The Film: Kaante
Director: Sanjay Gupta
Producer: White Feather Films
Music: Anand Raaj Anand
Lyrics: Dev Kohli
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav
RATING: 2/10
White Feather Films and Film Club Ltd.'s Kaante (A) is a stylised film about six convicts (Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Kumar Gaurav, Lucky Ali and Mahesh Manjrekar) who mastermind a bank heist in America. After successfully looting the bank, they realise that they've been let down badly by an informer who has tipped off the police. Giving a tough fight to the fire opened by the police while they are making good with their booty, the six criminals manage to escape. However, once together again, they are shocked to learn that one among them is the police informer - not just that, he is an undercover cop too! The others decide to unmask the identity of the cop who has betrayed their trust by pretending to be a criminal and ultimately informing the police. After a long drama to establish who the undercover cop is, five (including the cop) of the six men kill each other. The sixth one, more intelligent than the rest, has left (with the loot) the others to break their heads over the identity of the cop. But there's a hint that even he is ultimately captured by the police.
If stylish camerawork, cheap comedy (for masses and front-benchers) and hit songs are the plusses in the film which is inspired from the Hollywood film, Reservoir Dogs, the list of minuses is big, really big. The main drawback of the drama is that it leaves too many questions unanswered. Screenplay writers Sanjay Gupta, Yash and Vinay have done a terribly shoddy job of the story and given the audience a half-baked fare, perhaps, in the belief that style, hype, hoopla and the formidable starcast would be able to camouflage the defects. But for an Indian audience, which is emotional and sees everything with its heart rather than eyes, the gloss fails to make up for the lack of cohesive content.
Glitches in the scripting are plenty. For instance, why does the undercover cop not shoot down the remaining five of his group once the bank heist is complete? What was he waiting for? It wasn't as if the bank robbery was part of a larger plan to, say, blow up the president of the USA. Then, what additional information was he waiting for, to press the trigger? Agreed, the five criminals didn't know who the cop was but the cop himself knew that he was the cop - then why was he pretending to play the guessing game with the rest? And the five criminals too - why were they so hell-bent upon teaching the undercover cop a lesson? The basic human instinct would be to run (with their respective loots) for dear life - without letting anybody else know because any of the remaining members of the group could be the cop. But they all (with the exception of Bali who is forced to remain there) choose to stay there as if they were not criminals waiting to unearth the identity of a custodian of law but rather were custodians of law waiting to unmask a criminal! Nothing could be more unbelievable than this.
The first half has such a liberal use of accented English dialogues that it would completely put off viewers in almost the whole of India except, perhaps, seven or eight cities. The English-Hindi dialogues scene in the cop station, between Sanjay Dutt, Ranjit Choudhry and the American police officer is hilarious but it will be enjoyed only by those who understand the Queen's language - and a sizeable portion of the audience in India doesn't understand it! The reason for the criminals planning the bank heist is too flimsy because of which the operation loses seriousness in the audience's eye. The manner in which the bank robbers drive freely in their cars after the robbery gives the impression that law is an ass in the USA! There's no distrust shown between the six operators, yet there's a reference to the underlying distrust between them in a dialogue. Why?
The portion after the bank robbery is terribly boring largely because there's no justification for what's happening thereafter. The bank robbers refrain from shooting a police officer held captive, for fear of attracting police attention. Really? Then why did they shoot down dead an entire army of policemen, in self-defence just before that? Although the build-up to revelation of the identity of the undercover cop is so much, the actual revelation leaves the viewer unaffected because, frankly, nothing would've changed had any of the six been a cop. And, as said earlier, the whole track of unearthing his identity looks contrived. In that sense, the film's climax actually turns out to be an anti-climax. Dialogues (Milap Jhaveri) are very enjoyable at places but too much usage of obscene phrases (like 'phat gayee' etc.) will keep the womenfolk away from the cinemas.
Among the cast, it is Mahesh Manjrekar and Sanjay Dutt who have the meatiest roles. Considering his superstar status, Amitabh Bachchan should've been given far weightier scenes. Sunil Shetty, too, should've been given a more important character to play. Coming to the performances, Amitabh Bachchan plays the polished criminal beautifully. Despite not having great scenes, if the actor impresses so greatly, it is only because of his charisma and brilliance. Sanjay Dutt plays to the gallery and is extraordinary. His fans will be thrilled! Mahesh Manjrekar is the best among the lot and steals the show from right under everyone's nose. As the comic, stuttering bad man, he is first-rate and will endear himself to the masses and classes alike. Sunil Shetty is restrained. He doesn't get much scope, though. Kumar Gaurav is average. Lucky Ali does a fair job. Ranjit Chowdhry shines. Malaika Arora and Isha Koppikar lend tremendous sex appeal in song-dance numbers. Rati Agnihotri is okay in a guest appearance. Gulshan Grover is fair. Rest lend adequate support.
Sanjay Gupta's direction leaves a lot to be desired. In concentrating on the form, he has sacrificed away the content. Style overpowers so much that the story - which is the heart of the film - takes a back-seat throughout. As a result, the film remains one with all style and no soul. Action scenes and stunts are executed well, but emotions are absent. Comedy is good. Overall, the film looks as if its director was in a tearing hurry to finish it. Computer graphics deserve mention. Production values are below average for a film of this stature.
Anand Raaj Anand's music is excellent. 'Ishq samundar' 'Maahi Ve' and 'Rama re' are the better numbers of the lot. 'Chhod na', composed by Vishal-Shekhar, has a lot of mass appeal. The songs provide relief whenever they appear despite the fact that some of them are not situational. 'Ishq samundar' and 'Maahi Ve' have been picturised stylishly. Background score (Gregor Narholz) is effective. Kurt Brabbee's cinematography is of a high standard.
On the whole, Kaante has an impressive starcast and superb music as its assets, which have resulted in a bumper opening for the film. However, its faulty script and uninteresting drama will not allow it to sustain at the box-office.
