Kaminey
Encyclopedia
Kaminey is a 2009 Bollywood
caper thriller film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj
featuring Shahid Kapoor
and Priyanka Chopra
in the lead roles, and Amol Gupte in his debut film appearance. Bhardwaj co-authored the screenplay to a script he bought for $4000 from a Kenyan writer named Cajetan Boy whom he had mentored at a script writing workshop in Uganda. The film was produced by Ronnie Screwvala
of UTV Motion Pictures
.
in a double role) are identical twins who have grown up in the streets of Mumbai
. Both brothers have a speech impediment – Charlie has a lisp
, while Guddu stutters in his speech.
The film begins in medias res
with a voice over narration by Charlie, who describes how he and his brother could never meet eye to eye, and Charlie's belief in taking shortcuts to fulfill his dream – to become a bookie at a horse racing
course, where he currently works for three Bengali goon brothers in fixing races. He is especially close with the youngest of the three brothers, Mikhail (Chandan Roy Sanyal
), whom he considers to be even closer than his own biological brother. Charlie however, gets done in his quest to hit the big time when he bets Rs. 100,000 on a horse during a fixed race, only to be double-crossed by the jockey, losing all his savings in the process. He hunts down the jockey to an upscale hotel in the city and is craving to get his revenge. He refuses to heed his boss' orders to leave the hotel after delivering information of the jockey's whereabouts, and instead goes after the jockey himself.
In a different room at the same hotel, two corrupt cop brothers – Lobo and Lele – kill three drug dealers and collect a guitar case containing Rs. 10 Crore
worth of cocaine
, to be delivered to drug lord Tashi (Tenzing Nima). Charlie and his aide invade the jockey's hotel room, and start seizing his belongings and beating him up to make up for Charlie's lost money when the jockey's aide returns to hand him a gun, which sparks a gunfight and foot-chase that lasts all the way to the parking lot, where the two cops are now placing a guitar case in their van. Charlie and both of his aides seize the van in order to escape from the jockey's men, and soon realize that they have stolen a police vehicle. Charlie drives it to a remote location where he discovers the guitar case contains cocaine. Thinking of this as the shortcut that will lead to his dreams, he steals the guitar case, after an initial hesitation. The cops track down the van but discover that the guitar case is missing so they try to track Charlie's down.
Meanwhile, the happy, carefree life of young lovers Guddu and Sweety (Priyanka Chopra
) comes to a halt when Sweety reveals that she is pregnant with Guddu's child. She also reveals that she is the sister of crooked mob politician Sunil Bhope, and must get married to Guddu immediately. Guddu reluctantly agrees and they are married later that night. Bhope gets wind of his sister's actions and sends his cronies to apprehend the lovers. Bhope's men crash the wedding celebrations
and after beating up Guddu, they realize that he is a migrant to Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh. This enrages Bhope, whose political party supports Maharashtra for Marathis, and Bhope orders his men to kill Guddu and bring Sweety back to his house so he can arrange a marriage for her. Sweety however, fights off her brother's gangsters and escapes with Guddu.
Charlie informs Mikhail about the discovered drugs and both of them are overjoyed at the money they would earn from the deal, but when Charlie goes back in order to retrieve the case for Mikhail, Bhope and his men sit waiting inside, with Bhope looking for Charlie to reveal Guddu's whereabouts, as one of Bhope's footsoldiers had recognized Guddu as Charlie's twin brother. A drunk Mikhail interrupts their conversation, and for all the talk, he is murdered by Bhope, so as to convince Charlie that he means business.
On the way to the airport, Guddu and Sweety have a nasty argument after Guddu realizes that Sweety had not only faked her identity, but also her own stammering in order to get close to Guddu. They briefly part, and after being spotted by the cops at a petrol bunk, Guddu is mistaken for Charlie and is arrested. He is assaulted by the cops who refuse to believe that he is Charlie's twin brother until Guddu's mobile rings. The call is from Charlie's number, where Bhope is on the line. The crooked cops and Bhope strike an exchange deal – Charlie in exchange for Guddu and Sweety. The deal is executed on the train.
Guddu and Sweety are brought back to Bhope's house, where Bhope reveals that a local builder will pay him Rs.5 crores if he marries Sweety off to the builder's son, and he needs the money for the election. Guddu, remembering that the whole fracas is about the guitar case containing Rs. 10 crores worth of drugs, bargains with Bhope – Guddu will get Sweety if Guddu retrieves the guitar case for Bhope. Bhope sends Guddu and his men to retrieve the guitar case from Charlie's house.
