it. Shekhar and his low-budget film crew follow Raju around everywhere to complete their movie covertly. Eventually, when the movie is released, Raju's role in the film attracts embarrassment and humiliation but the film itself succeeds and Shekhar finally enjoys a taste of success in the film industry. In the end, an unfazed Raju decides not to change his ways but to again steal someone else's script.

Cast

• Arshad Warsi as Rajesh "Raju" (King Kumar)
• Akshaye Khanna as Shekhar Giriraj
• Amrita Rao as Mansi
• Chunky Pandey as Guru Kapoor
• Tiku Talsania as Tolani
• Siddharth Randeria as Kantibhai
• Ali Asghar as Vikram “Vicky”, Mansi's brother
• Anil Kapoor as himself
• Sanjay Dutt as himself

Soundtrack

Short Kut
Soundtrack album by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Released	17 June 2009
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	T-Series
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy chronology
Luck by Chance (2009) Short Kut (2009) 13B (2009)

The film's soundtrack is composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa, with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar. The song, "Patli Galli" was split into two versions in the film, even though only one version was included in the soundtrack.

Track list

The soundtrack contains four original songs and three remixes.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Patli Galli"	Shankar Mahadevan	3:31
2.	"Kyun Hota Hai Dil Deewana"	Shreya Ghoshal, Javed Ali	3:35
3.	"Mareeze Mohabbat"	Nikita Nigam, Keerthi Sagathia, Hrishikesh Kamerkar, Shankar Mahadevan	3:59
4.	"Kal Nau Baje"	Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam	4:13
5.	"Patli Galli" (Remix)	Shankar Mahadevan, DJ Nasha, Nucleya	4:14
6.	"Mareeze Mohabbat" (Remix)	Nikita Nigam, Keerthi Sagathia, Hrishikesh Kamerkar, Shankar Mahadevan, DJ Nasha	3:54

Reception

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film one out of five, writing, "On the whole, SHORT KUT - THE CON IS ON is a poor show all the way. A major disappointment."^[4] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote, "Shortkut suffers from director Neeraj Vora's customary inability to infuse any newness or subtlety into a plot that could easily have gone the other way. It covers roughly the same ground as Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance,minus its craft and skill. Everything is loud and plastic, and the actors all chant their lines at the top of their voices."^[5] Gaurav Malani of The Economic Times gave the film 1 out of 5, writing, "The derived screenplay is patchy and its shows as writer Neeraj Vora struggles to script weak characters and weaker conflicts."^[2]

References

1. "Short Kut Cast and Crew". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008.
2. "Movie Review: Short Kut: The Con is On". Archived from the original on 7 August 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
3. Shekhar, Mayank (11 July 2009). "Review: Short Kut". Hindustan Times. Mumbai. Retrieved 30 December 2024. The screenplay here has been wholly lifted from a Malayalam original Udayananu Tharam. The idea was remade into Tamil as Velli Tharai (Silver Screen) — a reasonably earnest regional film with a solid final sequence (over-done in this version). The tagline — The Con Is On — has been copied from Franz Oz's Bowfinger, an Eddie Murphy-Steve Martin film, with a similar theme.
4. Adarsh, Taran (10 July 2009). "Short Kut - The Con is On Review". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 14 July 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
5. Gupta, Shubhra (10 July 2009). "Movie Review: Shortkut-The Con Begins". The Indian Express. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.

External links

• Short Kut: The Con Is On at IMDb