Paanch Review – At the wait’s end
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I finally saw Paanch today. The internet was abuzz this morning with news that Paanch is up for free viewing on the net. It has been a long wait and one on which lately I had given up thinking this was one of those things that’d never happen.
So, the million dollar question, how good is Paanch? Is it as good as it is reputed to be? How’d it fit in Anurag Kashyap’s filmography? Well, I started seeing the movie with gigantic expectations and to add to it came the title sequence of the movie which set the bar very high and set the expectation to stratospheric levels. Now that some time has passed and I’ve developed a little bit of perspective on the movie, I can safely say that it is indeed a good film. Definitely worth a watch. The story line and the narrative is obviously very intelligent and smart. As with Anurag Kashyap’s all movies, Paanch also belies the shoe string budget that it was made with. As Kashyap’s debut venture, it is definitely a creditable affair. But in Anurag Kashyap’s entire filmography, deservedly it will remain right at the bottom. Dev.D, No Smoking and Gulaal are much more evolved movies in having multiple layers and symbolism in them. But it is actually a very positive thing because it’s a rare thing in Indian cinema when you see a director progressively make more layered films and gets deeper and more stylish with every film. While this may be Anurag Kashyap’s most humble offering, there are very few directors who have churned more meritorious movies in the last decade.
There was another question in my mind while watching the movie. What was in the movie which caused so much problem with the censors? Well, after watching the whole movie and spending three more hours, I can’t find a single scene which could warrant any censorship. In fact, by the end of the movie I was surprised as to how subtly and non-graphically violence was portrayed. In comparison Dev.D or Gulaal were landmine censorship content. I can’t fathom why the movie remained stuck with the censors so long. It’s not only unfortunate but it’s also contemptible. In the whole fiasco, the cinema watcher had to pay in the end by not being able to see this movie.
Critically dissecting the film, the storyline and screen play are top notch. The acting is mostly impressive. The only issue being Tejaswini Kolhapure who was barely passable and probably the lone blip in Kashyap’s entire filmography. Ayesha Mohan did a light years better work in a similar role in Gulaal. The rest of the actors have a ball in the movie. Watching KK Menon act, one can’t even imagine it was his first movie. His performance is his trademark dominating self. Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya and Joy Fernandes come up with typical AK movie performances. The cinematography and background score do a huge favor to the movie by setting just the right mood for the thriller.
The music of the film is just okay. It doesn’t do any disservice to the narrative but it doesn’t add anything substantial like music of Gulaal or Dev.D or even No Smoking do. But he run away winner in the movie is its story. The story is gripping and keeps you at your seat’s edge right throughout. The only weakness of the movie is that it doesn’t explore the rock band setup. The rock band seems to be only incidental. The movie would have gained in depth if the rock angle and rock band culture and life was explored more. In fact people expecting Paanch to be a rock band story gone haywire would be seriously disappointed with the complete lack of rock story.
While I wouldn’t term it as the best debut in Bollywood, Paanch definitely should have signified the timely arrival of one of the keenest writers and directors in Bollywood. After seeing it, I’m sure a full fledged remake of the movie would be a run away hit today. But even in its current form, it’s a credit to Bollywood’s thriller genre. Hardly ever a thriller has been approached with so much sincerity and authenticity. Add to it the sheer smartness and it’d rank at the top among the Indian thrillers.
While Paanch is probably Anurag Kashyap’s most modest attempt, it is miles ahead of the game as far as Bollywood is concerned and it is an occasion of great joy for all film lovers in this country and world wide that owing to bit torrent and all the file sharing sites in the internet, with the spirit of the geek and the pirate prevailing at the wait’s end, Paanch has finally reached us. It’s a dream come true for the real cinema lover. At the same time, seeing the film, one feels sad that it still didn’t get a theatrical release. Here’s hoping that such an original and smart film sees a deserved belated release that befits its quality. Paanch will forever remain the film on which one could see for the first time the incandescent Anurag Kashyap sign.
Tags: Aditya, aditya srivastava, Anurag Kashyap, Joy Fernandes, KK Menon, Paanch, Tejaswini, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Vijay Maurya
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Rahul Dholakia
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Varma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Sachin Kundalkar
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
hmmm… not sure if it is ethical to comment on this and encourage piracy!
Would like to see it in theaters for sure. Can wait a little more.
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where did u watch it bro? has it been officially released online somewhere?
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its an awsome movie guys…watched it yday….K K menon …wow wat a performance!!!!I wouldnt say this movie come in the bottom list of all Kashyaps movie…Its a brilliant movie with lots of twist and turns gripping u till the end.I wonder why this movie is banned…
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agree with almost EACH and every point …. very correctly put to words… gr8 review.. and a v good movie…. a remake would NO DOUBT be a CULT HIT
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Hey! Thanks to the internet it IS already a cult hit!! A remake wud spoil that…. don’t you think!