Charlie is assaulted by the two crooked cops who are desperate to find out about the guitar case, or else Tashi will be going after their heads. Realizing that they are in as much trouble as he himself is in, Charlie refuses to budge. However, in a freak accident, one of the cops accidentally shoots himself in the thigh, and Charlie uses the distraction to pick up a gun and make both cops his hostages. He makes a deal with Tashi – the guitar case for a payment of Rs.10 lakhs. He sends the injured cop and his aide to Tashi to deliver the details of the exchange, and heads back to his house to retrieve the guitar. Guddu arrives there with Bhope's men, totally unaware that Bhope has ordered his men to kill Guddu once the guitar case is obtained. Sweety hears about this double-cross and opens fire on the members of her household. When Guddu finally finds the guitar case he enters a fight with his brother in which they discuss the death of their father. Charlie lets Guddu go, and Guddu then goes to the police with the cocaine and is wired with electronic listening devices so the police can get evidence of Bhope's criminal acts. Guddu arrives at the Bhope residence about the same time as Tashi and his gang do too, with Charlie in their custody. Sunil Bhope and Tashi begin negotiating a trade for the drugs, but in a dramatic standoff, Charlie snatches the guitar case and threatens to destroy it if Guddu and Sweety aren't released. The two lovers escape just as the police arrive, leading to a melee of shooting in which the cocaine is all destroyed. Charlie's bosses show up looking for vengeance over the murder of their younger brother but are gunned down, along with Bhope and his men, Tashi and his gang. However, Charlie is also shot and wounded in the midst of the attack by one of the Africans.
The film ends with Sweety giving birth to Guddu's twins and Charlie opening up his own bookie counter at the course, with his friend Mikhail's name. An elegant woman named Sophia, featured in Charlie's dream at the beginning of the movie, is now his fiancee and is wearing a diamond ring.
's decision to granting the film an "A" certificate (meant for adults 18 years or older) instead of a "U/A" certificate as they had expected. Bhardwaj said, "It was injustice to us. There is no abusive language used in the film and the violence is of 'comic book kind'. There is a line in the film where a character is asked where does he comes from. The character says Pilibhit
. There were no political overtones to the line. But, the Censor Board asked me to edit Pilibhit saying that it is a sensitive constituency. They told me to use a fictitious city name. I had to change the city name from Pilibhit to Barabanki."
, the multiplexes in the city of Mumbai
and Pune
were closed for three days. and thus affecting the business of the movie.
Rajeev Masand
from CNN-IBN rated it 4/5 and called it a MUST-WATCH. Mihir Fadnavis of India.com, who gave the film 3 and a half stars out of 5, noted that "All the ingredients of a typical masala film are there, but miraculously, director Vishal Bhardwaj and his team manage to make Kaminey into a meaningful cinematic experience."
Baradwaj Rangan praised Kaminey as a character-driven movie saying "Kaminey is best experienced as a minor movie with major, character-driven set pieces" and in spite of some melodramatic sequences "But these nitpicky what-ifs, in no way, compromise the totality of Bhardwaj’s achievement, whose highlight is surely the empathy he lavishes on his characters, major or minor."
Times of India rated the movie a 4/5, praising its music and cinematography and saying "Tarantino, take a bow. Brave new Bollywood is here."
Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama
commented, "On the whole, Kaminey lives up to the hype associated with it. The film has three stars -- Vishal Bhardwaj [a name that's immensely respected by moviegoers], Shahid Kapoor and 'Dhan Te Nan' -- and this combo as also the crooked characters and a genuinely hatke subject should guarantee ample footfalls in cineplexes even after its initial weekend." and rated it 4/5.
Variety
magazine reported "multihyphenate Vishal Bhardwaj's slick and stylish musical dramedy could claim respectable coin internationally as well." Indian Express, AOL
(Noyon Jyoti Parasara) and NDTV
(Anupama Chopra) rated it 4/5 as well.
National Film Awards
Filmfare Awards
Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards
in India. It has three deleted scenes. It has one disc.
and the lyrics are penned by Gulzar. The music was released on 6 July 2009. It has received many positive reviews for its experimental nature. The album is very different from the earlier ones composed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The song "Dhan Te Nan" has become a huge success, Sukhwinder Singh and Vishal Dadlani's singing being particularly praised. Vishal Bhardwaj stated that "Dhan Te Nan" was not originally composed for the film. He had composed the song for an episode titled Dhan Te Nan in the TV series Gubbare.
