Kahaani

Kahaani
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sujoy Ghosh
Screenplay by	Sujoy Ghosh
Story by	Sujoy Ghosh Advaita Kala
Produced by	Sujoy Ghosh Kushal Kantilal Gada
Starring	Vidya Balan Parambrata Chatterjee Nawazuddin Siddiqui Indraneil Sengupta Saswata Chatterjee
Cinematography	Satyajit Pande (Setu)
Edited by	Namrata Rao
Music by	Songs: Vishal–Shekhar Score: Clinton Cerejo
Production companies	Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Pen India Limited Boundscript Motion Pictures Wave Cinemas
Distributed by	Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Wave Cinemas[1]
Release date	9 March 2012 (2012-03-09)
Running time	122 minutes[2]
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹80 million[3]
Box office	₹1.04 billion[4]

Kahaani (IPA: [kəˈɦaːni]; transl. Story) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language thriller film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Sujoy Ghosh. It stars Vidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman looking for her missing husband in Kolkata during the festival of Durga Puja, assisted by Assist Sub-Inspector Satyoki "Rana" Sinha (Parambrata Chatterjee) and Inspector General A. Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

Made on a shoestring budget of ₹80 million (US$960,000), Kahaani was conceived and developed by Ghosh, who co-wrote the film with Advaita Kala. The crew often employed guerrilla-filmmaking techniques on Kolkata's city streets to avoid attracting attention. Its creative portrayal of the city and its use of local crew and cast members made it a notable film. Kahaani explores themes of feminism and motherhood in a male-dominated Indian society. The film also makes several allusions to Satyajit Ray's films, such as Charulata (1964), Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), and Joi Baba Felunath (1979). The film's musical score and soundtrack are composed by Clinton Cerejo and Vishal–Shekhar respectively, with cinematography handled by Setu and editing done by Namrata Rao.

Kahaani was released worldwide on 9 March 2012. Critics praised the screenplay, the cinematography and the performances of the lead actors. Following critical acclaim and word-of-mouth publicity, the film earned ₹1.04 billion (US$12 million) worldwide in 50 days. The film won several awards, including three National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. The latter included trophies for Best Director (Ghosh) and Best Actress (Vidya). The film was remade by Sekhar Kammula in Telugu as Anaamika (2014) with Nayanthara reprising Vidya's role. A spiritual successor, titled Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, was released on 2 December 2016.