I would definitely like to sit through Kaminey, all over again. This flick paces itself at the beginning, gains momentum and climaxes with a mighty crescendo. Most critics have discussed that the film is reminiscent of Tarantino’s style, and how old Bollywood wine of two brothers in arms, is edgily recast in a new bottle, and yada yada yada. The performances, music, dialogues were par excellence.
But what most people seemed to have missed – and this was instantly picked up by my pal Himi – are the subtle but electric homoerotic vibes between Charlie and Mikhail, right from the moment they commune with joy after discovering a cocaine-filled money-bags guitar, to grooving in a nightclub in psychedelic lighting, to Charlie breaking down in tears when Mikail is shot, to the finale when Charlie flirts with dropping guitar, drugs and potential money bags, into a raging fire, but finally succumbs only after spotting Mikhail’s corpse, stacked in the front seat of a jeep, but not before letting off a grief-stricken howl.
Maybe we are reading too much into this relationship. But then, maybe not. Bollywood tends to shout from the rooftops when making movies about gay people, and what you have is cliché, humour in bad taste, and brazen publicity stunts. But if our hunch is true, we must applaud the director on this subtle coup.
After a lousy morning of too much food, too little sleep and too much surfing, the film proved to be a great watch, and lifted my spirits, completely. Folks, you gotta watch it.
Tags: charlie, gay, kaminey, Mikail, priyanka Chopra, shahid kapur, tarantino, Vishal Bharadwaj, yada yada yada
written with alot of passion