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
caper thriller film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj
Vishal Bhardwaj
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, music composer and playback singer.-Early life:Bhardwaj was born in Bijnor but raised in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to Satya Bhardwaj, a homemaker, and Ram Bhardwaj, a popular poet and lyricist. His father was a government employee and...
featuring Shahid Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is also a trained dancer.Starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal . Four years later, he made his acting debut in Ishq...
and Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film...
in the lead roles, and Amol Gupte in his debut film appearance. Bhardwaj co-authored the screenplay to a script he bought for $4000 from a Kenyan writer named Cajetan Boy whom he had mentored at a script writing workshop in Uganda. The film was produced by Ronnie Screwvala
Ronnie Screwvala
Ronnie Screwvala is an Indian film producer and CEO and founder chairman of which recently partnered with Walt Disney, Fox Searchlight, Sony and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment production company, expanding its global reach.In September 2008, he was named amongst, Esquires List of the 75...
of UTV Motion Pictures
UTV Motion Pictures
UTV Motion Pictures Plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Software Communications Ltd. , based in London media and entertainment production company...
.
Plot
Guddu and Charlie (Shahid KapoorShahid Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is also a trained dancer.Starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal . Four years later, he made his acting debut in Ishq...
in a double role) are identical twins who have grown up in the streets of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. Both brothers have a speech impediment – Charlie has a lisp
Lisp
A lisp is a speech impediment, historically also known as sigmatism. Stereotypically, people with a lisp are unable to pronounce sibilants , and replace them with interdentals , though there are actually several kinds of lisp...
, while Guddu stutters in his speech.
The film begins in medias res
In medias res
In medias res or medias in res is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase...
with a voice over narration by Charlie, who describes how he and his brother could never meet eye to eye, and Charlie's belief in taking shortcuts to fulfill his dream – to become a bookie at a horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
course, where he currently works for three Bengali goon brothers in fixing races. He is especially close with the youngest of the three brothers, Mikhail (Chandan Roy Sanyal
Chandan Roy Sanyal
Chandan Roy Sanyal is an Indian actor who has acted in Hindi and Bengali films.-Background:Born and brought up in Delhi, Chandan hails from a Bengali family. Chandan studied at Zakir Husain Collge, DU and has an Honors degree in Mathematics...
), whom he considers to be even closer than his own biological brother. Charlie however, gets done in his quest to hit the big time when he bets Rs. 100,000 on a horse during a fixed race, only to be double-crossed by the jockey, losing all his savings in the process. He hunts down the jockey to an upscale hotel in the city and is craving to get his revenge. He refuses to heed his boss' orders to leave the hotel after delivering information of the jockey's whereabouts, and instead goes after the jockey himself.
In a different room at the same hotel, two corrupt cop brothers – Lobo and Lele – kill three drug dealers and collect a guitar case containing Rs. 10 Crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
worth of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, to be delivered to drug lord Tashi (Tenzing Nima). Charlie and his aide invade the jockey's hotel room, and start seizing his belongings and beating him up to make up for Charlie's lost money when the jockey's aide returns to hand him a gun, which sparks a gunfight and foot-chase that lasts all the way to the parking lot, where the two cops are now placing a guitar case in their van. Charlie and both of his aides seize the van in order to escape from the jockey's men, and soon realize that they have stolen a police vehicle. Charlie drives it to a remote location where he discovers the guitar case contains cocaine. Thinking of this as the shortcut that will lead to his dreams, he steals the guitar case, after an initial hesitation. The cops track down the van but discover that the guitar case is missing so they try to track Charlie's down.
Meanwhile, the happy, carefree life of young lovers Guddu and Sweety (Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film...
) comes to a halt when Sweety reveals that she is pregnant with Guddu's child. She also reveals that she is the sister of crooked mob politician Sunil Bhope, and must get married to Guddu immediately. Guddu reluctantly agrees and they are married later that night. Bhope gets wind of his sister's actions and sends his cronies to apprehend the lovers. Bhope's men crash the wedding celebrations
Wedding crashing
Wedding crashing is the act of coming to a wedding without an invitation.-In real life:Some of the most common reasons for crashing a wedding in real life are:...
and after beating up Guddu, they realize that he is a migrant to Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh. This enrages Bhope, whose political party supports Maharashtra for Marathis, and Bhope orders his men to kill Guddu and bring Sweety back to his house so he can arrange a marriage for her. Sweety however, fights off her brother's gangsters and escapes with Guddu.
