KAHANI Directed by Sujoy Ghosh Produced by Sujoy Ghosh Kushal Kantilal Gada Written by Ritesh Shah Sutapa Sikdar

Sujoy Ghosh Screenplay by Sujoy Ghosh Suresh Nair Nikhil Vyas Story by Sujoy Ghosh Advaita Kala Starring Vidya Balan Parambrata Chatterjee Nawazuddin Siddiqui Indraneil Sengupta Saswata Chatterjee Music by Vishal-Shekhar Cinematography Setu Editing by Namrata Rao Studio Boundscript Motion Pictures Distributed by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Pen India Pvt.Ltd Release date(s) 9 March 2012 (2012-03-09) Running time 128 minutes Country India Language Hindi Bengali Budget 8 crore (US$1.6 million) Box office 75 crore (US$14.96 million)[1] Kahaani [English: Story] is a 2012 Indian thriller film directed and co-produced by Sujoy Ghosh. The film features Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee and Nawazu ddin Siddiqui in lead roles. Balan portrays the role of Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman in search of her missing husband in the city of Kolkata during the Durga Puja festivities, who is helped in her quest by Chatterjee and Siddiqui. Made on a shoestring budget of 8 crore (US$1.6 million), Kahaani was developed by write r Advaita Kala, as a memoir on the city of Kolkata. The film explores themes of feminism and motherhood in a predominantly male-dominated Indian society. Filmin g took place on the streets of Kolkata with Ghosh employing the art of guerrilla filmmaking in order to avoid unwanted attention.[2] Ghosh has admitted to using several allusions to Satyajit Ray's films such as Charulata (1964) and Aranyer Dinratri (1970). Additionally, critics have compared the twist ending of the plo t to the Hollywood films The Usual Suspects (1995) and Taking Lives (2004). Kahaani released worldwide on 9 March 2012 to major critical acclaim with praise directed to the screenplay, the cinematography and the performances of Balan, C hatterjee and Siddiqui. After starring in Ishqiya, No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture, Kahaani was Balan's fourth woman-centric film winning her widesp read praise and coverage for her non-conventional approach in portraying strong female-oriented roles.[3][4][5] At the box office, Kahaani has emerged as a major commercial success with a two week worldwide gross of 75 crore (US$14.96 million), with the bulk of its busine ss coming from the metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.[1] Box Offi ce India has declared the film as a super hit. [6] Contents [hide]

1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3.1 Casting 3.2 Story development 3.3 Themes 3.4 Filming 4 Soundtrack 4.1 Reception 5 Marketing 5.1 Promotions 5.2 Online game 6 Release 6.1 Critical reception 6.2 Box office 7 Controversy 8 Visuals and motifs 8.1 Portrayal of Kolkata 8.2 Allusions and inspirations 9 Post-release 9.1 Social Screening 9.2 Monalisa Guest House 10 Sequel 11 References 12 External links PlotThe film opens with a poison-gas attack on a Kolkata Metro Rail compartment, killing the passengers on board. Two years after the incident, a London-based p regnant software engineer Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), arrives in Kolkata during the lead up to the Durga Puja festivity. She is in search of her missing husband , Arnab Bagchi and is offered support from Satyaki "Rana" Sinha (Parambrata Chat terjee), a junior police officer from Kalighat Police Station. Although Vidya cl aims that Arnab came to Kolkata on an assignment for the National Data Center (N DC), initial probes suggest that no person with that name was working in NDC, or stayed in the guesthouse that Arnab had described to Vidya during their phone c onversations. Agnes D'mello, head of human resources at NDC, suggests to Vidya that her husban d resembled Milan Damji (Indraneil Sengupta), an ex-employee of NDC. She tells V idya that she would try to obtain his records from NDC's old office. Before she could do so, however, Agnes is killed by Bob Biswas (Saswata Chatterjee), an ass assin who works undercover as a life insurance agent. Vidya, assisted by Rana, b reaks into the old office of NDC to collect documents on Damji. They barely mana ge to escape