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Ive seen it in a theater. Thought it was a kickass film except for the extended climax, which could have been tweaked a bit.
You’re right, Tejaswini Kolhapure disappoints, but considering that through her they got Tutu Sharma to produce, she was an integral part of the making. Very strong performances by KK and the supporting cast. Vijay Maurya was too good.
I disagree with you regarding the music, it was spot on. Specially the intro scene of Tejaswini Kolhapure with Akhiyaan Chipki Jaaye playing in the background….One of the best opening credit scene that I have ever scene.
The online version doesn’t do justice to the movie, the print’s strictly ok, but considering it’s not gonna release anytime soon, no other option I guess.
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Hey ..where? You got to a special screening or something similar?
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Dudes/dudettes:
Some guy on PFC said he wouldn’t give me the link to watch PAANCH since PCF threatened to ban him. And now we have a ‘review’ for a movie that is MAINLY viewable through piracy!! And that review is published??
Why this ‘dilution’ in standards?
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That some guy would be me man..lets wait. I can’t comment on this review from any angle whatsoever cos I would be putting myself up for harsh criticism from all quarters.
But God, the trickle of snow has snowballed!! I hope at least people start noticing now and release the movie (Producer of paanch??).
To the author of this page, you got guts man. And that’s a compliment.
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It isn’t a “dilution” in standards.
PFC has ALWAYS had a policy of not allowing links to downloads. This is partly because we love cinema and want to see people get paid for their works, and partly because it is illegal, and we can’t afford to break the law.
But, as an open platform, we won’t block a writer from writing about a film they watched on torrents, even if we cannot support the practice of downloading.
Some editors had a discussion about this post when this was first published, and we decided to not censor the post. Nothing much more for us to say.
Santosh K TK made a great comment, and I hope you guys keep up the intelligent conversation here. And, yes, the editors are reading and paying attention…
devi – PFC
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Oz, if you are reading this, this is for you. Last afternoon, or day before you had appropriately removed a torrent link that one of us enthusiasts put up. I admired you for the intent.
I think the same policy should be extended to this review. Since the movie has had no official theatrical release anywhere there should be no review encouraged coming from viewing a illegal copy. It’s a different thing if people have viewed the movie at special screenings or hold some kind of a legitimate copy.
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those who have never ever sucked any one , can come fwd and suck the king.!
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Do you mean James Cameron?
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Well, I think it is a fact of the matter that bittorrent or similar sources are the best source for people world wide to watch world cinema. Take the case of Reader or Inglorious basterds or Dev.D and Gulaal in the US, except for torrents, there were no means of viewing. You term something as piracy when there is a legitimate means of viewing and then there’s the option of illegitimate viewing. I think, here there’s no option. We shouldn’t be so icky sticky sentimental and righteous about piracy here and make such a big deal. The average movie watcher in the US watches 99% of the movies through torrent owing to non-availability or inviability of watching otherwise. All the movie enthusiasts that I personally know, they have seen more than 90% of their movies through torrents and it is not piracy. It is a peer to peer file sharing protocol. Please get the perceptions and facts right. Piracy is a well defined term which doesn’t apply here.
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Sure its personal file sharing, but the first guy who put it up, stole it.
…
Regarding the movie, I think Gulaal was the dumps amongst all of AK’s films. Any AK movie review on PFC has to be taken with a pinch of salt
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Subhashish:
I live in the US too and know that we have ABSOLUTELY no chance of watching Hindi movies on screen unless we happen to live in the metros in the US.
All the torrents that you talk of are the torrents for movies that have already been released in theater. In this case, the movie has NOT been released ANYWHERE in theatres or on DVD.
I am not questioning your right to write a review; all I am saying is I find it strange that one guy on PFC says he was warned that he would be banned for providing a link to the said movie and that on the same day, there is a review on the same movie on the same site which banned the link!
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Aneesh, precisely, if there’s an alternate source of viewing and still one resorts to a means which doesn’t contribute any revenue to the makers I can still term it piracy. But in the even where there’s no alternate source of viewership and there’s no likelihood also I don’t believe it tantamounts to piracy. For all the willingness to go up to the theaters and pay for the ticket, no one can see it. I’m the same person who went to Bangalore multiplexes 8 times and paid for the ticket to watch Dev.D.
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@Subhashish … Why is torrent not piracy ? Just because more people have seen it on torrents does not give it legitimacy.