Charlie informs Mikhail about the discovered drugs and both of them are overjoyed at the money they would earn from the deal, but when Charlie goes back in order to retrieve the case for Mikhail, Bhope and his men sit waiting inside, with Bhope looking for Charlie to reveal Guddu's whereabouts, as one of Bhope's footsoldiers had recognized Guddu as Charlie's twin brother. A drunk Mikhail interrupts their conversation, and for all the talk, he is murdered by Bhope, so as to convince Charlie that he means business.
On the way to the airport, Guddu and Sweety have a nasty argument after Guddu realizes that Sweety had not only faked her identity, but also her own stammering in order to get close to Guddu. They briefly part, and after being spotted by the cops at a petrol bunk, Guddu is mistaken for Charlie and is arrested. He is assaulted by the cops who refuse to believe that he is Charlie's twin brother until Guddu's mobile rings. The call is from Charlie's number, where Bhope is on the line. The crooked cops and Bhope strike an exchange deal – Charlie in exchange for Guddu and Sweety. The deal is executed on the train.
Guddu and Sweety are brought back to Bhope's house, where Bhope reveals that a local builder will pay him Rs.5 crores if he marries Sweety off to the builder's son, and he needs the money for the election. Guddu, remembering that the whole fracas is about the guitar case containing Rs. 10 crores worth of drugs, bargains with Bhope – Guddu will get Sweety if Guddu retrieves the guitar case for Bhope. Bhope sends Guddu and his men to retrieve the guitar case from Charlie's house.
Charlie is assaulted by the two crooked cops who are desperate to find out about the guitar case, or else Tashi will be going after their heads. Realizing that they are in as much trouble as he himself is in, Charlie refuses to budge. However, in a freak accident, one of the cops accidentally shoots himself in the thigh, and Charlie uses the distraction to pick up a gun and make both cops his hostages. He makes a deal with Tashi – the guitar case for a payment of Rs.10 lakhs. He sends the injured cop and his aide to Tashi to deliver the details of the exchange, and heads back to his house to retrieve the guitar. Guddu arrives there with Bhope's men, totally unaware that Bhope has ordered his men to kill Guddu once the guitar case is obtained. Sweety hears about this double-cross and opens fire on the members of her household. When Guddu finally finds the guitar case he enters a fight with his brother in which they discuss the death of their father. Charlie lets Guddu go, and Guddu then goes to the police with the cocaine and is wired with electronic listening devices so the police can get evidence of Bhope's criminal acts. Guddu arrives at the Bhope residence about the same time as Tashi and his gang do too, with Charlie in their custody. Sunil Bhope and Tashi begin negotiating a trade for the drugs, but in a dramatic standoff, Charlie snatches the guitar case and threatens to destroy it if Guddu and Sweety aren't released. The two lovers escape just as the police arrive, leading to a melee of shooting in which the cocaine is all destroyed. Charlie's bosses show up looking for vengeance over the murder of their younger brother but are gunned down, along with Bhope and his men, Tashi and his gang. However, Charlie is also shot and wounded in the midst of the attack by one of the Africans.
The film ends with Sweety giving birth to Guddu's twins and Charlie opening up his own bookie counter at the course, with his friend Mikhail's name. An elegant woman named Sophia, featured in Charlie's dream at the beginning of the movie, is now his fiancee and is wearing a diamond ring.
Cast
- Shahid KapoorShahid KapoorShahid Kapoor is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is also a trained dancer.Starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal . Four years later, he made his acting debut in Ishq...
as Charlie Sharma and Guddu Sharma. While Charlie is a bookie at horse-racing and lispLispA lisp is a speech impediment, historically also known as sigmatism. Stereotypically, people with a lisp are unable to pronounce sibilants , and replace them with interdentals , though there are actually several kinds of lisp...
s, Guddu works for an NGO for AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
awareness and stammerStammerA stammer, or stammering, is a speech disorder typified by the involuntary repetition of a sound or sounds.Stammer, Stammers and Stammmering may also refer to:* Notker of St Gall "Notker the Stammerer" * Steven Stamkos A stammer, or stammering, is a speech disorder typified by the involuntary ...
