Kaminey Movie Review

BT Rating: (2.5/5)

Movie Review By Bhushan

Unexpectedly Ordinary!

Wanna be… That’s the one thing one could never accuse Vishal Bharadwaj of being. The earthy plots which focussed on human failings like in Maqbool and Omkara, the very natural innocence of his story telling in the Blue Umbrella and Makdee, never did have that ‘wanna be’ feel. Each film was an honest signature in itself (sure the first two films were inspired by Shakespeare, but the English bard had no trademark on the classic element of human failing).

In his latest film Kaminey, however Bharadwaj has tried to be someone, which he obviously emulates. It is in the poor imitation of the Quentin Tarantino technique which takes the bottom off an otherwise entertaining, but long winding and drawn movie. Kaminey is film’s that just about alright.

Had it been a young director carving up a Kaminey, we would have swum with the tide and called it a good, entertaining film. Bharadwaj, however carries on his shoulders the stellar success of his earlier films, which are modern cinema legends of sorts. And in our books, he does not come up trumps.

This may come as a shock to our readers, but Kaminey lets you down considerably as far as dialogues, characterisation and plot is concerned. Technically, it’s a treat to watch. Sharp editing, Mumbai in the rains, great camera work too. But soul, which has been the fulcrum of a Bharadwaj film appears to have really gone missing here. Sure you have cute lisping Charlie and a stammering Guddu, both played by Shahid Kapoor. Sure you have a deglamourised, but equally emotive Priyanka Chopra, the two living, animate highlights of the film. But other than these two, Bharadwaj’s other characters appear to lack that extra edge which made his earlier films like Maqbool masterpieces in characterisation. Take for example Amole Gupte, who plays the Marathi swilling gangster-turned-neta. With a shaggy bloated quirky role to play, Amol Gupte tries valiantly, but he is simply not menacing enough.

A lot of Hollywood films have used a corrupt cop due to perfection. Bharadwaj’s attempt to swing in a similar cop duo in a corrupt Lobo and his assistant, does not click very well. Despite, their high frequency of on screen appearance, with ample opportunity to make a qualitative difference. Take for example the time when they are looking about for the cocaine filled guitar, it’s an element which could help render a wide range of interesting range of responses from the duo. But with boredom and a dull veneer on police officer Lobo’s face and an unnecessarily shrill disposition of his assistant does not lead the film anywhere.

The story telling is not linear though. There are plenty of plots, and lots of sub plot which seem to be going nowhere before until interval, when begin to think how several leading newspapers have it a 4 or a 4 and a half star review. Once you are done with Shahid Kapoor’s cute pronunciations (he pronounces S as F) and stammering, there’s nothing much to do at all in half one.

The second half sees the movie coming together, with a shootout killing the bad guys. A sequence which should have been much better captured.

We really do not want to give away the plot and the sub plots here. The rough outline is that the lives of two brothers who separate themselves some years ago, come together under duress after Guddu’s woes multiply after he marries Priyanka Chopra and Charlie finds a guitar carrying Rs 10 crore worth of cocaine.

The music barring the sog Dhan tan an is very, very mediocre fare by Bharadwaj. One advice for the director though. One really cannot be a Quentin Tarantino. He is one alone. Just the way Vishal Bharadwaj is. Bharadwaj, who is a contemporary living institution when it comes to films, should begin to see within self rather than imposing the Tarantino-esque stlyed films.