Kaminey

Kaminey
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Vishal Bhardwaj
Produced by	Ronnie Screwvala
Screenplay by	Vishal Bhardwaj Sabrina Dhawan Abhishek Chaubey
Story by	Vishal Bhardwaj
Starring	Shahid Kapoor Priyanka Chopra Amole Gupte
Music by	Vishal Bhardwaj
Cinematography	Tassaduq Hussain
Editing by	Meghna Manchanda Sen A. Sreekar Prasad
Distributed by	UTV Motion Pictures
Release date(s)	14 August 2009 (2009-08-14)
Running time	134 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	350 million (US$6.4 million)
Box office	710 million (US$13 million)

Kaminey (English: The Scoundrels) is a 2009 Indian caper thriller film directed by Vishal Bharadwaj. It features Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Amol Gupte in the lead roles. The film is set on the backdrop of underworld and tells the story of twins (one has a lisp, while the other stutters in his speech).

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. Kaminey was released on 14 August 2009 to wide critical acclaim and good box office collections. Critics praised the direction, the screenplay, the cinematography, the music and the performances by its cast. The film was also a notable box-office success with collections of over 710 million (US$13 million) against a budget of 350 million (US$6.4 million). Kaminey received several awards and nominations at various award ceremonies across India. At the 55th Filmfare Awards, the film received ten nominations (more than any other film) including Best Film, Director, Actor and Actress. However, it won only one (Best Special Effects). The film also won a Special Jury Award at the 57th National Film Awards for its editing for A. Sreekar Prasad.

Several critics and media publication listed the film on their listing of "Best film of the year" placing it on #1. Over the years, the film has gained a cult following and is regarded as a cult film of the 2000s decade of Bollywood.

Plot

Guddu and Charlie (Shahid Kapoor 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 narc cops – Lobo and Lele – kill three drug dealers and collect a guitar case containing Rs.100 million 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 realise 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 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 realise 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 recognised 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 realises 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 a train.

Guddu and Sweety are brought back to Bhope's house, where Bhope reveals that a local builder will pay him Rs.50 million 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.100 million 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.1 million. 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 Kapoor as Charlie Sharma and Guddu Sharma. While Charlie is a bookie at horse-racing and lisps, Guddu works for an NGO for AIDS awareness and stammers. Initially, Saif 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 Chopra 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 Maharashtrian 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 Mehta's Holi. 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 Mukherjee as Mujeeb
• Shiv Subrahmanyam as Lobo
• Chandan Roy Sanyal 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 Shende as Ganesh
• Vijay Raj as Kishen

Production

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.

Release

Certificate controversy

The makers of the film expressed disappointment in the Censor Board for Film Certification'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."

Delayed release due to flu pandemic scare

Due to 2009 flu pandemic, the multiplexes in the city of Mumbai and Pune were closed for three days. and thus affecting the business of the movie.

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 from CNN-IBN rated it 4/5 and called it a MUFT-WATCH(Must-Watch in Charlie's(Shahid Kapoor) lisping accent)' 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. Notable filmmaker and two times Filmfare Award winner Karan Johar lebelled it as cult film, describing it as "Kaminey is edgy... cult and 'geniusely' performed and executed!... new age cinema and cinematic bravery!"

Several critics and media publication listed the film on their listing of "Best film of the year" placing it on #1. Over the years, the film has gained a cult following and is regarded as a cult film of the 2000s decade of Bollywood.

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 grossed 710 million (US$13 million) worldwide and being declared a hit by the Box Office India.

Awards and nominations

National Film Awards

• Special Jury Award for Film editing- A. Sreekar Prasad

Filmfare Awards

• Won – Best Visual Effects – Govardhan Vigraham
• Nominated – Best Movie
• Nominated – Best Director – Vishal Bhardwaj
• Nominated – Best Actor – Shahid Kapoor
• Nominated – Best Actress – Priyanka Chopra
• Nominated – Best Supporting Actor- Amole Gupte
• Nominated – Best Music Director – Vishal Bharadwaj
• Nominated – Best Lyricist- "Dhan Te Nan"
• Nominated- Best Lyricist- Gulzar – "Kaminey"
• Nominated – Best Sound Design- Shajith Koyeri
• Nominated- Best Male Playback Singer – Sukhwinder Singh / Vishal Dadlani – "Dhan Te Nan"

Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards

• Won – Best Actress – Priyanka Chopra
• Won- Best Actor in a Negative Role – Amol Gupte

Star Screen Award

• Won – Best Sound Design – Shajith Koyeri

Bollywood Hungama Surfers Choice Awards

• Won – Best Actress – Priyanka Chopra

Zee Cine Awards

• Nominated – Best Sound Design – Shajith Koyeri

Home media

The DVD of Kaminey has been released in the US by UTV and by Moser Baer in India. It has three deleted scenes. It has one disc.

Soundtrack

Kaminey
Soundtrack album by Vishal Bhardwaj
Released	6 July 2009 (2009-07-06)
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	35:57
Label	T-Series
Producer	Hitesh Sonik, Clinton Cerejo
Vishal Bhardwaj chronology
Haal-E-Dil (2008) Kaminey (2009) Ishqiya (2010)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rediff
Bollywood Hungama
Planet Bollywood

The music is composed by Vishal Bhardwaj 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, Vishal Dadlani	4:41
2	"Fatak"	Sukhwinder Singh, Kailash Kher	5:30
3	"Go Charlie Go"	Theme	2:12
4	"Kaminey"	Vishal Bhardwaj	5:58
5	"Raat Ke Dhai Baje"	Suresh Wadkar, Rekha Bhardwaj, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala	4:31
6	"Pehli Baar Mohabbat"	Mohit Chauhan, Sunidhi Chauhan	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	4:20

Sequel

The sequel was first conceptualised in 2009. Shahid Kapoor was eager to make a part 2, ever since Kaminey became a box office success. He will reportedly play the role of one of Guddu's twin sons. Priyanka Chopra hovever has been left out as the director felt "She just doesn't fit into the sequel". As of 2012 there has been no latest report regarding the sequel.

External links

• Kaminey at Bollywood Hungama
• Kaminey at the Internet Movie Database