Inkaar () is a 2013 Indian romantic thriller film directed by Sudhir Mishra and produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, starring Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada Singh in the lead roles. Shantanu Moitra has composed the music for the film. Deepti Naval, Vipin Sharma, Gaurav Dwivedi are featured in supporting roles. The film was produced and distributed under the Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and the Tipping Point Films banners. The film deals with sexual harassment in a corporate set-up following the story of Rahul Verma, the CEO of an advertising agency, who has to follow the lawsuit of sexual harassment filed by Maya Luthra, his protégé. The two are battling for the top job of the company. A committee is set up by the agency to hear both sides of the story and work through lies and accusations to find out the truth.
The development of the film commenced in 2011. The movie was completed in early 2012 and was titled "Inkaar". It was scheduled to release in May but conflicts started rising over the title of the movie which delayed its release. After a lot of options, "Kaam" was chosen as the title but ultimately "Inkaar" was finalised to be the title.
After the title conflict was resolved, the release date of the movie was delayed to 2013. The movie was released on 18 January 2013. The film received positive to mixed responses but the performances of the lead pair and the direction of Sudhir Mishra earned positive reviews from critics. The movie grossed in the first week.
Cast
Arjun Rampal as Rahul Verma
Chitrangada Singh as Maya Luthra
Deepti Naval as Mrs. Kamdhar
Kanwaljeet Singh as Mr. Verma, Rahul's father
Rehana Sultan as Mrs. Luthra, Maya's mother
Vipin Sharma* as Gupta
Mithun Rodwittiya as Jamshed
Gaurav Dwivedi as Atul
Asheesh Kapur as Praful
Akanksha Nehra as Payal
Kaizaad Kotwal as KK
Sandeep Sanchdev as Tarun
Sujata Sehgal as Kavita
Shivani Tanksale as Nimmi
Saurabh Shukla as Rockstar in Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai
Shilpa Sapatnekar as Rani
Plot
Inkaar is the love story of Maya Luthra (Chitrangada Singh) and Rahul Verma (Arjun Rampal) set against the backdrop of sexual harassment. When misunderstandings are created between the two, she files a case of sexual harassment against him. A committee is set up by the advertising agency they work in to investigate their case and find out the truth. Rahul denies that he ever had any such intentions to sexually harass Maya, but she insists that he makes her feel insecure and unsafe in her own office. The committee is unable to reach a clear conclusion as they do not know who to believe. The climax of the film brings an unexpected twist to the story, and in a final confrontation, the two protagonists' love emerges victorious. As is shown in most of Sudhir's movies including 'Chameli' too, that only thing matters is love. Rahul and Maya reconcile and unite which is shown indirectly in the end.
Production
Casting
In February 2011, Sudhir Mishra announced that he was creating a new movie based on the topic of sexual harassment. Arjun Rampal was cast in to play the male protagonist and Chitrangada Singh, who had previously worked with Mishra in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005) and Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011) was cast to portray the female protagonist. This film marked her third collaboration with Mishra. Mishra is known for directing niche movies. However, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, the lead actress Singh said that it was a commercial film. The film was created on a budget of .
Filming
Filming took place between late 2011 to early 2012. The film was extensively shot in actual advertising agencies including Leo Burnett Worldwide and Grey Worldwide.
Controversy
Title Conflict
The initial title of the movie was chosen to be Inkaar but after the filming was complete, a title conflict rose as Mishra and the production team decided to opt a title out of six titles for the film based on its story. New five titles were Dream Factory, Power Play, Agency, Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum and The Boss. Mishra stated in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, "Our film is about gender politics and power play in a corporate house. Given this brief, we'll decide which title suits the film the best and we'll go by it." After some conflict, the title was chosen to be Kaam – The Unofficial Story. The release date was delayed to 25 August but Kaam was also removed as the release date came closer. After four title hunts, the original title Inkaar was finalised. The release date of the movie was pushed to 18 January, thus making it one of the early films of 2013.