a close brush with Bob who has also been ordered to search for the documents. Meanwhile, the attempts to obtain Damji's records rattle two high ranking Intell igence Bureau (IB) officials: the IB chief K. Bhaskaran (Dhritiman Chatterjee) a nd his deputy Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Khan arrives in Kolkata and reveals th at Damji was an IB agent who had gone rogue and was responsible for the poison-g as attack on the Kolkata Metro. Khan warns Vidya not to get involved into the ma tter as he suspects a mole in the system. Vidya, fearing that Arnab's resemblanc e to Milan has led him into trouble, continues her relentless search. Bhaskaran tries to get help from a top retired IB officer Colonel Bajpai (Darshan Jariwala ) who declines to take up the matter. The residential address on Damji's record lead Vidya and Rana to a dilapidated f lat. The errand boy of the neighborhood tea stall, Poltu, informs them that the resident of that flat occasionally had a visitor. On Vidya's request Paresh, an

artist and a police-informer, provides them with some details about Damji being wounded about two years ago and being treated by a certain Dr. Ganguly. But befo re Dr. Ganguly could provide them with further information, he is killed by Bob. The Durga Puja festival plays a prominent role in the unfolding of events. Pictu red here is an idol of Goddess Durga.Poltu then identifies R. Sridhar, a technol ogy officer of NDC, as the person who had visited Damji's flat. Sridhar instruct s Bob to kill Vidya. After a failed attempt to kill her in crowded alleyways, Bo b is run over by a tempo during a chase. Examination of Bob's mobile phone leads them to an IP address sending instructions to kill her. Vidya and Rana break in to Sridhar's office to verify his IP address. However, Sridhar is alerted electr onically, and returns back to his office pursuing the duo. However, following a heated confrontation, Vidya shoots Sridhar accidentally. Khan is upset as they w anted Sridhar alive. Khan reveals that Rana had been working for him all along, using Vidya as a tool. Although not happy at being used as a ploy, Vidya agrees to help Khan on his request. Further examination of Sridhar's computer reveals a code which is deciphered to be Bhaskaran's phone number. As per Khan's instruct ions, Vidya calls Bhaskaran to tell him that she has got hold of sensitive docum ents from Sridhar's office and if Bhaskaran helps Vidya find her husband, she wo uld hand over the documents to Bhaskaran. Bhaskaran nonchalantly tells Vidya to contact the local police as he is not associated with this. However, within a fe w minutes, Vidya gets a call from an unknown number, warning her that she should hand over the documents to the caller if she wishes to see her husband alive. As per the instruction of the caller, Vidya, goes to meet Damji at Triangular Pa rk during the final day of the Durga Puja celebrations. Rana learns that Khan ha s risked Vidya's life, as Damji will inevitably kill her as she knows his identi ty. He follows her surreptitiously along with Khan. Between their conversations and negotiations about the documents and the whereabouts of her husband, Damji a ttacks Vidya hitting her in the abdomen. He points at Vidya to kill her, but is immediately thwarted by the prosthetic abdomen which Vidya has been using to fak e her pregnancy. She kills a baffled Damji and flees in the crowd before the arr ival of police, leaving a thank you note for Rana and a pen drive containing dat a from Sridhar's computer. Rana, based on several past incidences, deduces to Kh an that no Vidya or Arnab Bagchi ever existed. It is she who has been using the police and IB for her motive. The data from the drive leads to Bhaskaran's arres t. Vidya, is revealed as the widow of Arup Basu (Abir Chatterjee), an IB officer an d a colleague of Damji, who was killed in the poison-gas attack, while trying to locate the poisonous bottle. In her mission, Vidya was helped by Colonel Bajpai , who suspected the involvement of some top IB officials in the attack. Meanwhil e, Rana watches a candle light vigil to those who died in the attack, just as th e idol of Goddess Durga is submerged.

CastVidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi Parambrata Chatterjee as Satyuki Sinha/Rana Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Khan Indraneil Sengupta as Milan Damji Dhritiman Chatterjee as K. Bhaskaran Saswata Chatterjee as Bob Biswas Shantilal Mukherjee as R. Shridhar Kharaj Mukherjee as Inspector Chatterjee Colleen Blanche as Agnes D'mello Nitya Ganguli as Mr. Das Ritabrata Mukherjee as Bishnu

Pamela Bhuttoria as Sapna Kalyan Chatterjee as Paresh Pal Ridhi Sen as Poltu Darshan Jariwala as Colonel Bajpai (guest appearance) Abir Chatterjee as Arup Basu (guest appearance) ProductionCastingVidya Balan was chosen to play the role of Vidya Bagchi, the ma in protagonist and the female lead of the film. Director Sujoy Ghosh approached her with an idea of the role which she eventually declined. After several reject ions, Balan finally agreed to do the role after several months when Ghosh comple ted the entire script of the film and narrated to her.[7] Parambrata Chatterjee, a well known actor in Bengali cinema, was chosen to play the role of Inspector Rana, who helps Vidya in the search for her husband. Sujoy Ghosh met him in 2006 in Mumbai when Parambrata was showing his film The Bong C onnection at the MAMI festival. Having liked his work in The Bong Connection, Su joy called him in 2009 when Parambrata finished his film-making course in UK, to offer him a lead role in Kahaani. Parambrata has earlier worked with Vidya Bala n in her first film and his second film, Bhalo Theko. [8] Story developmentThe story of the film is inspired by the real life experiences of the film's story writer & novelist Advaita Kala`s brief stay in Kolkata. Acco rding to her, she landed in Kolkata from the US to work at the Oberoi Grand hote l in the year 1999 and was retracing the footsteps of her then boyfriend who had worked at the same hotel a year ago, quite similarly to the film's protagonist Vidya coming from London to Kolkata in search of her husband and staying in the same hotel. She reported that despite facing a language barrier and the chaos an d poverty of the metropolis, she was bowled over by the warmth of the people of Kolkata as has been reflected in the film. She further added that she wrote the story of the film with Balan in her mind and wanted to retain her real name as t he name of the protagonist in the film. The story of the film is planned to be p ublished in the form of a novel later in the year.[9] ThemesThe film being female-centric is about role reversals, breaking of stereot ypes, turning clichs inside out and revolving around a pregnant's woman s journey i n search of her missing husband and the way she carves a niche for herself in th e male-dominated mentalscape of the society.[10] Director Sujoy Ghosh claims tha t one aspect of his project is a study of motherhood. According to him, a mother can go to any extent to protect her baby even if that includes dealing with a p hysically powerful man: "It is inspired as much by your mother as it is by mine. The entire transformation of a woman due to motherhood has always fascinated me . I have seen girls become mothers and it is terrific as much it is beautiful. S he is this petite little girl at first, but as soon as she becomes a mother, she is the most powerful individual there."[11] Sources reveal that the theme was a lso chosen because women-centric films are popular after Balan's last release Th e Dirty Picture (another female-oriented film fetching Balan her first National Film Award for Best Actress), [12] was well received with critical acclaim[13] a nd a strong box-office response.[14] FilmingBefore the shooting of the film began, Vidya Balan started flaunting a ba by bump to look as close to authentically pregnant as possible for her role in t he film. She is reported to have met doctors and people abroad and learn about t he typical lifestyle of a pregnant woman, along with making a list of dos and do n ts for a pregnant woman. The actor even supposedly made a list of superstitions followed by pregnant women and would eat a salad called the Grandmother s salad to prepare for her role.[15] SoundtrackKahaani Soundtrack album by Vishal-Shekhar Released February 14, 2012

Genre Film soundtrack Length 28:16 Label T-Series Vishal-Shekhar chronology The Dirty Picture (2011) Kahaani (2012) Shanghai (2012) The music of the film was composed by Vishal-Shekhar while the lyrics were penne d by Vishal Dadlani, Anvita Dutt & Sandeep Srivasta. The album was released on F ebruary 22, 2012. Several of RD Burman's Hindi & Bengali composition have been a ptly used in the background. The film has six songs with the title song Kahaani featuring twice. No. Title Singer(s) Length 1. "Aami Shotti Bolchi" Usha Uthup, Vishwesh Krishnamurthy 03:20 2. "Piya Tu Kahe Rootha Re" Javed Bashir 04:59 3. "Kahaani (Male)" KK, Vishal Dadlani 04:26 4. "Tore Bina" Sukhwinder Singh 05:52 5. "Kahaani (Female)" Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Dadlani 04:28 6. "Ekla Cholo Re" Amitabh Bachchan 05:13 ReceptionMany critics praised the amalgam of Bengali with Hindi lyrics used in t he songs. CNN IBN quoted "The team has again come up with a new album Kahaani. A ami Shotti Bolchi not only has interesting lyrics but also conveys the feel of K olkata. The song is successful even if it expresses about only 20 percent of the local feel of Kolkata. Kahaani may not be a collector's item but it features ri ght voices as per the overall mood of the album. Aami Shotti Bolchi and Ekla Cho lo Re have the potential to fetch your attention. Musicperk.com rated the album 8/10 quoting "Kahaani is a great movie album with excellent songs. With right vo ices and right music, this is definitely an album that will fetch your attention ."