Paanch

Almost all films stale out if the release is delayed by few months... forget years. Anurag Kashyup's Paanch is one of the strongest exceptions on the list. This film delayed by almost a decade is still so effective, most importantly because its narrative is timeless and was also ahead of its times making it relevant and entertaining even today.

Much before Bollywood had seen any Kaminey, Paanch was one of the first 'dark' and intense films from India and absolutely effective. Drugs, smoke, alcohol, abuse, expletives, kidnap, murder, body butchering, heavy metal rock music, dark lightening in scenes, sexual undertones in dialogues, crime thriller genre, noir treatment, erratic lyrics and much more - and none of this simply forced to make the film look pretentiously dark.

The narrative is unambiguous yet not predictable for a moment. 5 people (4 guys and 1 girl) get involved in a kidnap which leads to murder and the more they try to get out of it, the more they get trapped in it. The 5 people setting reminded of Mahabharat's Draupadi and the Paanch Pandavs (through here there was 1 guy less). There is also a subtle reference to Draupadi in a scene where Kay Kay asks Tejaswini to wear a longer sari - 'Sadi lambi pehna kar Draupadi' (the word Draupadi was muted by censor in the preview copy) - Interestingly in this scene there are 5 guys with the additional one being the one to be subsequently kidnapped (Pankaj Saraswat).

All the characters are negative and Kashyup develops each of them so distinctly. Even his approach to writing and directing every scene is absolutely innovative with the characters behaving unpredictably and the situations changing spontaneously. The characters are so unusual to Bollywood screen but so true to real life. You might have surely encountered one or the other character prototypes in real life in your college, workplace or home. One is a coward (Vijay Maurya), one is silent spectator (Aditya Srivastava), one is partner in crime (Joy Fernandes).

The performances are BRILLIANT. Without a doubt this is Kay Kay Menon's career best performance till date. He is so much into the character of a hot-headed perpetrator who vents out his frustration on anybody and everybody in the team that at times you literally feel a part of the cast who are bogged down by his constant bossing and bullying on the gang. Even when he sings a rock song, he is so much into the act that you feel he's performing for a live audience. Another gem of a discovery of this film was Vijay Maurya (who by now has become popular for his roles in Black Friday (as Dawood) and Mumbai Meri Jaan). Maurya plays his part so perfectly that you actually feel pity for his character's cowardice. Aditya Narayan and Joy Fernandes are good. It's sad that an actress as amazing as Tejaswini Kolhapure got lost never to come back in a proper role in Hindi films.

It's surprising that Censors kept the film on hold considering some of today's Hindi films have more expletives than Paanch. Actually the censor wasn't as evolved then as it is today. That's what makes the film ahead of its times. Now the film is seemingly approved by the Censors but is perhaps stuck due to producer problems. However there is not even a single smooch or even kissing scene in the film forget any sexual intimacy.

Music is one factor that Anurag Kashyap never ever gets wrong with. While we always talk of filmmakers like Subhash Ghai, Yash Chopra or Sanjay Leela Bhansali to have a good music sense that reflects in their films, Anurag Kashyap has always had superlative and path-breaking musical score in all his films (though he is grossly underrated for it) and has a 100% perfect track record. Whether its Indian Ocean in Black Friday, Amit Trivedi in Dev.D or Piyush Mishra in Gulaal, all his films had refreshingly NEW and very good music. Paanch is no exception with Vishal Bhardwaj (in his early days as a composer) who composed some tunes which were traditionally not Bollywood but very interesting.

Some of the most effective scenes from the films are when - Kay Kay and Maurya get into a fight over switching off the stereo, - when Kay Kay scares Joy for a moment saying 'Kya main Joker dikhta hoon' (supposedly a tribute to Martin Scorcese's Goodfellas), - when Kay Kay faces Inspector Deshpande (Sharat Saxena) for the first time and almost every other scene.

The film brought into light the rock culture (much before the ROCK ON happened), had a subtle reference to a human body butchering scene (which has now become a cliché in crime dramas), had a noir treatment when the genre was still in its nascent stage in Bollywood. Again, ahead of its times... or would you call trend-setting!

However the film is not flawless. The epilogue added to the crime drama in the last 15 minutes is clearly stretched and perhaps the only predictable portion of the plot. The twist in the tale that it intends to create almost falls flat. Also an item number was the worst way to end an otherwise original and entertaining film. Plus the footnote added at the end of the film as a moral-of-the-story (perhaps forced by the Censors) which reads 'Crime Never Pays' absolutely kills the noir effect of the film.

Nevertheless the film is so gripping barring this slack ending that you easily excuse that blemish and enjoy Paanch as one of India's cult-classic crime dramas.

I saw Anurag Kashyap's Paanch at the Cinefan Film Festival, 2002. It was clearly one of the best movies of the festival, on par with movies like Hero and Osama.

The story depicts what ambition, immorality, greed and angst, unmistakably the products of urban life, can do to an ordinary person. A little mischief for the sake of success leads a group of 5 wannabe rock stars to get entangled in a gory web of murder and betrayal.

