"Kaminey"- The Movie Review

I'm not really a movie buff. I'm not much in to watching movies in theaters at all. But every once in a while an exception must be made when family or friends force me.

So last Friday, I was coerced in to watching a movie by mom and sis. Now I knew "Kaminey" was an 'A' rated movie. And I didn't want to be embarrassed watching the movie with family. But they'd already bought the tickets. And no one.. absolutely no one was free at that particular time to fill in for me. So I decided to tug along and watch the movie. It was a Vishal Bharadwaj film after all.

And let me tell you this.. 'Kaminey' is a once in a life-time movie. And I'm glad that I was forced in to that movie hall! Absolutely brilliant! Bharadwaj brings the Guy Ritchie/ Quentin Tarantino style of movie making- tuned to India(or more precisely Mumbai). Though the story is not really new... the treatment is as original as it can get. The writing for this movie is first class.

The story line from the outset is quite predictable... but Bharadwaj keeps you glued to your seats with the pace, twists and turns. The characters don't mouth long tardy dialogues... it's very galli lingo. The entire look and feel of the movie is very earthy and you know that if there were characters like these in real-life, then that's exactly how they'd behave. The humour is dark and intelligent.... the movie goer who enjoys the brainless comedies Hindi movies are famous for will not enjoy this. 'Kaminey' requires, or rather demands, your attention for the complete 2 hours+.


The script is just so well written and so tight, it's unbelievable for an Indian movie! There have been a few good movies that have come out in recent years. But this movie is not parallel cinema. It is basic Hindi movie 'formulaic' fare complete with looove ishtory, judwaa bhais, draamaa, emosion and real 'kaminey' villains...all building up to a climax... but the film still holds despite it's predictability... and that's the beauty of it.

Each one of the ensemble cast- from the corrupt policemen(lolo and lebe), to the politician-don(bhopu!), to the full-time don(tashi- tashi the greeat!), are just wonderfully sketched out and each actor does full justice to his role. The performances of each of the actors are just out-standing and that's what really brings the movie alive. Shahid Kapur(as Guddu and Charlie) is fantastic. The character of Charlie and his trademark lisping of 'f' for 's' is just tremendous. The character impacted us all so much that we were all lisping for 2 days straight. :). Priyanka Chopra(Sweety) is brilliant. She plays and aggro-Marathi babe with such flair (The scene in which she shoots her machine gun in the climax is one of my favourites in the movie). My personal favourites were the guys who played Mikhail and Tashi- killer dudes.. with killer attitudes to boot! : )

And special mention must be made of 'Dhan-te-nan'. The energy in the movie builds up to a crescendo and the song fulfills the requirement as an outlet for all that pent up energy. It moves you and pulls you in to the movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I 'fuggeft' that you 'fhould' watch it. I'll be happy to read your commentf on it. ;)