Kaminey (2009)

Vishal Bharadwaj takes a break from Shakeshpeare and decides to give the Bollywood audience a break from candy-floss films (read that as K-Jo, YRF and their lookalikes!). He gives us a taster session of Tarantino & Guy Ritchie, famed for their distinct style of film-making. Unique (and loony) characters, tension-building scenes, unexpected turn of events, razor-sharp lines, strong background score - you name it "Kaminey" has all the ingredients. There is no "Once upon a time....." business here, the audience find themselves thrown into the middle of quagmire owing to which in the first few reels you find find yourself gasping to comprehend. Not being funny, but only the smart & intelligent stay with the proceedings.

Brilliant performances from all actors, including the host of new faces.

Û© Shahid Kapur:: Guddu & Charlie - not exactly "chalk-and-cheese" there, as you would normally expect in a storyline of identical twins. Let's say one is slightly more deceitful. Divide the stutter and lisp between them and Shahid gets a role of his lifetime which he delivers with utmost perfection.

Û© Priyanka Chopra:: Just about completing her home-run and needless to say her performance as the Maharashtrian girl is a feather in the cap.

Û© Amol Gupte:: Another Mahesh Manjrekar in the making.

Û© Deb Mukherjee:: Nice to see him after a long sabbatical, though short- role.

"Dhan Te Nan" is an obvious scene-stealer while the rest of the numbers would take sometime to catch up. Gulzar's lyrics as usual is mystical.

Crap was the word that first came to my mind when I watched "Pulp Fiction" but it took a couple of years of maturity to retrace my steps and appreciate the body of work. It goes without saying "Kaminey" deserves a second-time watch to get the gist and perhaps a few more to notice the grammar of fine film-making.

Fmovies: Kaminey is a latest off track bollywood movie. Since its a off-track many may just don't like the way its presented to the audience. The film is about human nature and the way world treats people. If you are poor, if you are uneducated you are lost in this world of selfishness and power. You need to grow up in this world.

Saheed Kapoor in his double role has acted superb. His performance is adorable and I now like him much more than before. Its a bollywood movie with some sort of Hollywood taste. Its out off movie. A fast paced movie with lots of laughter & humor.

If you love gangster movie and deserve some new taste just watch this movie. A must for fans of Saheed Kapoor.

Thats what Monsieur Godard would call this film - a time pass; yet reasonably after Shekhar Kapur's comment on an esteemed daily Vishal Bhardwaj is being compared widely to Quentin Tarantino, a comparison, I feel is much forced rather than reasoned. With Kaminey Vishal Bhardwaj breaks his own elan & generates what we can call India's first perfect dark comedy. Amusingly, Vishal Bhardwaj once again displays his Shakespearean love. this time morsel of 'A Comedy of Errors', yet many may disagree. A fine work by a finer film-maker. Watch this movie without 'Maqbool' or 'Omakara' in your mind.

On a totally different note, the music of this film is exceptional, well versed by another genius in his own kind - Gulzar.

A must watch.

Kaminey fmovies. You can't believe how much anticipation I had for this movie(I loved Awarapan, also a gangster movie). This movie passed each expectation. Amazing songs(especially the title track and Dhan Te Nan), enthralling action, mind-blowing story, shocking performances(in a good way), and an ecstatic execution through and through. Shahid's performance along with Priyanka's, Amole Gupte's and everyone's performance make me speechless. They all fit in their roles. Shahid as Charlie steals the show. Priyanka looked her best in Dostana, but she looks angelic with no makeup(and still hot).

What I liked about the movie: Shahid, Priyanka, Amole, action, run-out of the mill songs(especially the ones mentioned above), photography.

BEST FILM OF THE YEAR. MY FAVORITE BOLLYWOOD MOVIE EVER.

What I didn't like about the movie: Too short, like Awarapan. Come on, 135 minutes? What about 150, at least?!

my review from bollywoodhungama.com

Vishal Bharadwaj has done it again. After tense stories of Maqbool & Omkaara, he takes a deliberate take away from Shakespeare and delivers instead an awesome dark and twisted tale of two brothers each with his own share of mess to take care of, not to mention their speech impediments that provide some great sounding dialog to the audience and depth to the characters.

The film does not try to emulate one as the good brother and the other gone wrong. That's not what the director wants to show.

One brother knocks up a Don's sister unknowingly (the buildup to this is awesome) and the other one chances upon a guitar full of cocaine.As the plot thickens, both the brothers must gets their hands on the same cocaine to save their lives. Then, the director takes on a joyride through the shanty towns of Mumbai.

The film has strong overtones of the current issues in Mumbai politics and a leading lady in Priyanka Chopra, who is very much representative of present day Indian girl. She is no arm candy, she has a pivotal role and takes the film to its climax. A climax that drags on with one little twist after another, but it is't boring. by the end of it, you would want another.

The music is very good and does not interfere with the pace of the film. Gulzar has again delivered deep meaning lyrics that are more in sync with the film's theme than with classic poetry.

There are a lot of characters to take care of in the film and it's easy to lose to track, but none is less important than the other. Each one has a defined part and is intertwined in the destinies of Guddu & Charlie. It does remind you of Guy Ritchie films like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels etc but it is in no way an imitation of such works. It is a complete masterwork in its own right.

With Jab We Met, Shahid Kapur showed that he can carry a film on his own, Kaminey shows that that two of him are better than one. He plays both his parts with such panache that its hard to see that its the same actor. This could well be the point when he lands more serious roles and less of the boy next door.

The film is dark with everybody fighting for survival but the presentation is such that you do feel for the people in it but can't help but sadistically laugh at them. that is what Bhardwaj has been able to achieve with Kaminey which very few directors in India can manage to.

Definitely one of the best works of contemporary Indian cinema.

We've seen so much of the RGV stuff about " Jai Maharashtra" and the style. plus, talk about 'judwa' movies .. There are things which might make you feel there's something familiar what Kaminey offers. NOT.

Well, attempting a dark comedy is difficult, especially about mafia (that too in the settings of maharashtra). The movie is a dark comedy, with an adventurous plot and an action setting. The movie almost achieves what it wants to. its brilliant in execution, with some freelance direction and good screenplay. the story revolves around parallel tracks of brothers wanting to live their own lives, but they're bound to collide. The storytelling warps in the movie where we witness a normal movie and then suddenly so much happens that you fee like rewinding back. The pace is varying and there is something to keep you edged on your seat. And the final scene comes similar to "lock, stock and 2 smoking barrels", in an Indian environment, really perfect, spotless direction.

The direction just in-phase with the contemporary age of experimental cinema. we see perfect lighting for the scenes and low shots in the movies. the songs are nice, too. the movie in whole is a great watch for people who have the taste of seeing action or adventure scripts. A nice movie, watch it.

Shahid's acting is good, limited in his roles but very methodical. priyanka tries a kareena of JWM (or the asin of Ghajini, for that matter) and plays it smoothly. However, editing the viewer with a lost feeling sometimes. There are certain potholes scattered throughout the movie, which could have either explained or avoided, at least. and yes, the movie seems a little predictable sometimes, but its maximum criticism it deserves. go on experimenting Bollywood ! o ya, n i really wonder why it got A certificate .. there is nothing A about it..