Kaante
2002 · Directed by Sanjay Gupta
Original language: Hindi
- crime
- thriller
- action
The story
Six men meet in a lock-up, where they've been wrongfully detained. Seeking revenge, they make the perfect plan to rob the very bank where police department's salaries are deposited
What it’s like
Saturated, high-contrast Bollywood crime style: sodium-orange and teal night streets, hot neon in the nightclub scenes, and sweaty, dusty interiors lit with hard practical bulbs. The camera moves with restless energy, quick zooms, dolly pushes into tense faces, and sudden freeze-frames that give the action a glossy, comic-book punch. Song sequences break the grit with bright, choreographed colour and big ensemble staging. The score is driven by thumping percussion, brass stabs and electronic pulse, so heist beats build like a drumroll and the quieter moments of brotherhood and grievance arrive with melodic swells. The mood is swaggering and bruised: loud, cocky camaraderie over a current of anger and betrayal. Its pace is brisk, with a few ballads giving the story room to breathe. Violence is frequent and fairly stylised, with gunfights and fistfights and some blood, but no gore for its own sake; the tension is more adrenaline than dread. Best suited to a loud, late-night watch with friends, or to anyone who wants a crowd-pleasing caper with lots of swagger, music and cheeky energy, and who doesn't mind melodrama and noise.
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