Meri Aarzoo Kamini........... Review on Kaminey

*Kyaa kare zindagi

Issko hum jo miley

Isski jaan khaa gaye

Raat din ke giley*

*Meri aarzoo kameenee

Mere khwaab bhi kaminey

Ek dil se dosti thi

Yeh hazoor bhi kaminey

Kabhi zindagi se maangaa

Pinjare mein chaand laa do

Kabhi laalten de ke

Kaha aasmaan pe taango

Jis kaa bhi chehra cheelaa

Andar se aur niklaa

Maasoom saa kabootar

Naachaa toh mor niklaa

Kabhi hum kaminey nikle

Kabhi doosre kaminey *

Last week I was having an argument with a friend about the sanctity of so called film reviews. and somewhere I agree with her. A review will work so much for you only if you and the so called reviewer are "supposedly" on the same page, and generally share the same vibes. To make matters simple, you have to play to the same pied piper's tunes. So all we can or rather should take from a review is whether a movie works for that individual, and then go on to make our own decisions, else they might just backfire, as New York did on me.:-) but thats over and done with! So having seen two movies in recent past, one of which frankly disgusted me, and one which worked in bits and pieces and made me sad for the lost potential, it was with trepidation that I finally rented Kaminey DVD

By now, most of you know about the story. Two brothers, Charlie(manhoof) and Guddu(ha. ha. ha. halkut), separated by hate, come together to save each others' backsides. Charlie has managed to snag a guitar which contains cocaine worth 10 khokha. Guddu, has gotten his girlfriend pregnant, and she is determined to marry him, and her gangster brother(Amole Gupte, brilliant) is determined that she will not, so he is caught between the devil and the blue sea. You also know that Tarantino's influence on Vishal shows, and how. but the movie, despite all this, manages to grip you in a stranglehold you don't want to escape, rather, the minute you come outta the hall, scratching your head about one of the many puzzles in the film, you wanna go back again, raising your hand like an inquisitive child.

(Oops. I didn't mean to write much about the story line, but this is the thing with directors like Vishal. they generally fill your head with so many multifaceted images that words just come popping out). Coming onto the movie now. what I really, have always loved about VB's movies is his own, obvious enjoyment with his movies. Here, he starts off paying a tribute to RD with a scene where a rival bookie(Francis) is being beaten up, ans in the background plays Asha's song from the movie Great Gambler(find out for yourself). Then, the characters themselves. its obvious that they have been lovingly etched, and yet VB doesn't put them up on a pedestal, rather gives them feet of clay, which make them even more lovable. Take Guddu, he works for an NGO working for AIDS awareness.

While he propagates the use of condoms, he doesn't use a condom with his girlfriend sweety and impregnates her. Charlie, who dreams of being the biggest bookie has his own demons and is running away from them.(Look out for the metaphors here). Then there is the humor again.I found particularly funny when Guddu was getting all ready to give his halting connfession(the singing halts his stammering - weird?),  and, an old man telling Tashi about the whereabouts of Bhau, saying Vaat Vaat Vaat Vaat. Along with all this, there's that quiet menace stealing up on you. while you laugh along when Guddu lisps, when Charlie says Manhoof, or that famous dialogue "Main ph ko ph kehta hoon" pr sings "Faying alive, faying alive".

You are aware of a quiet sense of unease. and sure enough. bang, it explodes in your face. The climax is the ultimate icing on the cake, where some loose ends are tied up, and you heave a sigh of relief as everything falls into place.The look of the movie is, how to put it, real. None of the polished made up locales for VB and his cinematographer. Check out the local trains, the vada pao, the rain splattered rain tracks, and the ultimate set-up for the climax, and you will know exactly what I am talking about. As far as the music goes, well, if you aint heard it by now, beg, buy or download!

If its comfort cinema and spoon feeding you want, stay away, or better still try it, you might just rediscover a new style of Cinema. We have been so damned used to movie makers who neither want to think, nor expect their audience to– but VB will have none of that. So put on your thinking caps, give a shake to those grey cells, and go board the roller coaster. This will be ride you will go back for, again and again, and yet again! This is for those who have seen the movie. I am sure VB must have mimicked Priyanka's expression(tongue lolling out in a dead man parody) when the movie finally got canned. Labor of love you know!