Hellos my Kaminey frEEky fellows!
The last couple of weeks has been harsh on us, Swine-Flu, impending drought, and yes the catastrophic detention of SRK have taken their toll on our collective psyches. Fret not fellow frEEks, for celluloid relief is finally here in the form of Vishal Bhardwaj's much awaited KAMINEY
What it is? : Kaminey is the next offering from the stables of Vishal Bhardwaj,, yes he who had succesfully indianised Shakespeare (Maqbool and Omkara) Vishal now takes on the hyperkinetic crime thriller genre popularised by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie. Kaminey also gathered pre-publicity buzz due to a first time "double-role" by Shahid Kapoor and of course the chartbuster "Dhan-Te-Nan" sung marvelouslly by Vishal Dadlani and Sukhiwnder Singh.
Kaminey is the story of twin brothers; Guddu and Charlie (both played convincingly by Shahid Kapoor) born in the murkiest parts of Dharavi (and no, neither is called onto a quiz show unlike that other movie about slums!) . Driven to hate each other due to their varying idelogies, the movie is a story of how fate ( and the criminal underworld) conspire to bring the two brothers together.
What works: I have always been apprehensive about bollywood movies that attempt to introduce characters just to keep the plot moving (aka every Priyadarshan movie after Hera Pheri) but kudos to Vishal for pulling of the impossible, not only does the plot take the viewer down unconventional lanes, but each character (and believe me, there's a quite a few) is fleshed out and adds value to the plot. The screenplay is a skillful merge of some bhai-bhai bollywood cliche mingled with generous doses of dark underworld humor. Shahid Kapoor breaks away from his choco-boy image and delivers his best performance to date, watch the scene where the two brothers meet after ages, to appreciate Shahid's effort on screen, Priyanka Chopra manages to just about keep up, in her role as a Marathi Mulgi, who plays a fast one on Guddu. Then there is the brilliant supporting cast including Taare Zameen Par writer Amol Gupte as a "marathi manoos" supporting politico, Chandan Roy Sanyal as Mikhail, Charlie's drug addicted confidant/boss. Here's a film that acknowledges it's audience's intelligence and aims for its jugular, which is why surreal dream sequences seem rightly juxtaposed with the otherwise Mumbaiyaa plot.
What Doesn't: There's a section of junta that are into, the "leave your brains at home" movie genre (aka Singh Is Kinng, Chandni Chowk to China, should i go on?) this movie is perhaps is not for them! Also the climactic shoot out sequence seemed a wee bit contrived, but really folks I am just picking at very minor squibbles in this hugely entertaining movie.
Verdict: Grab your N95s and head for the movie hall folks, cuz this is probably the best Bollywood will offer this year!!
/5
Vishal directing Shahid on the sets of Kaminey
What it is? : Kaminey is the next offering from the stables of Vishal Bhardwaj,, yes he who had succesfully indianised Shakespeare (Maqbool and Omkara) Vishal now takes on the hyperkinetic crime thriller genre popularised by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie. Kaminey also gathered pre-publicity buzz due to a first time "double-role" by Shahid Kapoor and of course the chartbuster "Dhan-Te-Nan" sung marvelouslly by Vishal Dadlani and Sukhiwnder Singh.
Kaminey is the story of twin brothers; Guddu and Charlie (both played convincingly by Shahid Kapoor) born in the murkiest parts of Dharavi (and no, neither is called onto a quiz show unlike that other movie about slums!) . Driven to hate each other due to their varying idelogies, the movie is a story of how fate ( and the criminal underworld) conspire to bring the two brothers together.
What works: I have always been apprehensive about bollywood movies that attempt to introduce characters just to keep the plot moving (aka every Priyadarshan movie after Hera Pheri) but kudos to Vishal for pulling of the impossible, not only does the plot take the viewer down unconventional lanes, but each character (and believe me, there's a quite a few) is fleshed out and adds value to the plot. The screenplay is a skillful merge of some bhai-bhai bollywood cliche mingled with generous doses of dark underworld humor. Shahid Kapoor breaks away from his choco-boy image and delivers his best performance to date, watch the scene where the two brothers meet after ages, to appreciate Shahid's effort on screen, Priyanka Chopra manages to just about keep up, in her role as a Marathi Mulgi, who plays a fast one on Guddu. Then there is the brilliant supporting cast including Taare Zameen Par writer Amol Gupte as a "marathi manoos" supporting politico, Chandan Roy Sanyal as Mikhail, Charlie's drug addicted confidant/boss. Here's a film that acknowledges it's audience's intelligence and aims for its jugular, which is why surreal dream sequences seem rightly juxtaposed with the otherwise Mumbaiyaa plot.
What Doesn't: There's a section of junta that are into, the "leave your brains at home" movie genre (aka Singh Is Kinng, Chandni Chowk to China, should i go on?) this movie is perhaps is not for them! Also the climactic shoot out sequence seemed a wee bit contrived, but really folks I am just picking at very minor squibbles in this hugely entertaining movie.
Verdict: Grab your N95s and head for the movie hall folks, cuz this is probably the best Bollywood will offer this year!!
/5 4 out of 5 frEEkies: a frEEking good watch!
2 comments:
Saw the film and loved, loved and then loved it some more. Absolutely brilliant and it is akin to being on a rollercoaster. Totally keeps you on the edge and absolutely loved Bhope Bhau. And the sauveness of Tashi! And yes Shahid has finally arrived as an actor...
the Bhope and Tope scene was fantastic.
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