Kaun? (1998) | Region-Free (DVD) | English Subtitles

Title: Kaun? (1999)

Alternate Title: Who?

Genre: Psychological Horror, Thriller

Plot Synopsis:
A young woman is home alone on a stormy evening, watching news reports about a serial killer on the loose. Her solitude is interrupted when the doorbell rings, leading to a tense encounter with a stranger who claims to be seeking shelter. As the night progresses, the woman’s fear escalates as she questions the stranger’s intentions and her own safety.

Cast and Crew:

• Director: Ram Gopal Varma
• Writer: Anurag Kashyap
• Cast:
  • Urmila Matondkar as Ma’am
  • Manoj Bajpayee as Sameer A. Purnavale
  • Sushant Singh as The Intruder

YouTube Trailer:
Kaun? | Trailer

IMDb Link:
Kaun? (1999)

Reviews from Letterboxd:

1. nrh – ★★★★☆
   “The kind of film that not only strands its nightgown-clad female heroine alone on a stormy night in an isolated house with an erratic man clawing at the door, but plays an ‘escaped serial killer on the loose’ message over the radio like a campfire ghost story. Nearly every character (there are three) in this film is erratic, eccentric; every inch of the location (just the house interior and balcony) is used with skill and imagination. The actors are great, the script by a young Anurag Kashyap consistently surprising in terms of invention, the film broken down into little clusters of shifting power and tonality like movements in a little musical suite. But the real draw here is the glee RGV has in moving the pieces around, in each nasty bit of one-upmanship, in the constant rain outside, the elegance of getting from one place to another.”
2. Dr. Ethan Lyon – ★★★★½
   “Nothing breaks the immersion more than hearing the song sample Pitbull would use later on for ‘Get on the Floor’ as a lighter ringtone. The genius of ‘Kaun?’ is not in its moments of violence or prowling camera, but in the way that it extracts incredible mileage from discomfort at social situations. Ma’am is constantly forced to make allowances for Sameer and the increasingly absurd reasons why he must come into the house, because she feels a sense of awkwardness. His nervy, live-wire sensibility only adds to the sense that he is, in fact, the murderer the news has been obsessively covering.”
3. danne – ★★★★☆
   “From ma’am??? to ma’am!!!”

Meta Description:
“Kaun?” (1999) is an Indian psychological horror thriller directed by Ram Gopal Varma, featuring Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpayee. The film explores a suspenseful narrative where a woman, alone at home during a storm, faces unexpected visitors, leading to a night filled with tension and uncertainty.