Review of Kaminey (2009) by Gloria L — 29 Aug 2009

Its not easy to add review comments 10 days after watching the movie, but I'll attempt it nevertheless :). Having eargerly waited for this film for quite a while, I'm not disappointed. The plot does bear a resemblence to Guy Ritchie's 2 most famous films, Snatch in particular. The crazy characters like Mikhail and his brothers, Bhope Bhau, Tashi, and the 2 cops could be related to those from Snatch - Franky Four Fingers, Boris the Blade, Brick Top, etc. But the story is told in Vishal Bhardwaj's own unique style.

Vishal once again shows his mastery on film-making. He excels in several departments - story, screenplay, dialogues, music, and even singing. The film moves at fast pace for the most part keeping you very engaged. He adds a lot of depth to Shahid Kapoor's 2 characters through their twin speech defects, which add a lot of effect to the proceedings. He adds that touch of authenticity to the characters and the settings - the world of Mumbai cops, gangsters, and politicians. He gets wonderful performances out of less-known actors and even scriptwriters. Shahid does good use of this opportunity and brings out, in all probability, the best performance of his career so far (maybe its in his blood!).

The only thing that disappointed me was to see Vishal resort to melodrama towards the end of the movie. It seemed very force fitted in an otherwise crisp screenplay. The climax and ending could also have been better. But those don't necessarily offset the pluses of the film. Kaminey doesn't reach the heights Maqbool and Omkara did, but manages to leave its own mark.