Agatha Christie's classic work - 'And Then There Were None' provided the idea of a story containing multiple murders at some secluded place, totally cut off from the rest of the world and in which the murderer is likely to be hidden in the group of victims itself. Several novels and movies (in various languages) have come up during the past three quarter of a century by seeking inspiration from this immortal novel of the mystery queen which was first published in 1939. Kucch To Hai is one of them.
However the inspiration from And Then There Were None is for the post-interval session of the movie. The pre-interval session is based on a Hollywood movie - I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Thus Kucch To Hai is a cocktail of I Know What You Did Last Summer and And Then There Were None.
Kucch To Hai (something is there for sure) starts in Shimla with the college life of the principal characters of the story who consist of Karan (Tusshar), Taanya (Esha Deol), Taashu (Nataasha), Yash (Yash Tonk) and many of their other friends. There is a professor in the college who appears to be somewhat psychic and therefore, scary to the students. This strange professor is - Professor Bakshi (Rishi Kapoor). The college life is studded with the pranks, teases and romances of the young male-female students. One day a college-mate of these youngsters is found hanged from the roof and everybody thinks that he has committed suicide due to the pressure of studies and exams. But the reality is something else.
There is a love triangle here involving three principal characters of the movie - Karan, Taanya and Taashu whose name is actually Nataasha but she is fondly called Taashu. Karan and Taanya are in love but Taashu also loves Karan. Taashu is an orphan who has been fostered by Karan's father (Jeetendra) only. Yash (who appears to be a flirt) tries to impress Taashu from his side but fails. Now comes the principal twist in the tale.
Professor Bakshi snatches Taanya's answer-book during an examination and now she is under threat to lose one year of education. Karan alongwith Yash and others sneaks into Professor Bakshi's house at night in order to change Taanya's answer-book. To their horror, they find a dead body in the house which is supposed to be that of Professor Bakshi's wife. While running away from there, they happen to accidentally kill Professor Bakshi. Under the mental stress of whatever has happened, Taanya leaves the college and the city and very shortly, the group of friends gets dispersed with different ones going in different directions.
Three years later, two of this group - Khush (Akshay Chitre) and Dolly (Kusumit Sana) decide to get married to each other and the ceremony is kept at Shimla only in a hotel. Quite naturally, the complete group of friends re-assemble for the occasion. Meantime, Karan has got engaged to Taashu and their marriage is also to take place shortly. On the railway station, a member of this group - Pat (Vrajesh Hirjee) feels that he has seen Professor Bakshi there. Firstly, the other friends don't trust him but when chilling incidents start taking place with many members, Pat gets killed when trying to flee away from that place, Yash endures a lethal attack on him and the newly wedded couple of Dolly and Khush gets murdered, they have to trust that Professor Bakshi is not dead and he is there to seek revenge from them all. Whether this is truth, half-truth or completely an illusion becomes clear in the climax.
Ekta Kapoor is said to furnish basic story ideas to the script-writers of her movies and TV serials and it might have been her idea to blend I Know What You Did Last Summer with And Then There Were None but perhaps she could not allow a free hand to the writers and the directors. Director Anuraag Basu (renamed as Anuraag Bose) who later directed movies like Murder (2004) and Gangster (2006), was kicked out when the making of this movie was midway and the remaining part was directed by Anil Vishwakarma Kumar. Perhaps due to the presentation of the visions of two different directors, this movie does not contain a definite mood throughout its duration and shifts from a rom-com to a love-triangle to a horror movie to a murder mystery.
The first half of the movie is damn interesting and other than the main twist in the story (which has been lifted from I Know What You Did Last Summer), the frolic, pranks, teases and romance of the college-mates amuse the audience very much. This part has a youth appeal and must have been liked by the college-goers (though the movie was a flop). Mainly it's the second half which is a letdown. Ekta Kapoor could not understand that a suspense-thriller could not be a hit just by hiding the identity of the killer behind a mask.
Performances are average. If I have to choose the best performer, it's Yash Tonk. Other than Ekta's younger brother Tusshar, her father Jeetendra, Esha Deol and Johnny Lever, the cast consists of the actors working in various TV serials made by Ekta Kapoor. The second lead of the movie has been given the filmy name of Nataasha but her real name is Anita Hassnandaani. This is the last movie of Jeetendra. Sadly most of the performers could not deliver their best. That's the weakness of the direction.
Well, we know what you did that winter (January 2003) Ekta Kapoor. You spoiled a brilliant story idea through your undue interference in the creative department of the movie.
