7 Khoon Maaf (2011)

6.3Not Rated147 min

2011 Indian black comedy directed by Vishal Bhardwaj

7 Khoon Maaf (transl. 7 Murders Forgiven; read as "Saat Khoon Maaf"), released internationally as Seven Sins Forgiven, is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film directed, co-written and co-produced by Vishal Bhardwaj. The film stars Priyanka Chopra in the lead role, with Vivaan Shah, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan Khan, Alexander Dyachenko, Annu Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah and Usha Uthup in supporting roles. The film tells the story of a femme fatale, Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes, an Anglo-Indian woman who causes six deaths in an unending quest for love. The story of Johannes is based on a real woman who lived in Bengal. Her grave is situated in Chuchura, district town of Hooghly.

7 Khoon Maaf is an adaptation of the short story "Susanna's Seven Husbands" by Ruskin Bond. After Bhardwaj saw the possibility of a script in the short story, he requested Bond to develop the story for a film adaptation. Bond expanded his 4-page short story into an 80-page novella, and later Bhardwaj co-wrote the script with Matthew Robbins. The film's musical score was composed by Bhardwaj, and Gulzar wrote the lyrics. Principal photography started in Kashmir before moving to Coorg, where extensive filming was done.

7 Khoon Maaf was released on 18 February 2011 to widespread critical acclaim, with major praise directed towards Chopra's performance. The film earned 33 crore (US$3.9 million) for its box-office run and television-music-home-video rights against a production budget of 15 crore (US$1.8 million). It premiered at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, receiving several accolades at award ceremonies across India.

At the 57th Filmfare Awards, 7 Khoon Maaf received 4 nominations, and won 2 awards – Best Actress (Critics) (Chopra) and Best Female Playback Singer (Usha Uthup and Rekha Bhardwaj for "Darling").

Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

FAQ

What is 7 Khoon Maaf about?
7 Khoon Maaf (2011) — After the passing of his Pondicherry-born mentor, Susanna, Mumbai-based Dr. Arun Kumar Singh narrates his story to his wife, Nalini. With photographs from an old album that he has never shared with anyone, he informs her as to how Susanna caught him stealing; got him to quit his
Is 7 Khoon Maaf based on a true story?
See the production background and source material details on the official Wikipedia article.
Is 7 Khoon Maaf scary?
Content rating: Not Rated. See the reviews tab for parental guidance and tone notes.