Movie Review: Kaminey (2009)

No doubt, this is THE movie being talked about in every form of communication! There is a high dose of Kaminey being dished out to the Indian people! But, unlike the “Pardesi” song from Raja Hindustani, it is not at all irritating!

Kaminey is the movie with which Indian Cinema has woken up! It is an intelligent movie. I liked it so much that I have already seen Kaminey twice.. ! That in itself is a compliment because it has been years since I say a Hindi movie twice in as many days! As we all know how good the movie is, I will not go into praising it and dashing out superlatives like Amazing, mind-blowing, etc etc!

Kaminey is good cinema, but its no pulp fiction! Pulp fiction I saw thrice – it bowled me over each time!
To me, Kaminey was about as entertaining as an Amitabh movie in his hey days…. (Lawaris, Amar akbar anthony, Hum, etc)
Sure, the last fight scene was mind blowing… the movie was very nicely done, and the loose ends were tied up nicely… wait, its apt to say, there were no loose ends left in the movie!
To say “the movie made u think” (as per paper reviews) means one’s brain has been kept idle OR one didn’t watch good movies for a fair amount of time… To say that it is an intelligently made movie is putting it more realistically!

The key to Kaminey’s success is its subtlety! If you go to the theater expecting to Priyanka heave her chest in your face, then you will get to watch it, but you will be disappointed later on because there is very little in the movie for audience titillation!

Why do I say this? I first saw Kaminey in a swanky multiplex. The audience got up for the National Anthem and I was left stunned by an Inspirational Instrumental National Anthem jig done against the backdrop of Kargil showing the Indian Army! As much as I am against the idea of playing the anthem in a movie theater, I was touched! If patriotism will be forced upon the audience, this is how it should be done! Show a youthful India, A dashing India, A powerful India – and not a bunch of talented oldies crooning away while shaking their wrinkled faces and bald heads in an attempt to ‘show’ emotion while they display it in their talent. Its too emo, its too mushy! Its weak! I digress!

The multiplex experience was controlled! silent! mute! It was interrupted by people talking on their cell phones saying “yes sir, ho jayega sir”. God damn it! Turn the fucking thing off! I was tempted to grab one cell and throw it, but (thankfully) none were in arms length! (back to the movie) – At the end, no one clapped, no one expressed what they felt about the movie… they walked away in silence – Me and my friends sat they the end credits. Some educated idiots 2 rows ahead of us stood up to leave, then decided they want to watch the credits standing – result….? I saw a bald head alongside Priyanka and Shahid! I stayed silent and didn’t let my mouth get the better of me! It was a multiplex after all!

Just to get a perspective of a different audience, I saw it in a singleplex where one would not go with ones family coz its too run down! The Kaminey experience there was amazing! The audience took part in the movie, they hooted, jeered when things happened in the movie. They even booed when Shahid launched to tell a tale at a crucial time, or dug in to find protection while piggy chops was getting hot and heavy and was all ready for action! Yes, they too talked on the phone during the movie, but they said “Movie dekh raha hoon. Baad mein call karta hoon” (Am in a movie, will call later). They scratched their heads during the interval because the movie was too intelligent for them! It was either that OR it was because Priyanka was already done shaking her bosom and they were wondering, now what!?

The common thread in both the experiences was – no one was asking any questions on the plot! That speaks a lot for the director and the guys responsible for the screen play and for the story writers! This is what gets Kaminey MOST of its points! Taut story telling! No loose ends left for the audience to tie up! One reason i watched it a second time was to find faults and I did find one… but it was a fact and not a flaw – Just before the interval, Shahid does not say SH as FA while singing a song – 2 explanations…. it was an English song OR he was singing! Who cares! The sequence that follows is absolutely brilliant! Bhope-tope exchange is THE highlight of the movie for me! Smooth flow! High tension! The movie runs like a finely tuned sports car! Blows your mind away!

The audience in the multiplex did not say much during the regional dialogues in the movie about Mumbai/Bombay and about Marathi Manoos and the so called ‘outsiders’! However, the ones in the singleplex were not afraid to voice their support during the  ‘outsider’ moment and during the ‘Jai Maharashtra!” moments! It is Sweety in the movie who says it best when she chooses her man over regional politics! At the end of the day, it is about being happy and feeling loved and wanted! Nothing else matters!

Fact is – 1) Aids and pregnancy will get you if u don’t use protection! 2) Vada pav rules over McDonald! 3) Changing Bombay to Mumbai will not give the city more power! 4) Politics is a (dirty) game! Don’t get played by it. 5) Drugs dealing is still rampant everywhere in the world 6) There is no high like a power trip!

Vishal Bhardwaj has touched these topics and presented them very nicely in Kaminey. The movie is as much educating as it is entertaining! The director took a chance by making such a brilliant caper and its paid off well! Kaminey is THE movie of 2009! GO WATCH IT! It is no Pulp Fiction! VB is still a long way from QT…. but the road chosen is fantastic!

err.. did I say I was not going to use any superlatives? Who cares! They were FUperlatives! Go figure!

My rating: 4/5

PS: For those who thought there was too much Marathi in the movie (Smita), it was the Bengali that got to me in the movie! 😀 If a movie is made in Hindi, it should have sub-titles for ALL the other languages in the movie! However, this tiny caveat is not at all a deterrent to stop me from watching Kaminey again!