[16] MarketingPromotionsTo promote the film, Vidya Balan appeared on Indian channel C olors' popular daily soap Uttaran on 8th March, 2012. On show, Balan dressed as her character Vidya Bagchi, was seen sticking posters of her husband Arnab Bagch i as part of her relentless search for her missing husband and then interacting with the female lead of the show.[17][18] The actress also went around in her pr egnant character looking for her on-screen husband and carrying a sketch of Arna b Bagchi at railway stations, bus stands and even BEST buses as part of the prom otional campaign. The identity of the actor who played the role of Arnab Bagchi, was also not revealed to keep the mystery element alive.[19] Online gameAs per the marketing strategy, the film was associated with Ibibo.com to develop an online based game on their social networking website. The game "T he Great Indian Parking Wars", requires the gamers to park Vidya's taxi on a fri end's street to help her in the journey to find her missing husband. Gamers can also get in touch with Balan through her gaming profile on the website. They als o stand to win a chance to meet Balan and an opportunity to win movie merchandis e and tickets. The game was a huge hit among online gamers reaching about 50,000 hits within the first 10 days of its launch.[20] ReleaseKahaani, being centered around a pregnant woman, was released on 9th Marc h, 2012 just a day after the International Women s Day in 1100 screens worldwide. Though the film garnered critical acclaims, it was a slow performer at the box o ffice, opening to a poor response on the first day[21][22] but gradually picking up by the end of its first week theatrical run. The film, however, emerged as a box office winner by the end of its third week grossing 75 crore (US$14.96 mill

ion)[1] and was thus declared as "super hit" by BoxOfficeindia.[6] Critical reception[hide] Professional reviews Review scores Source Rating Bollygraph DNA India The Times of India Rediff Bollywood Hungama Daily Bhaskar NDTV Zee News The Statesman Deccan Chronicle CNN-IBN Hindustan Times Tehelka The Indian Express Outlook Yahoo indicates that the given rating is an average rating of all reviews provided by the source Upon release, the film received highly positive reviews from critics. According to review aggregators BollyMovieReviewz and ReviewGang the film received a ratin g of 3.71 out of 5[23] and 8 out of 10[24] respectively, based on the reviews gi ven by professional critics. Bollygraph gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5 and pra ised, "Vidya Balan s Kahaani was being awaited much. After watching her marvelous performance in the superhit The Dirty Picture, people were simply crazy to watch her next venture. Kahaani hits the screens today with gusto. Prior to the relea se, the expectations from Balan s fans and the moviegoers were high and she as wel l as the film too live up to those expectations aptly."[25] Pratim D. Gupta of The Telegraph rated it 9/10 calling it a "a mind-juggling med ley of manipulation masquerading as a 'mother of a story'".[26] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Post The Dirty Picture, the a dmiration for the National Award winning actress Vidya has scaled woozy altitude s and let me affirm, the supremely talented actress delivers a performance that' s at par with her former accomplishments."[27] Times Of India gave 4 out of 5 st ars and wrote, "Once again, a 'pregnant' Vidya, ironically displays more 'male o rnaments' (excuse the watering down) than most heroes."[28] Sukanya Verma from R ediff.com gave 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Vidya Balan excels in Kahaani, a film which is much too enjoyable to find flaws."[29] Rajeev Masand of IBN Live gave 3.5 out of 5 stars saying "It's a delicious thriller." Aakash Barvalia of Moviez Adda gave 4 out of 5 stars and said, "It s a story of one brave and courageous pre gnant woman, Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), who came all the way long from London t o Kolkata, to find her missing husband Arnab Bagchi."[30] Shomini Sen from Zee N ews rated 4 out of 5 stars stating, "Watch the film purely for the story. Watch it for the beautiful Kolkata which comes alive on screen. And yes Vidya is an ad ded bonus."[31] Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times stated that "Kahaani is a nift y thriller with an enjoyment quotient that is indirectly proportionate to how lo ng you spend thinking about the plot."[32] The Hindu stated "Worth every rupee p aid to watch the movie. Not to be missed."[33] Noted film actress and multiple National Award winner, Shabana Azmi lauded Balan for her performance and said, "I had to watch Kahaani because of Vidya. I was b owled over by her performance. As an actor, I could see she was making all the r ight moves throughout the film. There was not a single artificial note in her pe rformance."[34]