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Prasun, torrents is a technology. It’s a means of file sharing. It’s not piracy. Piracy is when you share copyright protected material using torrents. So, don’t confuse torrents with piracy. In fact in the world of open source, all the image files for Linux or similar software is available on torrents. And so is open source software. Why’s it not piracy? Becasue the GNU license doesn’t hold the right of distribution.
In this case, it’s a preview copy which doesn’t come with copyrights. But I’m sure the makers will view it as a copy right violation in future. And hence I am sure Paanch’s download on the web might be termed as piracy in future.
But as it stands today, it’s still not a commercial product and hence the piracy angle doesn’t creep in. Were the Britney Spears tapes or Paris hilton downloads considered as piracy? No, because of the same reason that the video in question was not a commercial product yet.
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Torrents as well as DVDs are means of delivery of a product or a film. So going by your logic , any “pirated” DVD which has a preview copy of the film is not pirated ? However your point taken that Torrent is not automatically equal to Piracy.
Not to question but to clarify … Is Paanch a preview because officially it has not been cleared by the censor board and unreleased ? Going by that logic even charges of Plagiarism should not be applicable on unpublished / unreleased works ? Coming to the point of the “preview” copy … the question is who created the Preview copy and for what purpose ? Was the preview copy created for certain specific individuals or general public viewing ? If not created for public viewing , someone “stole” a private copy and put it for public viewing.
Also to make my stand clear … I equate piracy with any use / viewing of a movie where i do not pay any charges that reach the pockets of the creator of the work unless explicitly permitted by the creator. Which is why i had vehemently opposed when there was an article equating Tata Sky viewing to piracy.
I do not believe that just because one lives in a place where “legal” access to a certain film is not available , it justifies any means to view it.
Reader has released in DVD and theatres and therefore am not sure what you mean when you say that torrent was the only way to see the film.
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Hi Prasun,
I’ll not promote watching films by any means of piracy. Let that remain as my moral statement about this topic.
Let’s leave the piracy argument and bother about the views on the subject of the film regardless of its source.
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I don’t see the point here. How can anyone stop freedom of expression? Writing a blog is a personal medium and opinions are to be expressed as freely as can be. If someone downloads a torrent and shares it in a public forum, then it is clearly hitting the filmmaker’s revenue, more than that, it’s a clear disrespect to the film. But if someone is expressing the views about the film, then why should that be stopped by the PFC folks? I think it is only appropriate to not withhold posts on Paanch. In that context how will we be any different from the folks who banned this film for so many years? A level of democracy also prevails in blogging and everyone should be given a fair chance to blog his/her opinion. If the same argument was to be followed then so many of PFC’s posts should be deleted and banned because a lot of us use torrents to view films and review, especially world cinema. The source of a film is not related to the views a person expresses about it. At least here we should allow free thought.
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I totally agree with Neeraj’s argument. While I’d never promote posting links to torrents I definitely feel it’s perfectly legitimate to write reviews or any kinds of posts on the movie itself. Otherwise, it’s a China like dictatorial precedent that I believe opposes the very spirit of even the maker of the film in question. And yes, if this article is to be taken off because the film was watched on torrent then please go ahead and take off most of my articles for the same reason and I urge all fellow authors to declare which all posts to be taken off because the film was watched from torrent.
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Boy, some of you guys are mahadumb! How the hell a copy of this movie landed up on torrent networks, unless it was leaked by the makers themselves? Since there is a little possibility of Paanch being ever released, don’t you think Kashyap would want people to download the torrent and watch it? Stop being such pricks!
Torrent technology/file-sharing is here to stay. Learn to live with it!
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I would also like the makers to cleanse the system. I mean all pirated DVDs are available outside all Mumbai stations. Obviously nobody wants to put a stop to it. The buyers of pirated DVDs cannot be blamed. In the US, its not available, someone has a kid and cannot go to theaters, there are poor who dont want to spend in theatres. If they get it, they buy. If you wanna put a stop to it, stop the seller not the buyer
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AK did mention in one of his blog’s comments that he would put ‘paanch’ on the internet by the end of this year.
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He said it in one of the interviews too that I saw on youtube.
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This is just to clarify, i have not leaked the copy of Paanch on the internet, at the same time if someone has done it, i wish him luck that he doesn’t get caught and on the aside i would like to thank him, atleast now it can be seen and i don’t have to live in hope or fear of what will happen to it.
Hope this wakes up my producer from his deep slumber and he does something about it..
pl feel free to watch the film.
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AK sir why dont you release it on internet yourself. Do you too need producer’s permission.
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Spoken like a free spirit. If Tutu Sharma can release Khullam Khulla Pyaar kare, why not Paanch. Do theatre mein hi sahi release toh kar sakte hai. He has robbed the entire team of Paanch the much deserved appreciation but most of all he has done great disservice to K.K Menon-an out of the world performance that deserves every award every instituted.
