Taxi No. 9 2 11: Nau Do Gyarah
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Milan Luthria
Screenplay by	Rajat Arora
Story by	Rajat Arora
Based on	Changing Lanes (2002) by Roger Michell
Produced by	Ramesh Sippy Rohan Sippy
Starring	Nana Patekar John Abraham Sameera Reddy Sonali Kulkarni Shivaji Satam
Narrated by	Sanjay Dutt
Cinematography	Kartik Vijay
Edited by	Aarif Shaikh
Music by	Vishal–Shekhar
Production companies	Entertainment One Ramesh Sippy Entertainment
Distributed by	UTV Motion Pictures
Release date	24 February 2006 (2006-02-24) (India)
Running time	116 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Taxi No. 9 2 11: Nau Do Gyarah is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language comedy thriller film^[1] directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Ramesh Sippy. The film stars Nana Patekar along with John Abraham in lead roles. It released on 24 February 2006, received positive response from critics, and was a moderate success at the box office. The film's basic premise is loosely based on 2002 American film Changing Lanes.^[2]

In 2009, it was remade in Tamil as TN-07 AL 4777^[3] which stars Pasupathy and Ajmal Ameer and in 2019, in Burmese as Nyit Toon.

Plot

Story copied from hollywood movie Changing Lanes (2002). Taxi No. 9 2 11 focuses on Raghav Shastri (Nana Patekar), a cab driver in Mumbai who lies to his wife Sunita (Sonali Kulkarni) his job, pretending to be an insurance salesman. One day, he gives Jai Mittal (John Abraham), the spoilt son of a late businessman, a ride. Jai is fighting for ownership rights of his late father's estate. The cab gets into an accident with Jai escaping as he's in hurry. Jai loses the key to the vault containing his father's will in the back of Raghav's taxi.

Raghav decides to hide it from Jai. In the search for the key, Jai goes to Raghav's house and tells Sunita what he really does for a living, which Jai doesn't know. She leaves him, taking their son. Raghav decides to take revenge. Raghav and Jai vow to kill each other in their fight for their properties. When Raghav fails to kill Jai he targets Jai's girlfriend, Rupali (Sameera Reddy). As Raghav chases Rupali she is saved by Jai by hair's breadth. Jai lets Rupali escape and he attacks Raghav. They have a dirty car fight but both survive.

Raghav goes to Jai's place. Jai returns to his apartment from a second court hearing regarding his father's estate in defeat, because he doesn't have his father's will. He discovers the will, torn to pieces and pasted on the wall of his apartment. Jai becomes depressed and lonely after his friends leave him. Rupali dumps him, indicating she wanted him only for his fortune. Losing everything that used to be precious, Jai realises the hard-hitting life and starts respecting his father and his work.

On the other side Raghav is caught again by police and taken to police station where Sunita tells him his real character and problem within himself. Soon, he realises his mistake. Jai, having realised the value of close ones, then bails Raghav out of jail. Raghav insists they have a drink and they go to Jai's house for one. They find out that they share the same birthday. Raghav gives back his will, which he had hidden in the sofa, and says that he had never destroyed it — the torn will on the wall is a fake. Raghav then goes to the railway station to stop Sunita and his son from leaving him, but arrives a little too late. He goes back home where he sees a birthday cake on the table. He feels that he is hallucinating, but gets a pleasant shock when he sees Sunita and his son standing there, singing him a birthday song (and finds out that it was Jai who brought them back).

Jai confronts Arjun Bajaj (Shivaji Satam), the friend and custodian of the property of Jai's father, whom he tells that he has realised the value of life and does not want his father's property and takes a leave. Just as he drives out, his car collides with another car driven by a Woman (Priyanka Chopra), though initially both seem to be angry at each, later Jai apologizes and asks for her number, promising to pay for damages. The movie ends as both smile at each other and drive away; indicating a new romantic beginning.

Cast

Themes and influences

Director Milan Luthria, when asked to define the film's genre, described it as a dialogue-based witty comedy with some romance, and an emotional thriller that makes one think. He felt it forces one to look within, find the meaning of life and answers to one's own questions, while also being about the city of Mumbai and the rush. Calling it a "very funny, clever film", he left the genre classification to the critics.^[4] The Times of India defined the film as a slice-of-life drama.^[5]

Film critic Rajeev Masand noted in his review that while the film "stole" the basic premise from the 2002 American film Changing Lanes, the spirit, treatment and the screenplay were original.^[2]

According to Rediff.com, the film's title gives the impression of September 11 Attacks when read in English, hence has to be read out in Hindi as nau-do-gyarah, which is a slang for conning people and disappearing into thin air.^[6]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Vishal–Shekhar with lyrics by Vishal Dadlani and Dev Kohli. The movie has six songs with two remixes. It features a song sung by yesteryear music composer Bappi Lahiri. The soundtrack was released sometime in the third week of January 2006 under the label of Saregama HMV.

Box office

Taxi No. 9 2 11 was one of the highest-grossing films of 2006.^[7] Nana Patekar and John Abraham were well applauded for their performances. Sonali Kulkarni was also appreciated.

References

External links

• Taxi No. 9211 at IMDb