One article noted that the climax of the film was a "huge dampener" and explains , "The diabolic twist at that juncture got underplayed by capitulating to what i s crassly referred to as "what the Indian audiences demand" from a Hindi film. W hat follows is a sobfest, a repeat of a candle light vigil scene from Balan's ea rlier film No One Killed Jessica and the apologetic explanation of why she does what she does. Justifying her action comes across more as an effort to appease t he Indian morality..."[35] The Outlook review noted, "At times, Kahaani is too c lever, at others extremely pedestrian like in the depiction of computer hacking and IB operations, not to speak of the ludicrous terrorist angle and the all-too predictable Durga Puja setting for that mythology tie-in." It adds that, "The e nding feels more clumsy than menacing as Ghosh begins to explain each detail at length very literally. The spoon-feeding takes the intrigue away."[36] Box officeOn its opening day, Kahaani collected 2.60 crore (US$518,700) in which 75 lakh (US$149,600) came from paid previews. The bulk of the business came fro m the five circuits of Mumbai, Delhi-Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and Myso re, giving a contribution of over 80%.[21][22] However, the film picked up on Sa turday collecting 4.75 crore (US$0.95 million) and Sunday collecting 5.25 crore (US$1.05 million), resulting in a 13.5 crore (US$2.69 million) net gross on its first weekend. The film collected nearly 24 crore (US$4.79 million) in the first week, well past its production cost 8 crore (US$1.6 million).[37] The film has so far grossed 75 crore (US$14.96 million) both domestically and internationally .[38][1] BoxOfficeIndia declared the film "Super Hit" after the second week of i ts theatrical run.[39] ControversyOn March 5, 2012, the Kolkata Metro Railway authorities objected to a scene from the film where Vidya Balan is shown waiting on the platform to board a Metro train at the Kalighat station and as soon as the train arrives, she is pushed perilously by a man standing next to her onto the tracks close to the spe eding underground train. Considering a total of 224 cases registered for suicide s of which 124 have resulted in death, the increasing number of suicides on its track have become the worst nightmare for the authorities.[40] Worried that the scene would remind people of the past acts of suicides on the tracks that has be en tarnishing the image of India`s first tube railway, the railway officials had written to the film`s producer asking him to remove the scene from the promos a nd the film as well. Following a discussion with the Metro authorities, the film makers submitted a video of the entire controversial scene. Upon their explanati ons of not including anything in the film that tarnishes the image of the Metro railway or prompt people to commit suicide on the tracks, the railway officials were convinced and removed their objections. The scene, shot using computer-gene rated imagery, was however removed from the promos, but retained in the film.[41 ] Visuals and motifsPortrayal of Kolkata A road in Kolkata showing congested traffic and yellow taxisSome reviewers noted that a major protagonist in the film is the city of Kolkata itself. Director Su joy Ghosh portrays Kolkata in a way which is mostly brimming with warm, sympathe tic inhabitants. The film offers multitude of glimpses of everyday life of the c ity. As one review mentions, "Ghosh pays a fond yet understated tribute to the c ity's essence and elements yellow taxis, leisurely trams, congested traffic, claus trophobic metros, dilapidated brick houses, tapering alleys, rajnigandhas, lal p aad saris, piping hot luchis and a gorgeous depiction of how the city acquires a whole new level of luminosity and 'shakti' during the famed Durga Puja." The fi lm did not bank on the usual stereotypes of Kolkata culture that are otherwise o ften used in Bollywood films, such as "O-emphasizing accent, dramatic play of co nch shells, rasgulla/mishti doi excesses."[29] Cinematographer Setu was able to catch the various moods of the city effectively through the lens, "Dark, lingering, soulful, amusing, festive, enigmatic and un

changing Kolkata is multiple people in a city's body. This varied, pulsating and intriguing temperament is what is documented in its yellow-toned frames without distracting itself from the story or its telling."[29] The director admitted, " For me, Kolkata wasn't supposed to be an object. Kolkata is a person and had an emotional index. When Parambrata drives down Vidya to the guest house for the fi rst time, I deliberately show how the evening is slowly setting in. That's how m y Kolkata enters every frame and finally becomes a central character of my film. "[42] Allusions and inspirationsIn a scene of the movie, Vidya asks the manager of the guest house why there is no hot water in the tap although the signboard of the guest house claims "running hot water". The manager explains that the errand boy of the guest house runs to deliver hot water in a kettle whenever hot water is needed, and that is why the signboard says "running hot water". In Satyajit Ray' s Joy Baba Felunath, an elderly gentleman asked the same question to a hotel man ager, and got the same reply in a somewhat scalding manner.