Kaminey gets get it right. A crime noir film shot against the grey and grime of Mumbai it takes you on a ride that keeps you riveted till the end.
Initially it is the twin characters that Shahid Kapoor plays. One of the brothers lisps and the other stutters. Normally Hindi cinema deals with stories of twins in a typical way. One of them is cool while the other is an imbecile. But not in Kaminey.
Not since Kaho Na Pyar Hai has an actor pulled off twin roles so well working on subtle differences in each persona. Both brothers lead lives which are at the opposite ends of the spectrum - Charlie is part of a gang that fixes horse races while Guddu works for an NGO popularizing HIV messaging in the city.
Slowly we are sucked to their worlds. As their lives get more and more complicated we encounter characters from the city - the aggressive girlfriend, the gun crazy bosses, the Jai Maharashtra politician, corrupt police officers and expat criminals. A Tibetan. And two Angolans. Characters talking in Bengali and Marathi. Full scenes without subtitles.That's how weird it gets. And yet you believe it all. The songs in the film are complemented by a brilliant background score that keeps the pace moving.
As the many stories and sub plots are revealed, the director is able to weave a world of pulp crime writing similar to the cheap paperbacks in Hindi. Charlie's ambition is to become a bookie. His troubles begin when he sets out recover money he lost in a race. Guddu's world is turned upside down when his girlfriend tells him that she is pregnant.
Any film based on the crime world could have been reduced to guns and gore. But not Kaminey. Like Satya or Sholay or Pulp Fiction it alternates between violence, romance and humour.
And well written humour. The kind you would rarely see in cinema. Shahid desperately looking for a condom when he finally gets to be alone with Priyanka Chopra. The policemen interrogating Guddu realise that he stammers, so they get him to sing out the information. The politician trying to bribe his little boy to keep mum about his plans to kill his sister's fiance.
All characters feel that they are in control of their decisions but one by one each of them get trapped in a hopeless situation. And each decision taken by a character affects something else much like the butterfly effect theory. Initially, nothing connects the characters to one another. But as the pieces fall they come together for the gun fight at the climax .
As Charlie would say - Fooperb !
Initially it is the twin characters that Shahid Kapoor plays. One of the brothers lisps and the other stutters. Normally Hindi cinema deals with stories of twins in a typical way. One of them is cool while the other is an imbecile. But not in Kaminey.
Not since Kaho Na Pyar Hai has an actor pulled off twin roles so well working on subtle differences in each persona. Both brothers lead lives which are at the opposite ends of the spectrum - Charlie is part of a gang that fixes horse races while Guddu works for an NGO popularizing HIV messaging in the city.
Slowly we are sucked to their worlds. As their lives get more and more complicated we encounter characters from the city - the aggressive girlfriend, the gun crazy bosses, the Jai Maharashtra politician, corrupt police officers and expat criminals. A Tibetan. And two Angolans. Characters talking in Bengali and Marathi. Full scenes without subtitles.That's how weird it gets. And yet you believe it all. The songs in the film are complemented by a brilliant background score that keeps the pace moving.
As the many stories and sub plots are revealed, the director is able to weave a world of pulp crime writing similar to the cheap paperbacks in Hindi. Charlie's ambition is to become a bookie. His troubles begin when he sets out recover money he lost in a race. Guddu's world is turned upside down when his girlfriend tells him that she is pregnant.
Any film based on the crime world could have been reduced to guns and gore. But not Kaminey. Like Satya or Sholay or Pulp Fiction it alternates between violence, romance and humour.
And well written humour. The kind you would rarely see in cinema. Shahid desperately looking for a condom when he finally gets to be alone with Priyanka Chopra. The policemen interrogating Guddu realise that he stammers, so they get him to sing out the information. The politician trying to bribe his little boy to keep mum about his plans to kill his sister's fiance.
All characters feel that they are in control of their decisions but one by one each of them get trapped in a hopeless situation. And each decision taken by a character affects something else much like the butterfly effect theory. Initially, nothing connects the characters to one another. But as the pieces fall they come together for the gun fight at the climax .
As Charlie would say - Fooperb !
1 comments:
okay that is persuasive;-)
Come watch it with me again...doubt i will be able to see it alone.
it is too much blood and gore - then won't, can't take that now.
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