Naina (2005 film)

{{About|the 2005 film|the 1973 film|Naina (1973 film)|the village in Iran|Naina, Iran}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Naina

| image = Nainathefilm.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Shripal Morakhia

| producer = Sagar Pandya
Anjum Rajabali
Rakesh Mehra

| screenplay = Shripal Morakhia

| based_on = The Eye by
Pang brothers

| starring = Urmila Matondkar
Anuj Sawhney
Amardeep Sinha
Shweta Konnur
Kamini Khanna

| studio = iDream Productions

| distributor = SPE Films India

| released = {{Film date|2005|05|20|df=y}}

| runtime = 103 minutes

| language = Hindi

| country = India

| music = Salim–Sulaiman

| cinematography = C.K. Muralidharan

| editing = Amitabh Shukla
Sanjay Shukla

| budget = {{INR}}5 crore{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=1708|title=Naina - Movie|website=Box Office India}}

| gross = {{INR}}6.94 crore

}}

Naina is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language supernatural horror film directed by Shripal Morakhia and starring Urmila Matondkar as the titular character who loses her sight as a child, regains it as an adult with corneal transplantation and starts seeing images beyond the general surroundings.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/naina-is-not-another-bhoot/cid/1272850|title=‘Naina is not another Bhoot’|website=The Telegraph|access-date=30 April 2005}} The film is an unofficial remake of the 2002 Hong Kong-Singaporean horror film The Eye directed by the Pang brothers, with a subplot borrowed from the 2002 Japanese film Dark Water.{{efn|Multiple reviewers have pointed out that the film is identical to The Eye while director Morakhia has completely denied this, making it an unofficial adaptation.}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/naina/20050520.htm|title=Naina, all blood and gore, is a bore|website=Rediff.com|access-date=20 May 2005|quote=Two scenes later, however, it becomes a tacky scene-to-scene reproduction of the Chinese supernatural hit, Jian Gui aka The Eye [...] The entire girl-in-a-raincoat sub-plot is conveniently borrowed from Hideo Nakata's Japanese horror, Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara, aka Dark Water.}}{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3748770/watch-bollywood-remakes-of-scream-fright-night-and-the-eye-on-screambox-right-now/|title=Watch Bollywood Remakes of ‘Scream’, ‘Fright Night’, and ‘The Eye’ on SCREAMBOX Right Now!|website=Bloody Disgusting|access-date=3 February 2023}}

The film was premiered in the Marché du Film section of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/bollywood/naina-world-premiere-at-cannes/|title=‘Naina’ world premiere at Cannes|website=Bollywood Hungama|access-date=5 April 2005}}{{cite web |title=The Hindu : Entertainment Bangalore / Cinema : Cannes premier for Naina |url=http://www.thehindujobs.com/thehindu/fr/2005/05/20/stories/2005052004130400.htm |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204184554/http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/fr/2005/05/20/stories/2005052004130400.htm |archivedate=4 February 2010 |df=dmy }} Released theatrically on 20 May 2005, Naina flopped at the box office, grossing {{INR}}6.94 crore against a {{INR}}5 crore budget. It was also controversial because its depiction of the protagonist seeing ghosts after receiving a corneal transplantation was similar to existing fears in India surrounding corneal transplants and it was feared the film would discourage people from donating corneas or seeking corneal transplants.{{cite news |last=Chandra |first=Anjali |date=2005-05-24 |title=Seeing is not believing |work=The Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/lucknow-times/seeing-is-not-believing/articleshow/1120605.cms |accessdate=2007-10-06}}{{cite news |date=2005-05-20 |title=NAB also fails to see eye-to-eye with 'Naina' |work=Afternoon, Bombay, India |publisher=Cybernoon |url=http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=news&xfile=May2005_news_standard2133 |accessdate=2007-10-06}}{{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cite news |title=Eye doctors see red over spooky movie. |date=2005-05-21 |work=IOL |url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol1116682607496R362 |accessdate=2007-10-06}}

Plot

During a solar eclipse in 1986, young Naina Shah, while traveling in the backseat of her England-based dad's car, is struck by glass from the shattered windshield during an accident and loses her eyesight. Her parents do not survive, and she is brought up by her paternal grandmother. Years later, Naina gets a successful corneal transplant and is able to see. She complains of vision problems, seeing hooded persons, and people dying, which a psychiatrist, Samir Patel, diagnoses as hallucinations. But when Naina reports seeing someone else in her mirror reflection, Sameer decides to investigate who the original cornea actually belonged to. This investigation will lead them to an impoverished village in New Bhuj, Gujarat, where she will find her life endangered by hostile villagers who believe that the donor of her cornea was cursed.

Naina learns the story of her donor, Khemi. Khemi was born with the ability to see a person's imminent death and was ostracised by society. One night, she tried to save the village from a great fire, but nobody believed her. After the fire broke out, those same villagers blamed Khemi for the disaster. Khemi committed suicide out of despair. Naina returns to England, where she unsuccessfully tries to save people from fire. In the accident, Naina once again loses her eyesight, but she does not regret it because she has the love of Samir and her grandmother.

Cast

Urmila Matondkar as Naina Shah
Anuj Sawhney as Dr. Samir Patel
Malavika as Khemi
Amardeep Jha as Somabai
Kamini Khanna as Mrs. Shah
Sulabha Arya as Parvati Amma
Morne Botes as Burn Victim
Dinesh Lamba as Rathore
Rahul Nath as Ghost blood rain car
Anthony Rosato as Police Officer
Tom Saville as Misc
[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7961732/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20A Pankaj Upadhyay] as Victim

Reception

Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3 stars out of 5, calling it "one of the most imaginative and pulse-pounding horror films to come along in recent times."{{cite web|url=https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/naina/critic-review/naina-movie-review/|title=Naina Movie Review: Naina Movie|website=Bollywood Hungama|access-date=20 May 2005}}

On the other hand, Sukanya Verma from Rediff.com praised Matondkar's performance and the absence of songs, but felt the film failed to "establish an emotional connection" and instead went on a "melodrama spree" which ruined the fear factor.