Kaminey: Just Dhan Te Na!
Vishal Bhardwaj takes one of the most popular themes of Bollywood – that of identical twins – and mixes with another of the most popular themes – that of clash of ideals between brothers – and mashes it with some of the commonest Bollywood elements – corrupt policemen, criminals-aspiring-to-be-politicians, drug runners and mafia who would stop at nothing to achieve their unscrupulous goals. And then he turns everything in its head, giving us a heady, powerful cinema which comes with a violent climax that, thanks to its almost operatic execution, would make Quentin Tarantino proud. That’s what Kaminey is in a nutshell.
Yes, Kaminey is one more of Bhardwaj’s exploration of dark sides of the human psyche, a la Maqbool and Omkara, and though this is no take of a Shakespearean tale, one could make a case that there is trace of one – that of Comedy of Errors, but one that comes with a violent twist where the traces of the comic comes in the most unusual situations.
It is the tale of Guddu and Charlie, the good and the ugly. The first stammers, and the second lisps (“Main ‘Fa’ Ko ‘Fa’ Bolta Hoon”), the first works for the society’s good, the second dreams of building his society of vices, the first reacts slowly to situations, the second runs out of erupting situations, the first works in the sedate world of NGOs, the second in the volcanic world of the mafia. They barely see each other, and can barely stand the sight of each other. They lead separate lives, their excitements coming through the situations arising out of the first’s love and then impending wedding with a Marathi Mulgi and the second’s landing hands on a cache of drugs stashed in a guitar.
How their paths cross one day, leading to the finale is what Kaminey is all about. It is a film set in Mumbai, the violent side of the city. A city where the Marathi-speaking mafia don sees his political aspirations getting washed away thanks to his sister’s love affair with a Sharma from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. That is Bhardwaj’s way of creating drama out of the Marathi-vs-North Indian situation fuelled by politicians. Guddu falls in love with Sweetie, the Marathi don’s sister, and the don is baying for his blood even as a pregnant Sweetie sweet talks Guddu to marry her instantly. Charlie, who bets on horses and an errand boy for the – believe it or not – Hindi cinema’s first Bengali mafia family in Mumbai, meanwhile falls foul of two anti-narcotics department policemen in cahoots with a Ladakhi-looking drug lord Tashi, whose Black cohorts deal in drugs and diamonds, and whose associate Afghani does the talking for him, unlike the Blacks, Whites and Afghanis of the Hindi cinema of yore who would deal in gold biscuits. And then the two worlds come together, in a clash that is full of blood and gore.
Bhardwaj has already proved in his short directorial career to be a master in extracting exciting performances out of his actors. Here again, he succeeds in getting a very confident performance by Shahid Kapoor in two characters who are as different from each other, as, to use a clichéd phrase, chalk and cheese. It will be one performance by Kapoor that will be long remembered, and should raise his stock both as a star and a competent actor. But the surprise packet comes in the form of Priyanka Chopra, who completely merges with the character of Sweetie, a non-glamorous girl from a traditional Marathi family in Mumbai, modern, yet simple and courageous. The chemistry between the two is crackling. Veteran Deb Mookherjee gives a surprise in the form of the slightly-eccentric scion of the Bengali mafia brotherhood, while Amol Gupte, the screenplay writer of Taare Zameen Par, leaves quite an impression as the completely-eccentric Marathi manoos-don who is aspiring to be a politician. As always, Bhardwaj has a band of unknown faces, quite of few of them from the stock of National School of Drama alumni, who shine in their little or big roles, a la Deepak Dobriyal in Omkara.
Kaminey has another character that plays on your ears. And that is its background score, which superbly merges with the various moods of the scenes, perfectly reflecting Bhardwaj’s strong musical background. Particularly alluring is the use of a few vintage R D Burman classics in the background. Of course, people will, and are, talking about the foot-tapping compositions of chartbusters Dhan Te Nan and Fataak (and don’t forget to doff your hat for that genius called Gulzar, only who can create such visually-imaginative lyrics as “Samundar Bhi Pool Pe Chalein”), and the other songs that play on screen for brief whiles. The editing and cinematography perfectly compliments the subject and its treatment, the latter even changing moods depending on the mood of the moment. Kaminey is once more memorable cinema from Vishal Bhardwaj, and is proof of why he is one of the legends of Indian cinema in the making.
Tags: Amol Gupte, gulzar, Kaminey, Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor, Vishal Bhardwaj
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
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Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
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Satish Kasetty
nice post. you made your point without much bloodshed & exaggerations. thanks
MAGIK
Nowadays after reading the article, I just leave, in case you have already posted your comments.
does anybody know when is it opening in Mumbai?…or has it already opened today???…
The film is good but not as effective as Maqbool or Omkara. For some reason, it doesn’t engage you completely. It doesn’t look completely realistic. Shahid’s performance is good but I thought his get up for both the roles could have been better or more realistic to be precise. Charlie’s get up is too stylish and rockstarlike. Even Guddu looks unrealistic in long hair. Guddu’s characterisation also isn’t very convincing. Shahid is too concious about his looks and I could almost feel Shahid ensuring that his face is looking cute enough (Guddu) and his muscles are are looking impressive (for charlie). Otherwise, it’s a good one time watch.