s. Initially, Saif Ali KhanSaif Ali KhanSaif Ali Khan is an Indian actor known for his work in Bollywood films. He is the son of the late former Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and actress Sharmila Tagore. He has two sisters: Saba Ali Khan and actress Soha Ali Khan....
caused the controversy that the role was initially offered to him and eventually went to Kapoor. Later, Saif sent an apology to Shahid, to which Shahid replied, "If he has said something like that I appreciate it. I have always said that he is a very senior actor. He has been around for much longer than me." - Priyanka ChopraPriyanka ChopraPriyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film...
as Sweety, sister of underworld don, Sunil Shekhar Bhope, and love interest and pregnant with child of Guddu. Priyanka Chopra was initially reluctant to sign up, as she expected that movie would belong to double role playing Shahid Kapoor, but Vishal Bhardwaj convinced her as a challenge. Priyanka Chopra admitted that being a Punjabi girl herself, it was tough to play a simple Maharastrian in the movie. To personify a middle-class college girl, Priyanka wore minimal make-up. - Amol Gupte as Sunil Shekhar Bhope (Bhope Bhau), a Maharashtrian mafioso with political ambition. Amole Gupte had previously done minor acting assignments, including Ketan MehtaKetan MehtaKetan Mehta is an Indian film director, who has also directed documentaries and television serials.-Early life and education:Born in Navsari in Gujarat, Ketan Mehta did his schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi and later graduated in film direction from Film and Television Institute of...
's HoliHoli (film)Holi is a 1984 Indian film, directed by Ketan Mehta, whose socially conscious work has been compared to American director, Spike Lee. The film is based on eponymous play by Marathi writer, Mahesh Elkunchwar...
. Initially when called up for the role, based on his previous acting jobs, he thought it to be a joke, but subsequently accepted the role. - Deb MukherjeeDeb MukherjeeDeb Mukherjee is a Bengali Indian actor. He is the father of director Ayan Mukerji.He is part of the famous Mukherjee family which spans four generations. His family has been in the Bollywood industry since the 1940s. His family includes his father Sashadhar Mukherjee, the owner of Filmalaya...
as Mujeeb - Shiv Subrahmanyam as Lobo
- Chandan Roy SanyalChandan Roy SanyalChandan Roy Sanyal is an Indian actor who has acted in Hindi and Bengali films.-Background:Born and brought up in Delhi, Chandan hails from a Bengali family. Chandan studied at Zakir Husain Collge, DU and has an Honors degree in Mathematics...
as Mikhail - Tenzing Nima as Tashi
- Hrishikesh Joshi as Lele
- Rajatava Dutta as Shumon
- Harish Khanna as Afghani
- Carlos Paca as Cajetan
- Eric Santos as Ragos
- Patrícia Bull as Vivienne
- Shashank ShendeShashank ShendeShashank Shende is an actor, director, and writer, active in Pune, Maharashtra, India. A member of the Samanvay experimental theatre group,. He has appeared in Hindi and Marathi language films including Kaminey , Ishqiya , City of Gold , Chillar Party , Chittagong , City of Gold /...
as Ganesh
Filming
The film began shooting at various locations across the country from 18 June 2008. The shooting was difficult due to stormy weather and night shoots. The teaser trailer of Kaminey came out along with Delhi 6. For most of the duration of the filming, Shahid Kapoor was asked by the director to stay clear of public appearances in order to keep secret his new look for the movie. Recently, however, he made a public appearance just before the release of the Kaminey trailer; he has grown out his hair and acquired an even more toned body, all in the effort to make him look more rugged and raw for his character of Charlie.Certificate controversy
The makers of the film expressed disappointment in the Censor Board for Film CertificationCentral Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification is a Government of India regulatory body and censorship board of India controlled by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It reviews, rates and censors motion pictures, television shows, television ads, and promotional material...
's decision to granting the film an "A" certificate (meant for adults 18 years or older) instead of a "U/A" certificate as they had expected. Bhardwaj said, "It was injustice to us. There is no abusive language used in the film and the violence is of 'comic book kind'. There is a line in the film where a character is asked where does he comes from. The character says Pilibhit
Pilibhit
Pilibhit |Hafizabad]]) is a city and a municipal board in the Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit is the north-eastern most district of Bareilly division, situated in the Rohilkhand region of the sub-Himalayan Plateau belt on the boundary of Nepal, known for the origin...
