Kaminey (2009)

The desperate lives of two estranged twin brothers converge over missing drugs, politics, racial prejudice, corrupt cops and an unplanned pregnancy.

Director:

Vishal Bhardwaj

Writers:

Cajetan Boy (based on an idea by), Supratik Sen (screenplay)

Stars:

Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Deb Mukherjee

Top Rated Indian Movies #226 | 3 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shahid Kapoor	...	Guddu / Charlie (as Shahid Kapur)
Priyanka Chopra	...	Sweety
Deb Mukherjee	...	Mujib
Shivkumar Subramaniam	...	Lobo (as Shiv Subrahmanyam)
Chandan Roy Sanyal	...	Mikhail (as Chandan Roysanyal)
Tenzing Nima	...	Tashi
Hrishikesh Joshi	...	Lele
Rajatabha Dutta	...	Shumon (as Rajatva Dutta)
Harish Khanna	...	Afghani
Carlos Paca	...	Cajetan
Eric Santos	...	Ragos
Amole Gupte	...	Bhope
Sagar	...	Young Guddu
Samrat	...	Young Charlie
Vijay Raj	...	Kishen

Storyline

Guddu and Charlie are identical twins born and raised in the slums of Mumbai. They dream of leaving the squalor behind and moving into a life of prosperity and dignity. Though they look alike, the two are as different as chalk and cheese: one lisps while the other stammers; one is an honest, diligent social worker while the other hedges bets at a racecourse. The brothers want nothing to do with each other, but when Charlie gets mixed up in a deadly get-rich-quick scheme and Guddu realizes that the love of his life has unwittingly put a price on his head, their lives begin to collide. Faced with rogue politicians, drug dealers and crooked cops, they uncover a sinister plot laid out by the 'political-police-underworld' nexus. Their stories finally converge to a point when they realize they only have each other.

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Plot Keywords:

cell phone | twin | cop | identical twins | crooked cop | 

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Taglines:

Difcover your mean fide

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Marathi Bengali English Portuguese

Release Date:

14 August 2009 (India)

Also Known As:

Scoundrel

Filming Locations:

Casa Colvale, Goa, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$726,834, 16 August 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,286,143, 6 September 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

UTV Motion Pictures, Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the choreography of the song sequence "Dhan-Te-Nan" in the film, the actors were briefed to "just dance with the song but not to do any (dance) steps in it"

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Goofs

In the opening shot, Charlie is shown to be standing amidst railway tracks, beside whom a fast long-distance train passes. The area is said to be Cotton Green, Mumbai, through a text below. However, unlike shown in the movie, the area around Cotton Green does not have so many railway lines but, only two. Besides, no long distance trains pass through Cotton Green.

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Quotes

Mikhail: [singing] Spiderman, Spiderman! Spiderman, Spiderman.
Charlie: You'll die soon.
Mikhail: Yes, right. As if YOU'LL live forever. How about I slit your throat?

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Crazy Credits

The song "Pehli Baar mohabbat ki" pictured on Shahid Kapur and Priyanka Chopra is shown alongside the credits.

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Connections

References Aap Ki Khatir (2006)

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Soundtracks

Dhan Te Nan
Written by Gulzar
Composed by Vishal Bhardwaj
Performed by Sukhwinder Singh, Vishal Dadlani and Robert 'Bob' Omulo
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

Its an "Acquired taste"

Vishal Bharadwaj takes a break from Shakeshpeare and decides to give the Bollywood audience a break from candy-floss films (read that as K-Jo, YRF and their lookalikes!). He gives us a taster session of Tarantino & Guy Ritchie, famed for their distinct style of film-making. Unique (and loony) characters, tension-building scenes, unexpected turn of events, razor-sharp lines, strong background score - you name it "Kaminey" has all the ingredients. There is no "Once upon a time....." business here, the audience find themselves thrown into the middle of quagmire owing to which in the first few reels you find find yourself gasping to comprehend. Not being funny, but only the smart & intelligent stay with the proceedings.

Brilliant performances from all actors, including the host of new faces.

۩ Shahid Kapur:: Guddu & Charlie - not exactly "chalk-and-cheese" there, as you would normally expect in a storyline of identical twins. Let's say one is slightly more deceitful. Divide the stutter and lisp between them and Shahid gets a role of his lifetime which he delivers with utmost perfection.

۩ Priyanka Chopra:: Just about completing her home-run and needless to say her performance as the Maharashtrian girl is a feather in the cap.

۩ Amol Gupte:: Another Mahesh Manjrekar in the making.

۩ Deb Mukherjee:: Nice to see him after a long sabbatical, though short- role.

"Dhan Te Nan" is an obvious scene-stealer while the rest of the numbers would take sometime to catch up. Gulzar's lyrics as usual is mystical.

Crap was the word that first came to my mind when I watched "Pulp Fiction" but it took a couple of years of maturity to retrace my steps and appreciate the body of work. It goes without saying "Kaminey" deserves a second-time watch to get the gist and perhaps a few more to notice the grammar of fine film-making.