Kaante

This movie is an adaptation of Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", the only difference being that there are more people in the movie. I must say, for a bollywood movie, I got more to see than I expected. I saw this movie before watching Reservoir Dogs and the performances were simply brilliant. Amitabh, Sanjay and Mahesh Manjarekar make an excellent team. If you want to relax and watch an explosive bollywood movie on a friday night, this is exactly the kind of movie you are looking for.

To say honestly, this is probably one of the best Bollywood films from recent years. Considering that it's a total ripoff (and not the first time) of Hollywood crime and gangster movies, that's saying a lot.

The movie revolves around six Indian hoods living in L.A., each with a history or current involvement in crime. You have leader Major (Amitabh Bachchan), loose cannon Ajju (Sanjay Dutt), club bouncer Mark (Suneil Shetty), techie Andy (Kumar Gaurav), bumbling Bali (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his more sane partner, Mac (Lucky Ali). All of them have a desperate need for money for their own separate reasons and decide to band together and rob a bank. Upon doing so, they discover that the police were tipped off to it, and then try to discover which of them is an undercover cop.

The plot can be split into three separate acts, most of the first being derived from The Usual Suspects, the second from Heat, and the third from Reservoir Dogs. The first part (having little to do with the rest of the movie) serves as a character setup, through a police interrogation about a truck, the second about the planning of the robbery, and the third as it's aftermath. Every sequence taken almost page by page off their "inspiration." It's here that most would differ on the film, but I'm looking beyond.

All of the actors are well cast, save perhaps Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav. All a great at playing the tough guy, yet also as their individual characters. Sanjay Dutt portrays an essence of total badass gangsta, and Manjrekar provides some of the film greatest laughs as a bafoon with an affinity for sex an obscene jokes.

Which brings me to my next point. I have never seen an Indian movie with the amount of swearing and vulgar content as this one, probably because of it's Western source material. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind it, but it goes to extremes. I didn't get the idea of an Indian strip club nor how and why the six got to where they were. The film makes a point that there is a huge Indian crime culture in L.A., which I don't believe for a second.

Wowing me were definitely some fun jokes as I mentioned above, and the centerpiece shootout with the cops, referencing almost every big action sequence in film. Mindless, but fun. The de-saturated green picture gave it a gritty look adding to the feel. And of, course, no Bollywood movie is complete without songs, and luckily this one gives us a couple memorable ones which fit the movie, and serve more as background score rather than part of the story.

All in all a fun flick that in fun to look at and watch. Maybe I'm going soft on it since I am very fond of the three aforementioned Hollywood movies, but this movie takes those plot lines and makes them its own. 3/4 stars

Yerp, this is probably 2002's most keenly anticipated bollwood film...and it clicks!

thought to be a remake of reservoir dogs, this film revolves around 6 men criminals...with one traitor in them...

the music in this film is no biggie, just below average...but the film's great...worth the wait...

The only change is that Kaante is the Indianised version, with additional family members and some good songs thrown in. Watching the original Reservoir Dogs (director: Quentin Tarantino) after I watched Kaante made me realise that the song and dance sequences in Kaante actually thinned/watered down the pace, plot and the grip of the entire storyline. Kaante is a decent bet for your money, but then you have to hand it to the director to have come up with an original story/plot and executed is equally well.

The director should have "adapted" with minimal changes to the pace of the story. Quentin Tarantino would not have minded I believe.

Somebody who has not seen Reservoir Dogs has a good chance of liking this one. There are some good performances but the movie mostly seems like a patch work of Usual Suspects and Reservoir Dogs and does not have any new stuff worth mentioning. I also did not understand why they chose USA as the background in the movie. The director has used a yellow filter for most of the shots which makes it tiring on the eyes. Since the movie was made with the Indian audience in mind many dialogues get repeated in Hindi and English which gets annoying at times. Recommended for people who like Hindi masala movies and haven't seen the Hollywood originals. Otherwise there are better ways to spend your money.