. There were no political overtones to the line. But, the Censor Board asked me to edit Pilibhit saying that it is a sensitive constituency. They told me to use a fictitious city name. I had to change the city name from Pilibhit to Barabanki."
Delayed release due to flu pandemic scare
Due to 2009 flu pandemic2009 flu pandemic in India
2009 flu pandemic in India is the outbreak of swine flu in various parts of India. Soon after the outbreak of H1N1 virus in the United States and Mexico in March, the Government of India started screening people coming from the affected countries at airports for swine flu symptoms...
, the multiplexes in the city of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
were closed for three days. and thus affecting the business of the movie.
Critical reception
The film on release opened to a mainly positive critical reception. Film critic Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film a never-before 4.5/5 rating, and said, "So the film leaps through implied ultraviolence and dark humour and you hold on, exhilarated—just as you have through, say, Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. And while that itself would be no mean feat, Bhardwaj ups the ante with an audacious climax, suddenly bringing emotions right to the fore. And while films of this ilk are full of disposable-bodies and corpses-in-waiting, one discovers that Vishal has—sneakily, stealthily, surreptitiously—kept the sentiments so darned real that by the time the climax rolls around, you do actually give a damn about these characters. Wow now if that isn't kameenapan, I don't know what is. Awesome."Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and entertainment reporter for CNN-IBN. Masand started his career as an entertainment correspondent at the young age of 16...
from CNN-IBN rated it 4/5 and called it a MUST-WATCH. Mihir Fadnavis of India.com, who gave the film 3 and a half stars out of 5, noted that "All the ingredients of a typical masala film are there, but miraculously, director Vishal Bhardwaj and his team manage to make Kaminey into a meaningful cinematic experience."
Baradwaj Rangan praised Kaminey as a character-driven movie saying "Kaminey is best experienced as a minor movie with major, character-driven set pieces" and in spite of some melodramatic sequences "But these nitpicky what-ifs, in no way, compromise the totality of Bhardwaj’s achievement, whose highlight is surely the empathy he lavishes on his characters, major or minor."
Times of India rated the movie a 4/5, praising its music and cinematography and saying "Tarantino, take a bow. Brave new Bollywood is here."
Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....
commented, "On the whole, Kaminey lives up to the hype associated with it. The film has three stars -- Vishal Bhardwaj [a name that's immensely respected by moviegoers], Shahid Kapoor and 'Dhan Te Nan' -- and this combo as also the crooked characters and a genuinely hatke subject should guarantee ample footfalls in cineplexes even after its initial weekend." and rated it 4/5.
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine reported "multihyphenate Vishal Bhardwaj's slick and stylish musical dramedy could claim respectable coin internationally as well." Indian Express, AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
(Noyon Jyoti Parasara) and NDTV
NDTV
NDTV is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India...
(Anupama Chopra) rated it 4/5 as well.
Box office
With mostly positive reviews, Kaminey opened to an excellent response all over with the all India on day one being around 90%. The film's net take is 42 crore, being declared a Semi-Hit at the box office.National Film AwardsNational Film AwardsThe National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
- Best AudiographyNational Film Award for Best AudiographyThe National Film Award for Best Audiography winners:...
for Location Sound RecordistProduction sound mixerA production sound mixer, location sound recordist, location sound engineer or simply sound mixer is the member of a film crew or television crew responsible for recording all sound recording on set during the filmmaking or television production using professional audio equipment, for later...
: Subash Sahoo - Special Jury Award for Film editingFilm editingFilm editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
- A. Sreekar PrasadA. Sreekar PrasadAkkineni Sreekar Prasad better known as Sreekar Prasad is an National Award winning Indian film editor.-Brief lifesketch:He was born to editor A. Sanjivi. Veteran L. V. Prasad was his maternal uncle. He was a graduate in Literature and started his film editing career in Telugu films...
Filmfare AwardsFilmfare AwardsThe Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
- Nominated - Best Movie
- Nominated - Best Director - Vishal BhardwajVishal BhardwajVishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, music composer and playback singer.-Early life:Bhardwaj was born in Bijnor but raised in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to Satya Bhardwaj, a homemaker, and Ram Bhardwaj, a popular poet and lyricist. His father was a government employee and...