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Its a post from my smiling-God himself…. bless PFC
That reply from AK does clear some confusion regd. the print leak.
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“pl feel free to watch the film.” :wacko:
AK, how higher can I place you in my heart? You’ve smashed me to smithereens. I don’t care if fellow PFCians call this idolizing…I call this reverence of the highest level possible.
Above all your underlying pain, that statement of yours made my day.
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Man !! Wht should I say !! waiting for The girl in yellow boots. :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
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Just curious… but is it not possible to buy it from the producers and release it as a part of the contract deals that you have with UTV …
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Ha ha ha!
Awesomeness!
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This is utterly frustrating.
Reading about a movie which is denied of it’s theatrical release and loads of discussions on technicalities of torrent and piracy .
Question to AK- is there any legitimate way to do only an official DVD release ?
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anurag, have been trying to get in touch with your producer to do something on the digital space for this movie…. but he never revert….
are some rights still with you.. can we do something … and when i mean digital i mean internet and mobile release “Legally”
please let me know.
Thanks!
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what a movie Anurag!Take a bow…
I loved Dev D and Black Friday… I liked Gulaal and No Smoking; Paanch has the simplest story of all but the way it unfolds really sucks the living daylight out of you… If only it did not have the last ‘footnote’ about ‘Crime never pays’! I still have the bitter after taste in my mouth and I mean that as a compliment.
Ak and the whole cast have been done a gross disservice by the producer by not releasing it… Release it on DVDs at least so that the movie gets some of the exposure it deserves.
Kudos again! :yahoo:
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last and the beginning footnote is from the censors
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hmm!no wonder; the one at the start was fine but the sermonizing at last was kinda dumb! Also IMHO the opening credits in the film were really well done…
I actually expected more ‘pandav’ comparisons but could find only one and that too was muted… Got the words by lip reading… :witsend:
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I succumbed to the temptation of watching the leaked copy of Paanch today .. .after an entire week of the files lying on my system untouched.
But, I think I can speak on behalf of many other PFC followers that if and when the movie comes to theaters .. I will definately be watching it on the 70 mm screen ……
btw …. as per me … it deserves all the hype it has generated. it is awesome !!!
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Hi Anurag,
I just wanted to ask you a creative question regarding “PAANCH”,don’t u think it would have been much more interesting if the plot had followed the Joshi-Abhyankar Murders to the end as it actually happened rather than the twists? What was ur thought process behind the twists at the end?? Awaiting your reply.Thanks.
Regards,
Santino
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@Subhasish,
“What was in the movie which caused so much problem with the censors?”
I remember reading the news article that mentioned censor board’s criterion for Paanch as it depicts ‘modus operandi’. Unfortunately the freedom of speech still is politically driven and few a handful of people’s authority on conscience of 1 Billion people superseeds an artist’s authrity over his own work.
@Anurag,
“pl feel free to watch the film”
Thanks.
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Im curious ki ye producer kaun hai ….why he doesnt want to release this movie and make money on it …somebody plss zara laalten dikhayen
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Producer is Tutu Sharma.He’s produced movies like Rajumar,Gharwali Baharwali, Khullam Khulla Pyar Karen etc.He’s also the husband of Padmini Kolhapuri.Why doesn’t he want to release the movie- well I guess its still not been cleared yet by the censor board.AK is the right person to shed more light on this.
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Hi Sethu,
The was cleared by the censor board sometime in 2008.
It’s totally in the hands of the producer.
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Oh! yes my bad- we’ve even discussed the same on PFC for quite a while I guess.no wonder AK is hoping Tutu Sharma does something at least now!!!
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Anurag!!! Bosss tere GAAAND mein ghoodha hai boss that you are fine with pple watching it…IT takes more balls to say that then all the enudurance you have been through for this and all your movies!!!
NOW I MIGHT Watch it but I prefer the BIG screeen!! 4 me BF was a CULT movie …..DEV D was OK—–GULAL wasbetter than DEV D…..
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I agree nosinz…it takes balls (to quote you directly)!!
It’s taken Ak so much of pain & hardship to complete that film, plus he has to endure the “torture” of being unable to release the film owing to a jack-ass of a censor board..
It certainly takes guts to say what he just said there.
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yesterday i watched internet copy of ‘Paanch’ with my room mates and we were just amazed…agar ye movie humne 2003 me aayi hoti to sayad aaj Anurag kashyap aur KK menon had much more wider audience and recolonization .. and now knows why one of the best works of Indian cinema never saw light of day… a movie such dark as this one has never been made in Bollywood… undoubtedly the best performance of KK Menon… and movie as par with “Black Friday”… Kudos Anurag
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I think I read somewhere on PFC that the movie’s rights have been bought by Boney Kapoor – so he should be releasing the movie, not Tutu Sharma.
