Now and Then.

Who the...?

Harendra Kapur.
Kyra Mathews.
Tejas Menon.


I have a problem. Let me just state for the record that over the past couple of years and since coming to India, I have been converted into a big Hindi movie fan. I am completely loyal to the industry, I believe in them and I know they have the capacity to make excellent films- they have proved it in the past on many occasions. However, they have also proved to be quite unreliable based on the frequency of how often a decent movie is released. Now, my problem is that every time I watch a good Hindi film trailer(and boy are there many) I am faced with a dilemma- do I invest in these movies emotionally by looking forward to it, and hope that it will be the next Dil Chahta Hai or Swades? Or do I cautiously and safely curb my enthusiasm till I see the final product? Hindi films let me down- most of the time. Sometimes there is a pleasant surprise, like the awesome DevD but lets face facts- Ghajini, Chandni Chowk to China and 8x10 Tasveer have all been thoroughly disappointing even though they had the potential to be super kickass. I went for all of these movies first-day-first-show and came back dejected with the Indian Film Industry. But then slowly I forget about their mistakes and get roped right back into the game with the next big release. I have, however seen the error in my ways and been able to see the good ones from the bad, and believe me it is not hard to spot. 'Kambhakkt Ishq' was the single greatest waste of money on film. Like Rajeev Masand said, Rs 60 crores could have gone to so many better causes, and it would have been just one less film for Akshay Kumar* to ruin his career with.
But still got to love that guy!

This season has been filled the most big-budget films from hollywood, and the barrage has not yet ended. So with the IPL and ICC T20 well out of the way, the movies have been streaming in and with Transformers 2 in theatres and HP6 on the way, I really want to see where our Indian mainstream cinema is standing. We had New York (and a fairly healthy discussion about it too!), Khambakkht Ishq and soon to release is Luck pairing Sanjay Dutt and Imran Khan again (You remember how that last one turned out- Kidnap...the scriptwriter).
Ever since I saw the trailer at the Delhi-6 premiere, there is one movie that is grabbing my attention and that I must see on opening day. Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey.

This is not a heavily disguised puff-piece but man this shit looks good. I have been thoroughly impressed with his adaptations of Macbeth(Maqbool) and Othello(Omkara), which I still maintain is one of the greatest dramas that the Industry has ever produced. He has openly stated that the lack of good scripts and scriptwriters is the primary reason why he turns to Shakespeare for a decent story. For me personally, that directors can recognise the fact that their are not good scripts being written for screen currently, is an achievement. I don't care, take your time, don't make a movie for like a year or two, but don't produce until you've got the goods, man.
Kaminey comes off as a very Guy Ritchie-esque dramedy, with an array of wonderfully wierd characters, like Shahid Kapur's two characters in the film(Yes, it's a double role) Charlie and Guddu with their speech defects and the completely uncouth don played by Amole Gupte.
The soundtrack is awesome with 'Dhan Te Nan' that blew my mind when I heard it. A kickass track reminding me just enough of the pulp fiction theme, to get me completely psyched for this.
But yes I know, this could be another run-of-the-mill flicks that is produced so often that can get my hopes screwed once again. But really, who knows man? That is the prospect that excites me sometimes even more than the movie itself: What if. What if this is the movie that really steps it up? What if this is the movie I was looking for in Ghajini, or in Tasveer? What if this is the awesome Hindi movie? What if.
Whatever it is, I hope its not regular. That should be the norm; either you completely freak out the audience by wierding it out, or just be shit. Don't give me normal. The cast is capable. The director is more than capable. Please, let this be the one.


*He is seriously the only thing good about that movie.

4 responses to "Let's just hope these Kaminey..."

  1. Hey man
    I know what you mean and unlike last time, I'm totally with you on this man. The trailer looks freaking awesome. And yea that song's pretty freaking cool as well.
    Here's hoping. (And here's john! chuckle chuckle)

    Harry

  2. Ive been dying for this to come out! Omkara wowed me with how unbelievably brilliant/beautiful it was in terms of a independent movie as well as a Shakespeare adaptation. Also, it was the only movie where Kareena Kapoor didnt annoy me. Let us to hope.

    Kyra

  3. I liked it... kinda impressed with Shahid. he played his role well. Direction was awesome and script was good,
    u seen it yet?

    Romit

  4. kaminey was awesome!!!
    vishal bhardwaj always manages to make a masterpiece and always brings out the best in all the actors and ofcourse the music!!
    me and my sis dragged my parents for this one(they couldn't understand anything..they prefer govinda..err..i know its a shameful thing)
    at the end when charlie dumps all the money from the guitar my sis said "that is sheer poetry"..well i did not make any such intellectual observations but yeah it is one of my favourite movies.
    im surprised why shahid didn't win the best actor in filmfare..infact kaminey won very few awards..it deserved more,for the critical and commercial success it got..but no they liked 3 idiots(stupid movie!!)

    Arunima Joshua

The All of us.

The All of us.