- Nominated - Best Actor - Shahid KapoorShahid KapoorShahid Kapoor is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is also a trained dancer.Starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal . Four years later, he made his acting debut in Ishq...
- Nominated - Best Actress - Priyanka ChopraPriyanka ChopraPriyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film...
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actor- Amole GupteAmole GupteAmole Gupte is an Indian screenwriter, actor, and director, particularly known for his work on the 2007 Bollywood film Taare Zameen Par as creative director and screenwriter...
- Nominated - Best Music Director - Vishal Bharadwaj
- Nominated - Best Lyricist- "Dhan Te Nan"
- Nominated - Best Lyricist- Gulzar - "Kaminey"
- Nominated - Best Male Playback Singer - Sukhwinder SinghSukhwinder SinghSukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
/ Vishal Dadlani - "Dhan Te Nan"
Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild AwardsApsara Film & Television Producers Guild AwardsAn Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Award is an accolade given by the Bollywood film industry to recognize outstanding performances by its members. Originated by filmmaker and scholar Amit Khanna, the Apsara Awards have been one of the major award events in Bollywood since 2004...
- Won - Best Actress - Priyanka ChopraPriyanka ChopraPriyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film...
- Won- Best Actor in a Negative Role - Amol Gupte
Home media
The DVD of Kaminey has been released in the US by UTV and by Moser BaerMoser Baer
Moser Baer is the world's 2nd largest optical storage media manufacturer and supplies to the world's top dozen brands. They now make CD-R's for Memorex , TDK , Verbatim Sony and Agfa-Gevaert . They used to make CD-R's for Imation and Staples . The company was founded in New Delhi in 1983...
in India. It has three deleted scenes. It has one disc.
Soundtrack
The music is composed by Vishal BhardwajVishal Bhardwaj
Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, music composer and playback singer.-Early life:Bhardwaj was born in Bijnor but raised in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to Satya Bhardwaj, a homemaker, and Ram Bhardwaj, a popular poet and lyricist. His father was a government employee and...
and the lyrics are penned by Gulzar. The music was released on 6 July 2009. It has received many positive reviews for its experimental nature. The album is very different from the earlier ones composed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The song "Dhan Te Nan" has become a huge success, Sukhwinder Singh and Vishal Dadlani's singing being particularly praised. Vishal Bhardwaj stated that "Dhan Te Nan" was not originally composed for the film. He had composed the song for an episode titled Dhan Te Nan in the TV series Gubbare.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
| 1 | "Dhan Te Nan" | Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed... , Vishal Dadlani |
4:41 |
| 2 | "Fatak" | Sukhwinder Singh, Kailash Kher | 5:30 |
| 3 | "Go Charlie Go" | Theme Theme (music) In music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based.-Characteristics:A theme may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an idea or motif, a theme is... |
2:12 |
| 4 | "Kaminey" | Vishal Bhardwaj | 5:58 |
| 5 | "Raat Ke Dhai Baje" | Suresh Wadkar Suresh Wadkar Suresh Ishwar Wadkar is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films.He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films and in Konkani.- Early life :... , Rekha Bhardwaj Rekha Bhardwaj Rekha Bhardwaj is an Indian playback singer. She is the wife of famous Director-Producer-Music Composer Vishal Bharadwaj. She is known in the industry for her distinctive style of singing. She is also very good musician... , Sunidhi Chauhan Sunidhi Chauhan Sunidhi Chauhan is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi film songs in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati films and is credited with over 2000 songs.... , Kunal Ganjawala Kunal Ganjawala Kunal Ganjawala is popularly known as Bollywood playback singer. But he also did a very well contribution to Kanada film industry as well. Kunal began his career by singing jingles. He came to limelight with the song 'Bheege Honth Tere' form film Murder in 2004. It was his first biggest hit... |
4:31 |
| 6 | "Pehli Baar Mohabbat" | Mohit Chauhan Mohit Chauhan Mohit Chauhan is an Indian pop and playback singer, most known for his romantic ballads. He started his career singing Indian pop songs with the band Silk Route, which released two albums, Boondein and Pehchan. The song "Dooba Dooba" became a rave in the Indipop music scene. However, the band... |
5:20 |
| 7 | "Dhan Te Nan (Remix)" | Sukhwinder Singh, Vishal Dadlani | 4:03 |
| 8 | "Raat Ke Dhai Baje (Remix)" | Suresh Wadkar, Rekha Bhardwaj, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala | 4:54 |