Can somebody confirm if this is correct ?
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arey maalikon!! koi to link de do bhaya!! oz bhai ab to huzur sarvar-e-kayenaat kashyap saab ne bhi ijazat de dee hai!!ab to de do!!
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Hi Everyone,
I had posted this before too.
PAANCH ki andar ki kahabar is that there’s some sort of tussle going on between the producer & the distributors.Tutu Sharma had committed alot of paap during the release of his magnum popatz “RAJKUMAR”.He had promised the distributors a large amount of money which he never paid up.Then in between he had also declared bankruptcy.So now the distributors are asking for that promised money b4 they release PAANCH.Hence the inordinate delay.So unless they sort that mess its never gonna get released though i too feverently hope it does.
Also check out the Marathi Film “Maphicha Sakshidar” which is based on the same Joshi-Abhyankar murders that happened in the late 1970’s in Pune.It stars Nana Patekar but its availability is nonexistent now.
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Also he had borrowed a lot of money from Financiers which he still has to pay back.Toh bohoth Lafde hai Release mein BhaiLog!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I saw it.For me it did not surpass “BLACK FRIDAY”!
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I downloaded it. Watched the first 15mins..hope to finish this soon.
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U started watching it, and left it after 15 minutes! :notsure:
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Guess, I am not that crazy (passionate) about the movie as some of the other folks are. Secondly, watching a movie on a laptop somehow doesn’t excite me. I will probably watch “All the Best” original DVD first and then get back to this. That should help me appreciate this movie so much more easily :yahoo:
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I just finished watching the movie and i also think its AK’s weakest. K K was no doubt amazing
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Pls provide the link to download Paanch………pls pls
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All one has to do is go to google and search for Paanch’s torrents. What’s so difficult about it?
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left me numb. Subhashis is right saying that he was happy seeing a gr8 director getting his right foot forward at the right tym. I loved the cinematography a lot, but was definitely not the best of AK Sir’s lot. left me thinking abut whether is this the dark underbelly of friendship. Thnx AK Sir for gifting me with the New Year’s gift beforehand in the guise of being Bollywood’s Santa Claus. Thnx a lot again
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Downloaded and started to watch after AK’s approval.
But is there something wrong with the sound? I mean sometimes where the group is together there is too much variation in sound output – clear one moment , barely audible the next.
Or is it because this is the pre release CD before final post production ?
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still waiting for the right mood to see it…
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i liked it!! aur ye baaqi films se compare karne waali baat mujhe kuch theek nai lagi!! arey kashyap saab was young, impulsive (slightly like Luke) at that time, itching to show the world!!
mere khayal se kaafi achi hai!! beech mein thoda drag hai,but overall pretty good!! special mention for the music and background score!!it was amazing!! baad mein wo thoda dheela hua hai to movie bhi dheeli hui hai!!
haan lekin kashyap saab se ye zarur poochna chahiye ki agar wo ye film ab banate to kya different hota??
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pehle to script badhiya hoti.. ending mein twists nahi hote.. luke ka death aur impactful or brutal hota aur wo film ka ant hota.. akhri gaana nahi hota…
Camera action scenes mein flinch nahi karta.. music wahi hota..
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Chachi ki moochein hoti, to woh chacha hota !
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ye ladkon ko ya to cricket me dilchasbi hai ya maar peet me….Aap ek full on romantic movie kab bana rahe ho….now that would be sensational coming from you….We are too used to the dark, sinister , don and dhokha coming from you….
thoda sa kuch light ho jaye …aapke style me
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Gulal’s closing song had a different pace which actually matched up with movie’s…
but in Paanch closing with that song … :notsure: was not convincing.. Although lyrics were relevant but again when audience saw all major characters collapsed a song with easy pace would be more realistic there.
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Hi Anurag,
Have u ever thought of remaking “PAANCH” aka RGV with DROHI becoming SATYA & RAAT becoming BHOOT? The censor board is also much more liberal now & u too r in a position to make u want.Just a thought!!!!!!!!!!!
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murgi ka naam phir bhi wohi hota..
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Couldn’t agree more with you Anurag. I just finished watching it and these were the points I was going to raise.
But when I imagine the time when it was made( considering the other shit of b’wood) It is very very impressive! KK is a mad mad guy! Can’t believe it’s his debut.
Gained more respect for VishalB after listing to Main Khuda a couple of years back!
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and yes, the footnotes did not look AKish at all
Looked like they were from some Eng literature guy
( At censor-board as you said 
)
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You really love your films for all their misgivings, and it shows because you accept the not so good parts.
