There are movies and then there are Anurag Kashyap’s movies. I have been absolutely stunned everytime I go see one of his movies. Black Friday was a brilliant job, Dev D was simply superb along with Gulaal which I think was enough to make me a die-hard Anurag Kashyap fan. He’s written screenplays for Ram Gopal Verma’s Satya, Kaun and Shool. He’s also penned down dialogues for a Mani Ratnam flick, Yuva. His work speaks for himself. So I stumbled upon one his previous flicks, Paanch, which is also his debut film as a director. Paanch faced clearance trouble at the Indian censor board and then some business issues, hence the film failed to make it as a mainstream release. The film was shot in 2000. Almost 10 years down the line it’s still very appealing.
Paanch is a gut-wrenching, visually appealing, thought provoking film about how crime never eventually pays back. The film is not about five youngsters aiming to become the biggest rock band in the world. The film is not about the youngsters making their way to the underworld. The film doesn’t glorify crime, the film depicts how crime kills crime and how money makes people viciously sick. The characters are so rich and deep that it makes you feel for them. This has got to be Kay Kay Menon’s best performance till today. The film is very real.
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