What follows is a shocking thriller of a story, supported aptly by some great performances, the best coming from Kay Kay Menon and Tejaswini Kolhapure. The movie has a great musical score by Vishal Bhardwaj. The songs, most of which Kashyap interestingly uses up in the first 15 minutes, are brilliant. So is the background music. Another high point of the movie is the cinematography, which impresses upon the viewer an aura of fast-paced urbanity juxtaposed with dark, ruthless bloodshed. If there's a low point in the movie, it is the few minutes after the interval where which seem ineffective and dragged. However, they are easily outweighed by the compelling tension and gloom that permeate the movie.

Clever, brilliant, yet utterly pessimistic, Paanch is strongly recommended.

7.5/10

I had heard so much about this movie for the last 5-6 years that I thought this would be a letdown. Usually over-hyped movies are such that you feel that you were letdown by it. I finally got hold of it and I can say that Paanch is arguably one of the best crime thrillers the Hindi film industry has produced.

I cannot fathom the reason why the government would ban this, (probably because this movie would attain cult status and dissuade the youth of today to smoke and drink and waste their time....) but in this movie we have one of the greatest acting performance by an actor, one of the best soundtracks ever made in the history of Bollywood, and one helluva movie. The movie theme will remind you of Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, only Paanch has a thriller plot apart from based on the systematic destruction of human morals.

The plot is fairly simple. Its about 5 people who are struggling musicians. They play at nightclubs and concerts for cheap cash, but most of it is spent on marijuana, drugs and booze. They are all college dropouts and have almost no connections with their relatives. They live under one roof, practice in a vacant garage of one of their friends(their only friend!!).

The movie continues at leisurely pace until they have an idea to kidnap their friend and ask for a fat ransom from his rich dad. But all goes haywire when one of them in a fit of rage kills their friend. Things turn for the worse when to cover up one murder they go on a killing spree. In the end, all five of them are behind bars, and in a gradual degradation of all morals.

This movie, if and when it comes out will primarily be remembered for the immensely powerful acting performance of one Kay Kay Menon. His performance is bound to remind you of Brad Pitt in Fight Club as the legendary Tyler Dyrden. K.K's music will make you take a jacket and go out to the nearest music store and buy the Original Soundtrack of this movie ASAP!! Paanch is the movie where one can say Bollywood came of age and we had proper rock music.

There are only three songs in the movie, one a bluesy track "Kya din kya raat" one that will remind you of the classic jazz of the 40's, the psychedelic themed "Tu Jaa Maat" meant to remind you Cobain and the rock track "Khuda ke Liye" which will remind you of "Rock On!!" only it was 5 years earlier.. Even The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" was an awesome addition!!!

The acting performances have been superb. Kay Kay Menon was brilliant as "Luke" as I mentioned earlier, and he has been brilliantly supported by the very impressive Aditya Srivastava as "Murgi", Joy Fernandes as "Joy" and Vijay Maurya as the hilarious "Pondy" Even Tejaswini Kolhapure as "Shiuli" the only chick in the movie does a decent job. Sharat Saxena is also impressive in his short role as the Police Inspector.

Lastly, Mr.Anurag Kashyap!!! This was his very first attempt behind the camera. It was his brainchild. He being the producer and writer as well. But kudos to the man, for giving us yet another cinematic pleasure. Thank you sir, and I hope you make more of similar movies and keep us people who are fans of non-mainstream movies satisfied.

A truly well deserved 10/10 !!!

New Defenitions of Bollywood 1)KK is God(Main Khuda)

2)Best Music Director-Vishal Bhardwaj

3)Best Director-Anurag Kashyap(Along with Vishal Bhardwaj) 4)Best Scriptwriter-Anurag Kashyap 5)Best Actor-Kay Kay Menon

6)Best Movie- Paanch

now you can well imagine how good Paanch is!! :D

Wonder if it was released back in 2003, KK would have been the most wanted singer Kay Kay the superstar Vishal Bhardwaj would have been the 1st Indian to receive an Oscar Anurag Kashyap would have left bollywood for Hollywood :D

There are hardly any films that stand the test of a year these days, let alone 8 years. Paanch was shot in 2000, but has yet to see a mainstream release in India due to strange business problems (which continue complicating the world rather than simplifying it). There may be cinematic moments in Paanch that have been replicated in later (and far lesser) films, but the whole here is far greater than the sum of its parts. And that whole is driven by a tone of seething intensity that is too individual, too real, to not be the author's personal voice. Films with personal voices are rare in these times, and that is what makes the film special. Whether Paanch is seen now, or 10 years later, it is this tone that will always give it a distinctive voice.

Despite not having a remarkable plot or even a thought-provoking narrative thrust, and despite a few (no doubt, forced) nods to commercial viability, the film's visceral energy still gives it a very compelling quality. The performances are almost uniformly excellent, and the "realness" of atmosphere can make you smell and taste the time and place – qualities Hindi cinema badly needs to incorporate in its thought process.

This is not a film about music or musicians, but about dark mindsets in people who happen to be musicians. The music (with very distinctive Indian rock songs – Vishal Bharadwaj and Abbas Tyrewala at their best) is just a backdrop but it has a force that makes you forget that it is just a small plot point in the overall scheme of things.

The director of Paanch – Anurag Kashyap, has moved on with a highly accomplished film (Black Friday) and a very personal one (No Smoking), but Paanch will always be special for the new voice that emerged in 2000. Whenever the film is seen.