Tejaswini Kolhapure did a pretty shit job as Shiuli (but I’m guessing you couldn’t help it). Kay Kay Menon was amazing, unrestrained performance. Really brings out both the madness and the vulnerability of his character. Jor Fernandes and Vijay Maurya (he was very relatable) would have definitely been better known and accepted had this film released when it was supposed to. Aditya Shrivastav is awesome too. I loved the atmosphere of the film, the sort of blue-ish, dimly lit setting. I loved the shot when Luke ultimately dies, and his face is enveloped by the darkness and you can see his hands and legs, that was lovely. Another scene, where the film really sunk its teeth into me was when they discover that the agent has run off with the money. Sab ki gaand phati padi hoti hai, it’s just like, how did everything get so fucked up?
Oh. And the opening credits were fantastic.
Overall, a really great film. A precursor for things to come, just wish it had been released earlier. God bless piracy though, seriously. Mujhse raha nahi gaya. But dekho, I toh am a loyal fan, so I’m going to go and see it when it releases and take all my friends.
Are you planning to make any changes or edit it?
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Just after the concert where Pondi messes up leaving the concert in between is that Anurah Kashyap in the scnene, the guy who leaves with Tejaswini
?
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No, AK is one of the office guys at the music baron’s office to whom KK goes to recover his lost money! that music baron is played by Tutu Sharma (producer of the film).
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thats my brother
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So I was correct? the quy who goes with Tejaswini is AK
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Hi anurag,
Loved the movie…some gr8 performances are there to be seen..Was wondering during the movie what is reminding me of “Aakrosh”, realised it later that there was some similarity in the background music..intentional or is it something else that reminded me of my all time favorite??
Rgds,
Anand
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@ Anurag kashyap
Hello AK I m ur big fan i have liked ur all movies except Hanuman Returns but i was waiting for ur movie panch from that time when i saw the trailer i was really impressed with that movie
I want to ask u that is there any chance to watch this movie on theatre? kya ye film release hone wali hai? coz i dont support piracy and download…
ya fir mujhe download kerke hee dheka chayiye
coz m really waiting for this movie in theaters
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I DOWNLOADED IT last night but was able to watch only 11/2 part( movie is in 3 parts).i will finsh the rest tonight. however . the experience was simply mindblowing , the way KK acted who the fck will say its his first movie also nice work by rest of the actors.jokes were awsome,plot engaging.just one aspect of film rock band and music will eat many Rock ons
combined together.
. . i dont know how but watching the movie time and again reminded me of watching young sachin in his full flow :yahoo:
ps: i have a question , first time i heard of this film , i was a kid (more than 10 year back), so how come it was made in 2003 . :witsend:
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ak sir i am making a short film of abt 30-40 mins and we are gonna shoot it inside a friends house.i have heard youy have used tubes and neon bulbs for the shooting of paanch. we want to use the same.can we get red bulbs or tubes in the market.we are shooting on digi cams .plz do give some info on this on how many lights you used.waiting for the reply.
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@Anurag
A technical write up on Paanch…covering aspects like shooting with low budget, cinematography, getting the actors, locales would be of immense value to the budding film makers here.
Do give it a thought if you find time.
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I actually read a couple of interview transcripts of Anurag in which there was a lot of detail about how Paanch was conceived, shot, made etc. It was a very good interview and I’ll look around and post it in the comments.
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what is it with all the chheechha ledar of the movie……don’t spoil it with your ideas like this could have better that could have been better..it is what it is…personally i felt it was too dark..but nothing as such for sensors to not pass it…
but as mentioned by AK, the person in-charge of CB had his own definition of movies (entertaining, with a message etc.) true killer of creativity…
since you all get to see it, all i can say is: AISE NAHI UNCLE…AAPKO NAACHNA PADEGAA
for torrents i can say: AAPKO DHOODNA PADEGA
and to get the experience: AAPKO DEKHNA PADEGA
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Its’ available on youtube as well now
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not on Youtube man!! Shhh!!
Its such a great movie!! Its worth going to paid audience and deliver to Producer & Director!!
Anurag,
Why don’t you release it elsewhere, outside India… Can it go in for censorboard screening again…?
Man, even word “chutiya” was beeped throughout… norms have changed a lot… I worry only for “smoking” parts!! It should get a green signal now… and even u …Vishal… are more powerful now…
I promise, I will watch one show everyday with my whole gang for 2 weeks… do marketing on my own in Pune!!
It deserves more than this… This whole cencorship system is crap…
Anurag, this is going to be a cult in Indian Cinema… just like Sakharam Binder play is in Theatre Scene…
If released now, with all the hype, it will definitely do great business!