[43] In an interview with Pratim D. Gupta of The Telegraph, director Sujoy Ghosh admi tted several instances of allusions to Satyajit Ray's films. The way Vidya looks out and moves from window to window in the guest house room is reminiscent of C harulata where the actress Madhabi Mukherjee playing a lonely wife enjoys glimps es of the outside world through the blinds of windows.[44] In an interview, the director said, "Framing comes from Mahanagar."[44] Mahanagar was another film di rected by Ray that was noted for its portrayal of Kolkata. According to the dire ctor, he was inspired by particular scenes of Ray's Nayak to plan the portrayal of complex emotional issues between Vidya and the police officer Rana, especiall y Rana's awe in the presence of Vidya.[44] Ghosh expressed his inspiration from Ray's Aranyer Dinratri by saying, "...I remember an interview of Ray s where he ha d said that in Aranyer Dinratri he wanted the audience to be inside the car with the four guys all the time. So the camera never leaves the car. It stuck in my head. The same thing I have done here... You are like Vidya s fellow passenger."[4 4] Besides Ray's films, Ghosh also admitted inspiration from the visually striking films of 1970s and 1980s, "I remember the scene in Deewaar when Shashi Kapoor wa lks in, sees Nirupa Roy and takes his cap off and she breaks her bangles. Nothin g more, nothing less. Just images. I have used that here. Vidya comes down the s tairs and sees Param standing there... he takes his cap off... just before the m orgue scene."[44] Critics have also compared the fake pregnancy twist of Kahaani with similar sequences in the 2004 psychological thriller Taking Lives.[43] Post-releaseSocial ScreeningA special screening of the film was organised at Ben galuru by Cinepolis for the women of a NGO SOS Children's Villages on 16th March , 2012, which was attended by more than 40 employees from the NGO. SOS Children' s Villages works with local authorities and other service providers to support u nderprivileged families and enables them to take good care of their children. Th e NGO director was reported saying, "They cherished the movie and their time at the cinema. I am certain that this initiative will encourage many more organisat ions to come forward and show their support for our cause."[45] Monalisa Guest HouseMonalisa Guest House, the tourist lodge which played host to a pregnant Vidya Bagchi in the film, has become an instant hit among the local crowd of Kolkata. The place situated on Sarat Bose Road in the south of the city has so far attracted hundreds of visitors since the release of the film. While around 50-60 visitors throng the place daily to catch a glimpse of the room numb er 15, where Balan stayed, the lodge witnessed the maximum crowd of about 300 pe ople on March 18, 2012. According to the management, the film's release has incr eased the occupancy rate of its hotel from the existing 70 percent to 90 percent and many visitors had to leave disheartened since the room where Balan stayed, remained hardly unoccupied after the film's release. Room number 15 is the only

"suite in the lodge with the highest per-day tariff of 2,000 (US$39.9) while the other rooms ranges between 980 (US$19.55) and 1,650 (US$32.92) per day. The mana gement further reported that contrary to its old-fashioned look in the film, the rooms in the guest house are well equipped with basic modern facilities and a c omputerized registration system to keep records of the visitors, unlike the thick and torn register shown in the film. They added that the "running hot water" ref ers to the water heaters installed in the rooms and does not mean a boy supplyin g hot water in a kettle, as depicted in the film. With Kahaani as the USP for th e hotel and banking on the high demand, the hotel plans to increase the per-day tariffs by renovating the rooms with modern furniture and some photographs from the film.[46] SequelOn Saturday March 10, 2012, at a special screening held for the film s cast and crew in Kolkata, director Sujoy Ghosh admitted he was into the idea of conti nuing the film as part of an ongoing series. Ghosh is supposedly inspired by Sat yajit Ray s Feluda detective stories and desires to carry forward the stories of p rotagonist Vidya Bagchi on similar lines. He was reported saying, Yes, turning Ka haani into a franchise is something that was at the back of my mind from the tim e I wrote the film. I knew I had stumbled on to a unique idea that I didn t want t o let go of when I finished writing Kahaani. What Vidya Bagchi does with her lif e after my Kahaani, haunts me. I want to take the idea forward. Ghosh claims that he knew the protagonist had the potential to be a part of a se ries when he was writing the story for Kahaani in 2008 but only after the rousin g critical reception and heartening response at box office, he has begun to seri ously consider carrying the story forward. With an idea already cracked for the sequel, he plans to take the franchise further by casting Vidya Balan again in t he lead role. He quoted, Kahaani was written for Balan. I can t imagine taking the character forward without her. She will have to green-light the franchise before it goes further." The film tentatively titled as "Kahaani 2" is supposedly Ghos h's next directorial venture. [47]