# Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost

Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost (lit. 'My friend from Mumbai has arrived') is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language drama film starring Abhishek Bachchan, Lara Dutta and Chunky Pandey. The film is directed by Apoorva Lakhia in his directorial debut. The film touched on the subject of the influence of television on village life.

## Synopsis

Dinanath Singh is honored by the Indian Government, which is televised live. While receiving the honors, Dinanath informs the government that his village is still without electricity, and he is promised that electricity will be provided in his village immediately. And electricity is provided in the village. Dinanath's grandson, Karan "Kanji," who is in Mumbai, hears of this and returns to the village along with a C-Band ten foot satellite dish and a super flat stereo television. When the satellite is set up, the villagers are thrilled by the TV shows. This helps create a running gag of copying TV culture into rural lives. The changes lead to the village priest complaining to Chotey Thakur Rudra Pratap Singh that the villagers are turning away from his temple and worship. Rudra is not concerned, as he himself has a TV set in his home. But when the priest informs Rudra that his sister, Kesar Pratap Singh, aka Kesi, and Kanji are in love, Rudra makes a threat to destroy Kanji and all of the village in the presence of a TV crew filming the whole drama and telecasting it live worldwide. The plot comes to a culmination when, angered by Kanji's antics, Rudra arrives to destroy the village. The villagers stand up to the exploitation and fight Rudra and his goons.

## Cast

* Abhishek Bachchan as Karan "Kanji" Singh
* Lara Dutta as Kesar "Kesi" Pratap Singh
* Chunky Pandey as Sanjay "Sanju" Singh
* Aditya Lakhia as Surya
* Yashpal Sharma as Chotey Thakur Rudra Pratap Singh
* Rajendra Gupta as Sameer Goswami
* Daya Shankar Pandey as Hari Malhotra
* Akhilendra Mishra as Priest
* Amitabh Bachchan as Narrator
* Raageshwari as Reporter Priya
* Snehal Lakhia as Grandfather
* Ajay Khamosh as Guru
* Shubro Bhattacharaya as Abdul
* Aahi Khan as Binti
* Bhagwati Singh as Gulaboo
* Akbar Naqvi as Bhima
* Narender Kumar as Gora
* Sonal Choksi as Salma
* Divya Sharma as Priest's wife
* Ritu Vij as Thakur's wife
* Tan Singh as Postman
* Deepash Nihalani as Cameraman
* Shawn Aranha as Boomman
* Nihal as Adi
* Vishal Nihalani as Vicky
* Amul Mhatre as Police Inspector
* Kapil Sharma as Kanji's Father
* Shruti Gupta as Kesi's friend
* Ritu Singh as Kesi's friend
* Mr. Malhotra as Minister
* Mrs. Meera Lakhia as Minister's Aide
* Laxmi Singh as Gypsy woman
* Eashak Khan as Lalu
* Latif Khan as Salim
* Nihal Khan as Karim
* Santosh Bhopa as Rasili
* Jaana as Parwati
* Sua Satan as Manju
* Mr. Vyas as Police
* Kiran Shinde as Massage man
* Alam Khan as Thakur's cousin
* Razak Khan as Thakur's cousin
* Babloo Ramesh as Thakur's cousin
* Imran Khan as Thakur's cousin
* Nabab Ali Nababuddin as Thakur's cousin
* Eashan as Thakur's cousin
* Ramjan Khan as Thakur's cousin

## Soundtracks

The music was created by Anu Malik.
| # | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1 | "Koi Bheega Hai Rang Se" (Holi Re) | Zubeen Garg, Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | 06:26 |
| 2 | "Shaher Ka Jadoo Re" | Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | 06:20 |
| 3 | "Jeetenge Baazi Hum" | Sonu Nigam, Mahalakshmi Iyer | 05:20 |
| 4 | "Saiiyan" | Sunidhi Chauhan | 05:25 |
| 5 | "Mujhe Tune Jo Dekha" | Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik | 06:24 |
| 6 | "The Journey" (Instrumental) | | 02:20 |

## Reception

Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM gave the film 1.5 out of 5, writing, "On the whole, MUMBAI SE AAYA MERA DOST has its moments of glory, but they're far to less to generate a lasting impact. Ordinary." R Verma of Rediff.com gave a negative review, criticising the film's "costumes, storyline, logic and characterisation." Also writing for Rediff.com, Sudipta Chakravarti wrote, "Instead of focussing on the power struggle, Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost runs into several other tracks that look completely out of place and derail the film" and called it "an ordinary movie that fails to create a lasting impact."