C’mon Anurag… convince the producers… or get someone to buy Paanch from them…RELEASE it on big screen!!
And then shout out aloud….
“Sar Jhuka…Khuda Hun Main…
Aasmaanon pe khada hun Main”
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Great acting from all the male leads. Excellent music! BGM deserves special mention. Fine camera work. Every frame when looked at in isolation is very well conceived.
Characters and their motivations/compulsions totally unbelievable. Did I connect to any of the characters? Hell No. Rock band.. f****ing joke. Intelligent cinema, myfoot. Humor..? “Murgi ka Naam Champa Chalegi?”.. can it get any more whimsical? Twists in the end.. totally fall flat. Length of this movie – endless. Why am I complaining? Didn’t I watch it for free? Priceless???
Sorry..guys…just feeling frustrated with the film. Keep those thumbs down coming
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***Spoiler alert***
I too had a similar issue with the movie Siva…the way Luke has been shown, it was improbable that he would agree to Tejaswini’s plan. Also, Jojo’s motivation for agreeing to kill Luke.
or maybe its just me….
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Jojo was the one who took initiative to remove Luke in the form house and it was decided that because Pondy has killed constable and jojo was involved in holding back inspector when KK shot him. They already are involved in crime and hence will kill the kk and after that will surrender before police, this way. Shivli and murgi , who were never a participant in a crime will get away cleanly while Jojo and pondy will confess their crime and will get away with a sentence.
Does it make sense ?
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yes that made things clear Yaatri, thanks….
guess will watch it again to get a better insight….
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Dude u should not have watched it after the 1st 15 minutes! and stuck to All the best!
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kya hua bhai? itna gussa?
itna gussa to Luke ko nahi ata
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thinking out loud: it was very very emotionally violent…it made me cringe…insaan ke andar ka shaitaan dikha diya tumne…the end left me cold though…the intensity just fizzled out…luke had reached a stage that i kept wondering that where can he go now…so much so i prayed that he wont meet the end he does(both fake and real) but the end took me out of the reverie and i reminded myself that its a film…like the redemption of Dev, which comes from within, the sickening evil of Luke is a ghost from within…tell me anurag, can you go further into that ghost character and give it something other than death? how does(if he does) he justify what he does to his own self…?
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Too late
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Excellant movie..great BGM as well as performances..but minor issues..Murgi seems to be of sane and rational mind among the group,but why did he accept to write the ransom note when he could think that if any issue happens his handwriting could be traced?..Also a darpok like Pondy shooting a constable is also not convincing..
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Well, it always takes me atleast two viewings of an AK movie to totally form my opinion. Saw it on Youtube for the second time and it feels perfect. In particular I loved the sequence when they play a rock song and enjoy it during jam sessions and the song by Hariharan when they have marijuana there. The visual effects of that scene is mind blowing. Also, Khuda Hu Main’s picturization with KK is magnetic. It has a manic energy which is a rare thing to experience. The color composition with blue background and white neon and darkish orange is awesome. How bad I feel for KK. A guy like KK in 99, Had the movie released back in 2001 or 2003, He’d have left all the fab khans light years behind.
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am i the only one who felt cheated at the end of the movie? i just finished the movie and could not help but express my disappointment with it..
before i lament about how the movie was killed, i must confess that i had humongous expectations and yes i was expecting a more pronounced rock band gone haywire story line.
i’ll start with what i loved about the movie..
kk was clearly a jim morrison inspiration. and up till his supposed death he came out as a very interesting character with confused sense of good and evil.. and filled with a sense of neiztsche’s superhuman or dostovesky’s nepoleon.. it was indeed a difficult portrayal and kudos to anurag for hitting an ace.. but he had his insecurities and the need to emphasize his superiority esp through violence.. perhaps a cobain analogy would be better.. but that aside, he usually seemed so confident and in control that i would go with morrison.. euphemistic form of the joker in dark knight.. only less ambitious and skewed but not tangential sense of morality..
the scene where he kills nikhil’s father is brilliant.. the childlike enthusiasm at the moment of crime.. he was getting used to it now.. at some level you felt both he and joy knew exactly what was going to happen.. they did not just want to steal as much as they wanted to commit the crime and take it one level up..
and everyone else except kolhapuri was very good.. even her role was written well but she could not pull it off..
