Kaminey

There are directors. And there is Vishal Bhardwaj. Few directors in Bollywood can claim to match Vishal Bhardwaj’s insight of human psyche. Every film of his explores a singular emotion in a gamut of situations. While Makdee explored Fear.. Omkara was an abstraction on jealousy, Blue Umbrella- innocence and so on. Kaminey, Vishal’s latest direction, is a film on meanness. It takes a nosedive into the deepest, darkest crevices of the human brain-where no bad is bad enough.. Where relationships have lost their significance..where social give-and-take is a transaction…

Kaminey is essentially a film about twin brothers Guddu and Charlie. One stammers, the other lisps. Guddu is the honest fellow. He has a job, a girlfriend, middle class dreams. All well. Charlie is a small time crook who indulges in small crimes like fixing races, petty thievery etc. But he dreams big. Both lead individual lives, separated by a childhood tragedy. Their lives come together when Charlie catches hold of a guitar hiding drugs worth millions. Here, the comedy of errors begins.. the brothers being confused for each other and all. Add to it- a pregnant girlfriend, a Bal Thackeray spoof politician, a race fixing company, drug mafia, corrupt policemen. Since the plot is so convoluted, it is difficult to put it further in text.

Kaminey strikes the right note on all aspects. The plot is intriguing.. It takes you to the thick of the action without wasting much time. Before interval, the screen time is spent introducing parallel characters (The number of characters is mindboggling). The plot thickens post interval. As more and more parallel stories come into the picture, the film moves at a breakneck speed. It is a part satire, as it makes a mockery out of the Maharashtra-UP issue...and how our politicians use issues like these for personal vendetta. The cinematographer too succeeds in laying the dark underbelly of Mumbai bare in front of the audience.

But the life of the film lies in its characters. Each one of them is.. needless to say.. one big Kamina. Shahid effortlessly portrays the dual roles, proving all his detractors wrong who say that he is not mature enough to play the single lead. Priyanka, as the firebrand Sweety is the girl next door with loads of tadka ! She plays the role with such conviction that it is difficult to imagine someone else playing it. Watch her in that scene where she comes out and shouts..”Toh kya rape kiya hai maine tumhara ?” That one scene singularly brings out Priyanka’s prowess as an actress. The film crackles with her presence. The way she has enthused life in her character is outstanding. Amol Gupte, as the too-big-for-his-shoes local politician is funnily menacing. A special word of mention for Chandan Sanyal, the guy who plays Mikhail. He brings that sexy edge-that tashan to his character. And it rocks!

In the age of reality television, where ‘mean’ had taken a different meaning altogether..Kaminey brings a fresh connotation to it,one that hits closer home. The music is great and used at just the right places. All in all.. it is a must watch for all those who think they have fed enough on mindless flicks to watch some real cinema. This one will bring your faith back!

A word of caution- The plot is a little confusing, with many characters.Make sure you carry your brains with you. This one makes you think!

Rating- 4/5