KAMINEY - Movie Review : More artistic touches leave you less entertained in the end. (Review By Bobby Sing) |
With respected names such as Vishal Bhardwaj, Gulzar, Ronie Screwvala and UTV, it is obvious that the project gets associated with huge expectations and craze even before its release. And if it also has a great energetic track, capable of bringing out all the hidden madness in you (Dhan Tan Nan), then the movie is destined to see long queues of cinema lovers at the box office window. That's really a good news for the Hindi Film Industry since after a long time, this kind of response is seen for a complete out of the box, dark and witty thriller coming from the thinking director, Vishal Bhardwaj.
So all geared up, we got seated excitingly in the theater, expecting a complete new chapter to unfold on the screen. And as the lights went off, we were served with a slow and uninteresting start having the expected dark feeling, which continued till the intermission. Truly speaking, the movie is not so gripping till the mid-point as compared to the previous works of Vishal. Though he succeeds in making a film on the similar lines of Quentin Tarantino & Guy Ritchie, but I found the entertainment factor quite missing in his current venture. Post interval, the movie has a better pace with some fast interconnected sequences featuring every single character in the screenplay. But the routine climax, with everyone killing each other leaves you with mixed feelings about this latest “Vishal Experience”.
The story moves around two brothers who are not at talking terms with each other but get unintentionally involved with different Gangsters. The identity mix up and a big deal of drugs involving the local police is the main plot of the movie. But the movie cannot be judged by its story plot alone, since it heavily relies on it’s out of the routine treatment and first of its kind of direction in Indian Cinema. The majority of Hindi Cinema viewers are not familiar with this kind of genre where you are not spoon fed each and every development in the plot. So, it should be clear, that “Kaminey” has not got the normal “Bollywood Entertainment” factor in it for a change. But will this change work favorably, is what I have my bets on.
No doubt the movie is conceived intelligently and directed differently by Vishal Bhardwaj. But apart from its technical brilliance, the sad part is that the film doesn’t have the HUMOR element at all as promised in its promotional campaign. The main USP of the movie, wherein Shahid speaks “F” instead of “S” in his dialogues, is used in a very subtle manner, whereas in the promos, this fun gimmick was used very aggressively. So the viewer keeps waiting for some funny dialogues or humorous sequences to be there but instead they have to laugh on the deliberate stammering act by the second Shahid (in double role).
The other major point to be considered is the unimpressive use of the Smash Hit song “Dhan Tan Nan” in the movie. The moment this song commences on the screen, you just don’t feel energetic or lively enough, as you may have felt watching “Sapno Mein Milti Hai” or “Omkara”. The reason may be that the song is shot without any specific dance steps and also doesn’t capture the free style freak out dance act by the characters clearly. The over use of extreme close-ups, strobe lighting effects and fast camera movements also took away the essence of an otherwise power-packed song.
In the acting department, Shahid Kapoor does well in his double role and stammering. He completely devotes himself to his director’s vision. However, I found the witty humor part missing in his character but still he comes up with one of the finest performances of his career. Priyanka Chopra tries her best in an underwritten role and manages to shine bright in all her scenes throughout the movie. The surprise act of Amol Gupte is quite pleasant since he delivers a fine controlled performance as The Bhai.
Musically, keeping the cult track “Dhan Tan Nan” aside, I found the soundtrack a bit less scoring then the earlier works of both Vishal Bhardwaj & Gulzar. Apart from the famous Sukhwinder number you don’t get that impressed by any other track while watching the movie. Camerawork is simply superb, giving the right kind of dark and grim feel to the project. But at times I missed a steady cam vision in the sequences.
In all, technically Vishal Bhardwaj comes up with a polished new age kind of crime thriller for the Indian viewers, which may generate mixed responses especially in the smaller centers. At one end, you like it for its unique & different approach adopted by the director. But on the other, you also feel less entertained as expected from its promotional campaign which projected the movie to be a roller coaster ride with great element of fun and humor. So in the end, we remain half way at the satisfaction chart with “Kaminey”.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
14 Aug 2009 /
Comments (
16 )
Vicky
You have some valid points in your review........