AS as murgi, the donkey in animal farm, frustrated yet with enough indifference to make an attempt to change.. wise and silent, observing while going with the flow..
pondy was another masterpiece.. we all see such gandu elements around us all the time.. and all of us have and perhaps need one such person in any group.. one whose ass is always there for taking.. you can see he is frustrated and pissed but too much of a loser to stand up for himself and leave.. because wherever he goes, he will always have his ass on the platter..
joy was brilliant too.. perfect evil robin to evil batman.. always by his side.. blind follower.. st. peter to jesus.. one who seemed destined to take forward his legacy without really understanding it.. he was supposed to be follow the god blindly and do as was told and in return he would continuity to enjoy his immunity.. his transition was also interesting when god revoked his immunity status he was lost and faithless too..
i know the list so far is huge.. and yes i loved the movie till a certain point.. in my opinion the perfect end to the movie was the magistrate scene.. beyond that it became WILD THINGS.. khichdi movie.. regular run of the mill cheap thriller.. all the characters were massacred.. it was a brutal genocide..
anurag sa’ab you should work on your climaxes.. its been a chronic problem so far.. i loved your movies in following order and their climaxes progressively go bad in the same order -
gulal, black friday, no smoking, dev d, paanch..
gulaal was so brilliant that any end would have been a bad end.. so i guess it was the best end under the circumstances..
black friday was dragged a bit in the second half but it didnt matter.. the movie was simply brilliant..
no smoking painted an interesting picture but the end surreal sequences of bathtub teleportation was overdone to a point that you wanted it to move forward quickly.. david lynch handles such subjects better than you did..
dev d’s climax was dragged to such a point that i almost ended up hating the movie.. dev d’s realization for love for chanda should have been more natural and not as forced through circumstantial situations..
paanch.. like i said it was not wild things and should never have been allowed to become one..
@anurag: shooting an old question at you but this time for an apt reason: “what were you smoking?”
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quoting anurag: “pehle to script badhiya hoti.. ending mein twists nahi hote.. luke ka death aur impactful or brutal hota aur wo film ka ant hota.. akhri gaana nahi hota…
Camera action scenes mein flinch nahi karta.. music wahi hota.. ”
that answers a lot of my questions.. so there was no lacking from creativity side.. its the business (read mindless producers) which prompted those changes..
ah! if you ever intend to release it online, do your own editing and take out all the crap..
on a side note, i wonder why people are going gaga over the music.. the background score was good but the songs were barely passable.. though i liked the one at the end before kk dies.. he was jamming and singing khoon khoon with some random guys.. that had a good sound to it..
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I dont know whether it was only me. But Paanch, constantly reminded me of one of my favorite movie, ‘Requiem for a Dream’.
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i liked it..though it wud have been great without the post-magistrate scenes….but authenticity written all over it…the BEST scene was an absolute stroke of genius…the conductor saying “utra khali” was just perfect…the conductor reacts in exactly the same way…i have actally experienced such a fight…i’m very sure even AK must hav…brilliant capture of the ‘mumbai spirit’…i loved it….now i’m excited to watch ur film in “mumbai cutting”….
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a definite precursor for things to come … AK is the reason i have started anticipating movie releases, got to know of pfc and started following other directors of his ilk … was never a hindi movie fan but i was converted .. that apart in my humblest of humble opinion, not a patch on gulal … had a good sunday nonetheless … will buy the dvd once/if it releases n to AK : :bow: :bow: :bow:
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Im watching it in a few minutes. Never been so excited in my life. I still remember watching the khuda hoon main vid the subway in mtv..
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Good in parts. Still disappointing. Kashyap films are always ahead of times but def not this one. I loved the graffiti on the walls. Awefcukin brilliant. Oz review of the movie was spot on.
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Hi Anurag,
Things I loved about the film :
1. Character definition (how many so called thriller flicks in India have characters which are as defined as this film has)
2. Performances (Especially all the boys ; Tejaswini could have been better, but I am sure that’s the best she could do at that moment)
3. Look of the film was good, especially the lighting ,So right for the script, the ambience was perfect.
4. It again proves the fact that if a movie has a lot of heart & soul, it would appeal to everyone sitting in the audience, the movie seems very honest.
Things I did not like :
1. I wish there was a better ending for Luke’s character, as mentioned by you , should have been more brutal.
2. Backround music was repetitive, a movie which has such ‘rock music rebel’ kind of ambience to it should be more experimentative in the backround score.
3. I would have loved a scene where the friends rebel against Luke , Luke loses control for a while(say a day or two) and then regains it back .Although there were scenes related to that , but still no one goes against Luke for a longer period of time. It is tough to keep a group quite for such long periods . After all , everyone in this group was a social outcast. I don’t think social outcasts are that ‘Fattu’. More rebel would have been interesting.
Anyway, I believe it is very easy to review, very difficult to make. I respect you for your decisions and thinking at that moment & I don’t agree that in AK filmography this movie ends up at the bottom, it is at the top. Everything started after that.
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the movie the movie
IS ONE OF THE BEST
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