7.8

Kai Po Che! is a 2013 Indian drama buddy film directed by Abhishek Kapoor based on Chetan Bhagat's novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life,[2] with music by Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar Yadav and Amit Sadh star as the three main protagonists while Amrita Puri plays the female lead.[3][4] The film title Kai Po Che! is originally a Gujarati phrase that means "I have cut the kite" which refers to Makar Sankranti (known as Uttarayan in Gujarat) where one of the competitors uses his kite to cut off another competitors kite and yells "Kai Po Che!"[5][6] The shooting started mid-April in Vadnagar and Ahmedabad.

Set in Ahmedabad, the story revolves around three friends, Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput), Omi (Amit Sadh) and Govind (Raj Kumar Yadav), who want to start their own sports shop and sports academy. The film tracks their deep friendship, and innocence tarnished by religious politics and communal hatred, which results in their fallout, and an eventual death. Kai Po Che! had a world premiere at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2013 where it was the first ever Indian film to feature in the World Panorama section.[7][8][9][10] Kai Po Che! released world wide on 22 February 2013 and met with critical acclaim among Indian reviewers, but mixed to negative reviews internationally

Plot

Ishaan 'Ish' Bhatt (Sushant Singh Rajput) is an ex district level cricketer who is a victim of politics in the cricketing selection fraternity, Omkar 'Omi' Shastri (Amit Sadh) is the nephew of a Hindu politician who funds their business and Govind 'Govi' Patel (Rajkumar Yadav) is a geek who is the mastermind behind starting a sports shop which also doubles as a sports academy. Together they open a sports shop and an academy to train and promote talented budding cricketers. After toiling hard, they succeed in establishing it as a center for cricket among the local youth and start to incur profits.

Ishaan requests Govind to teach his sister Vidya (Amrita Puri) mathematics as her exams are coming up. Govind is reluctant at first but agrees eventually. Vidya and Govind gradually fall in love with each other and secretly enter a relationship unknowingly. Omi discovers the same and warns Govind of the consequences, as Ishaan is very protective of his sister.

The three friends spot a budding cricketing talent in a local boy, Ali (Digvijay Deshmukh),who has a rare talent , and Ishaan starts training him vigorously. Govind is ambitious and wants to expand the budding business by opening a shop in a mall being constructed in Navrangpura, an upcoming part of the city. With financial help coming from Omi's maternal uncle, Bittu (Manav Kaul), the trio secure the deal and set up shop in the mall.But the trouble comes when a destructive earthquake hits Gujarat and Govind's shop in the mall is destroyed. Govind is shattered as the amount of money he invested was very large and he is now loaded with a huge debt. Omi is reluctantly forced to work for his maternal Uncle's right-wing party due to the money they owe him.

When relief camps of Omi' uncles' party declines to give muslims shelter in troubled times, Ishaan and Omi quarrel over their politico-religious outlook and temporarily break off their friendship. They again reunite after India's surprise win in the test match against Australia. Omi gets busy with religious politics and joins Bittu's party. Ishaan and Govind, meanwhile, are busy with Ali and Vidya respectively. Tension arises in the political sphere when Bittu loses the elections in his constituency to his opponent (Asif Basra) belonging to the secular party. As a part of their campaigning, Bittu sends pilgrims (kar sevaks) to Ayodhya to the Ram Temple. Omi's parents were also among them. On the returning day, the shocking news of the Godhra train massacre reaches the people. Omi is shattered but Bittu convinces him to take revenge on the murderers of his parents.

Ishaan and Govind hide Ali in Ali's house, afraid of the communal riots which were about to start. As expected, the violence starts by sunset, and the mob led by Bittu storms into the Muslim locality, killing each and every Muslim in sight. A fight ensues between Ali's father and Bittu. Ali's father stabs Bittu in defense and rushes to save Ali and take shelter in their attic. Omi, enraged at the death of of his uncle Bittu, follows him with a gun. Meanwhile, Ishaan comes to know about Vidya and Govind's relationship, when he reads Vidya's text message in Govind's mobile phone about her period tests. Enraged, he starts thrashing Govind while Omi enters the premises with a gun in hand, desperate to find and kill Ali and his father. Ishaan and Govind break their own fighting and try to stop Omi as he desperately searches for Ali and his father. Omi finally aims and shoots at Ali. Ishaan in a bid to save Ali takes the bullet himself and consequently dies.

The film then goes back to where it started, with Omi being released from jail ten years later. Govind and Vidya are married and have a son, whom they have named Ishaan (Ishaan Bhagat, Chetan Bhagat's son) after the late Ishaan. The film ends with a now grown up Ali debuting for the Indian cricket team against Australia. He plays his first shot by hitting the ball to the boundary with a Cover drive just like his "Ishaan bhaiya" had taught him.