Bobby Sing
Thanks Vicki, Looking for more comments from your side....
Lucky
hi,
Bobby Sing
Hi Lucky, Regarding "Kaminey", as mentioned in my review, for regular movie freaks like us, But I was only concerned about more entertainment value for the common man, Vishal managed to entertain in all his previous movies along with a different class of his own. In "Kaminey" he does excels his own class and set standards but missed the entertainment mark a little. Still its great to discuss different viewpoints this way. Thanks for your comment and keep writing buddy...........Cheers!
jagadish
Hi bobby ,
Bobby Sing
Hi Jagadish, I am fine and hope you are enjoying too. Glad to hear that as I mentioned in my review you also missed the steady cam. It certainly could have been used in some sequences. And as i said the movie has got brilliant response intitally in the first 3-4 days specially in the metros. But from Monday onwards it has been slow in single screen and smaller centers. so in all it will surely be a profitable venture for all, but will not be a universal HIT all over. The movie is a masterpiece as per Bollywood standards till date, but in India, still a major part of the population is interested in getting the good old entertainment while they are in cinemas. Had there been no "Shahid" and "Dhan Tan Nan" the movie could have gone "Sankat City" way as seen a few weeks back. Our audiences still go for the star system and musical richness in a project and that pays off quite well always. And as everybody knows VISHAL made this movie with the intention of breaking the usual film making rituals in India and he emerged a winner in that respect undoubtedly. Do Keep in Touch.....
Swapnila
Hi Bobby, agree with your review cent percent. I found many similarities between Sankat City and Kaminey. Sankat City, in my opinion, was far far better. Given that one was made in a budget of 5 crores and the other in 44 crores.
Bobby Sing
Hi Swapnila, Many thanks for your appreciation. Surprisingly, there is very less percentage of people speaking about the weak points of Kaminey on the net and media too. It was really nice to have like minded friends who think as I do about the said masterpeice. Thanks for your comment and Keep in touch. Take Care.
Swapnila
I guess that talking against VB has become a sacrilege of sorts. Kaminey looked too stuffed to me. It\'s as if VB wanted to put everything in there. And no one was really a kameena in the literary sense of the word.
Bobby Sing
Swapnila, Really it was great reading your thoughts on Kaminey, It felt like my views coming back to me as an echo. The bottom line is that if what "Kaminey" showed, was supposed to be "Kameena" in literal sense, then we have already made and seen far better "Kameeney" characters in our movies.
I havent interacted in Passion For Cinema yet. But visited there some time back. Surely would visit there again. Thanks & Take Care
jeherul
Yes I am agree that in some points the entertainment part is missing in the movie.
Bobby Sing
Thanks Jeherul for your valuable comment . Cheers!
starwar2424
hi bobby could u tell me from which foreign movie has vishal copied Kaminey?
Bobby Sing
Hi Starwar, "Kaminey" is neither a rip off nor completely based on any particular movie. The people who have seen the works of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, Stanley Kubrik in movies such as I also read in an article that Vishal himself showed many of these movies to his crew before started shooting for "Kaminey" as he clearly knew what kind of product he wanted to make. So as far as Indian Cinema is considered this is a first and unique project from Vishal. Though its treatment and feel can said to be inspired. Keep loggin and writing your comments. Thanks
Amr Singh
Finally, Kaminey has released and u will find it suprising that it was orginally some what inspired from another bollywood movie Makdee(2002) the Chunni /Munni character played by Shweta Prasad is completely similar to Charlie and Guddu in Kaminey. In both the movies both the character had sluttering with \'s\' spelling \'f\' ..more intrestingly both the movie was written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. I think Vishal is Stuck with the same character of double role stuck with \'s\' and \'f\'...How F(s)weet... |
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