For the town in Armenia, see Shahumyan, Ararat.

Yuva
File:Yuva.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mani Ratnam
Produced by	Shekhar Kapoor Mani Ratnam G. Srinivasan
Screenplay by	Mani Ratnam
Starring	Ajay Devgn Abhishek Bachchan Vivek Oberoi Rani Mukerji Kareena Kapoor Esha Deol
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Cinematography	Ravi K. Chandran
Editing by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Distributed by	Madras Talkies
Release date(s)	May 21, 2004
Running time	161 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	12 crore (US$2.39 million)[1]
Box office	17.25 crore (US$3.44 million)[2]

Yuva (Hindi: युवा, Urdu: یوا, English: Youth), originally titled Howrah Bridge is a feature film directed by Indian director Mani Ratnam and released in 2004. This film was a Simultaneous make of the Tamil film (""Aaytha Ezhuthu""), the prime objective of the movie was to motivate educated Indian youths to enter politics.^[3]

The film tells the stories of three young men from completely different strata of society and one fateful incident on Kolkata's Howrah Bridge which changes their lives forever.^[4] The narrative of the story is partially in hyperlink format.The film is set in the city of Chennai in the Tamil version. The Tamil version was regarded more popular among film critics.^{[citation needed]} Yuva was declared 'average grosser' at the Indian box-office.^[5]

The film's structure has been lifted from the 2000 Mexican anthology film Amores Perros.

Plot[link]

Lallan Singh (Abhishek Bachchan) is a goon, originally from Bihar but settled in Kolkata, West Bengal because his brother Gopal Singh (Sonu Sood) has left him alone and he had no option of earning back home. He loves, marries, and abuses his wife, Shashi Biswas (Rani Mukerji). Michael Mukherjee (Ajay Devgan) is a influential student leader who wants politicians like Prosenjit Bhattacharya (Om Puri) to keep away from college elections. Michael is in love with his neighbor Radhika (Esha Deol) who lives with her parents. And then there is Arjun (Vivek Oberoi), carefree and spoiled son of an IAS officer. He wants to relocate to the U.S. for a better future. He falls in love with Mira (Kareena Kapoor), whom he just met. After talking to Michael, Arjun changes his mind and wants to be a politician. Prosenjit is worried when he hears news of students standing in the election. He uses every possible way to get them out of Politics. Firstly he provides scholarship of a prestigious foreign university to Michael. When Micheal refuses the bribe, he orders his goon Gopal Singh to take control. Gopal beats some students but faces very strong retaliation from Michael and his fellow students. After that Lallan Singh takes charge and kills Gopal. He kidnaps Arjun and other candidates. However, they manage to escape with the help of Lallan Singh's ally. Lallan follows Arjun and beats him up. While running, Arjun manages to call Michael for help. He comes to rescue Arjun at Howrah Bridge. Then Lallan is handed to the police. Michael wins the four seats he and his fellow students have contested for. Shashi leaves for her hometown while Lallan remains in prison. Michael, Arjun and two friends enter Vidhansabha.

Cast[link]

• Ajay Devgn as Michael Mukherjee
• Vivek Oberoi as Arjun Balachandran
• Abhishek Bachchan as Lallan Singh
• Rani Mukerji as Shashi Biswas
• Kareena Kapoor as Mira
• Esha Deol as Radhika^[6]
• Om Puri as Prosonjit Bannerjee
• Sonu Sood as Gopal Singh
• Saurabh Shukla
• Vijay Raaz as a Friend of Lallan Singh
• Anant Nag as Arjun's Father
• Abhinav Kashyap as Trilok

Soundtrack[link]

The soundtrack features six songs by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Mehboob. The rap and lyrics for the song Dol Dol were by Blaaze.

Reception[link]

Critical Reception[link]

Abhishek Bachchan was praised by the critics for hints of a rustic 'angry young man' type performance in the film.^[7]

Box office[link]

Yuva grossed 17.25 crore (US$3.44 million) at Indian box office.Yuva did well in multiplexes. But it has not done well in single screen theatres. Compared to other parts of the country, it has fared better in Mumbai. The Mumbai distributor will recover the cost of the film, but his sub-territory distributors in places like Surat and Gujarat lost money.In places like Delhi , Uttar Pradesh, Punjab , even the south India, distributors lostaround 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) to 1 crore ( 10 million). Overseas, too, the film has done average business. ^[8][9]It was sold to distributors at price of a 20 crore-film. Despite a good opening, the box office response to Yuva was mixed, with several distributors losing money. It is another matter that the producers, Ratnam's Madras Talkies, had more than recovered their investments in this 20-crore three-language project.

Awards[link]

2004 Filmfare Awards[link]

• Best Supporting Actor - Abhishek Bachchan
• Best Supporting Actress - Rani Mukerji
• Critics Award Best Movie - Mani Ratnam
• Best Screenplay - Mani Ratnam
• Best Art Direction - Sabu Cyril

See also[link]

• Hyperlink cinema - the film style of using multiple inter-connected story lines.
• Aaytha Ezhuthu, the Tamil counterpart of this movie.

References[link]

1. ^ Mid-2004: MHN Shines; Yuva, Lakshya, Khakee - Mixed Response
2. ^ Box Office 2004
3. ^ Sarkar, Sonia (January 18, 2007). "Bollywood-inspired IITians eyeing polls". The Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bollywood-inspired_IITians_eyeing_polls/articleshow/1260234.cms. 
4. ^ Hot spots
5. ^ Dull opening for Yuva!
6. ^ I am today's woman -- very independent, very bindaas'
7. ^ Box Offfice Decade in Review: 2004 - Veer Zaara, Dhoom 1, Main Hoon Naa
8. ^ Yuva a loser?
9. ^ Give Yuva a chance. Don't kill it!

External links[link]

• Yuva at the Internet Movie Database