Paanch

Prompted me to chip in after the ROCK ON!! "euphoria". A film I saw at the at Osians in 2003. A film made way-back…..an underground fav. Though a envy worthy status for a film to be loved and sought after even in it's unreleased state.…it's been long and it needs to be out in the open. What if we never got to watch Fight Club or Old Boy ever and just were privy to the downsized Indian Censor friendly Sanjay Gupta's Zinda and what if the only Fight Club I knew was Vicky Malhotra or Chopra or whatever's Zayed Khan starrer Fuzz Club? I would dread it if censors all over the world kept a film in limbo for their own immaturity and stunted growth process.

And now that it's cleared what are the producers upto? Is it a medical product to have an expiry. Will it lose it's value?

For me Paanch still looks fresh and dark/morbid/stark/gritty and this is the movie which patented Anurag Kashyap's neon fetish. When the first poster of Alwyn Kalicharan was released in the TOI some years back…..it read… "This Winter Think Neon"

15 fps shots...time transitions.....great music....VIJAY MAURYA is awesome....as usually towering over the expected SHOW STEALERS....KK and Aditya Srivastav......who are GREAT anyways....the problem is they are so good....you know they are gonna blow you...so you expect it....awesome music......Abbas Tyrewala's legendary "TAMAS" lyrics...they still manage to haunt me......

IT'S ABOUT ROCK…….and there is ROCK…..they dope....they swear…they scratch armpits….they want a better life….Luke wants to be recognized…ever worshiped…and music is a let out…a let out for angst/love/lust/greed and unfulfilled dreams and not just a Sunday relief in their plush Malabar Hill penthouse.

A film which gives me the choice to explore or feel for the lesser evil than the GOOD v/s BAD routine or is PAANCH about EVIL v/s BAD ASS EVIL. How often do we have that on screen?

ONE OF THE BEST TITLE SEQUENCE....ONE WHICH YOU WILL REMEMBER....AFTER SEVEN WHICH HAD A SIMILAR GRUNGY FEEL TO IT.....I LOVED THIS ONE.....PLUS THE CITY CAPTURED IN IT'S PSYCHEDELIC GLORY.

Paanch needs a wider platform to be seen…..to be loved/hated/criticized/debated on.

There is may be.. not may be but definitely wrong with me or with the censor board who did not given certification to this movie,though i just finished watching the preview copy of this movie after downloading from torrent.i don't know why i took that much time or years... to watch this movie but never the less this movie still got it freshness after 9 years.

so what went wrong why this movie did got released and question remain unanswered even after that time period or so. while watching this movie it reminds me of another exceptionally well picture which recently released called shaitan because that movie shaitan has a shadow of this paanch really i find the glimpse of that in that paanch so when shaitan can get a certification why not this one.

about paanch what can i say. Kay Kay menon rocks man! and so the other star cast really they all together pulled out the great job.and after seeing this one can really say that why anurag kashyap is been known as the one of the most talented director of recent times because he given one of the best work almost 9 or 10 years ago and still its not been appreciated or given credit for masterpiece which hes has created long ago.

as far as songs are concerned Vishal bhardwaj and abbas done once again they have know for uniqueness and freshness because still this kind of work is very rare though there are few like amit trivedi in Dev.d but again there is anurag kashyap again..

editing and cinematography are also the strong parts of the movie and which in whole this movies is truly or nearly a masterpiece......

I feel good i have seen a such kind work before it get theatrical released but on the other had i feel sorry the movie lovers for not got chance to see. and to be honest censor board is been biased to this movie.

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.

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

Saw Paanch at Osian's at Siri Fort Audi no 4 in 2003..hop and skip distance from my erstwhile home.I,along with others in the Audi witnessed something that could and should have changed the landscape of Indian cinema had it released in its stipulated period.Period!

As the opening credits rolled I started to feel overwhelmed by the visuals..expectation began to rise.It had been a long time that so much of effort had gone into the start of a movie.It sets the tone for what is to come.This movie is real and still not in your face.The characters,dialogues and scheme of things are so spontaneous that you start to think yourself being a part of the film/scheme/plot as a mute character/spectator.

Lets talk about the characters/actors:

Luke(K.K. Menon): I have no words to describe him.One actually can see the Devil/Lucifer/Belial in him in certain scenes (Esp Bus and Conductor).He manages to do it so much panache.That fleeting madness in Luke makes you gawk at him with sheer disbelief.Murgi(Aditya Shrivastav):Brilliant silent performance.He talks away the cake at times from KK and Vijay Maurya(Pondi).Such restrained performance is hard to find.What talent!!Pondi(Vijay MAurya): Amazing timing.I am actually tired of eulogizing every actor and character but cannot help but they are so frigggin good.Joy(Joy Augustine) has his own style and does bring a different dimension to the movie with his presence.I like Shiuli's role (Tejaswini)..very strong character portrayal.

This movie deserves to be seen by all.It should see light of the day!! Had the movie been made at this day and age,we could have witnessed mayhem,carnage,silence,evil,ideology,mania,spontaneity,reality...in best ever celluloid form till date.

Must Watch(8.5/10)