Movie Review: Kaminey

When you go to watch Kaminey, which surely you must, make sure you are well on time. For Kaminey is that rare Bollywood film in which you cannot afford to miss even a minute. Kaminey speaks a fresh new international cinematic language, very dark and film noir, mean and sharp, yet firmly rooted in Mumbai.

True to its title, Kaminey is a film about ruthless bastards, escept that the treatment is pure thoroughbred much like the Quentin Tarantino movies, establishing Vishal Bharadwaj as the most complete auteur in Bollywood today. Vishal is the writer, the director, the music composer and in Kaminey he whips all the three skills into a gritty crescendo, churning out to mean broth that leaves you with a chilling high.

Coming to Shahid Kapoor, the boy has finally grown up. Shahid essays a challenging double role, with grit and finesse. In the character of Charlie, the small-time horse racing bookie with a lisp and a deadly dream, Shahid puts in a powerhouse performance filled with a reckless, smoldering intensity, like that of a lover scorned in real-life. Most remarkably, he manages to look and sound very different as his estranged twin brother, Guddu, the shy do-gooder with a hesitant stammer, who is about to get sucked into Charlie's life, a whirlpool of death and deceit.

Priyanka Chopra has deservedly emerged as the numero uno actress of the country, and in Kaminey she once again why she deserves to be where she is today. Playing the role of Sweety, a simple Maharashtrian girl in love with Guddu who also happens to be the sister of the dread Bhope Bhau (Amole Gupte), Priyanka is sassy, sparkling and incandescent in every scene. In a film which is full of choicest bastards belonging to the males, Sweety is spicy and chaalu enough to leave her own special chhaap. Most refreshingly, it's great to see a non-vamp woman character first lead in the bed, then con her way into marriage and finally grab a stengun and attack her own vile brother. Whoa, way to go, girl !

Like a classic caper film, Kaminey is a sharp, slickly plotted yarn filled with dark and shady characters, furious action, corrupt cops, destructive coincidences, dead bodies and double crossing deviants. The story is quite basic, but the telling of it is very inventive. The dialogue writing is razor sharp , the music beautifully scored with old hit songs weaved in clearly, the production design and action sequence well-detailed, the cinematography gives the film a Hollywood look, but its in editing wherein lies the real triumph of Kaminey.

If you're smart enough to understand that is good, else there's always Love Aajkal playing next door. Kaminey doesn't comprise in its telling, not for a minute, so you better keep up. Amazingly, the sharp edits holds the madly plotted action together. Kaminey is not the typical classic Indian family film. A majority of India is teeming with a restless youth. Well, this is it. Quentin Tarantino gave Hollywood Pulp Fiction, and now Vishal Bharadwaj gives Bollywood Kaminey. It's the new standard of cutting edge cinema, and it rocks all the way. Dhan Te Tan. Shucks, just can't seem to get the tune out of my head. On the rating meter of one to five, Kaminey gets a full five on five.