Kaante (2002) User Reviews

And the Indian/Bollywood industry just make up their own plots.

[Streetwolf · 7/10 · 13 January 2003]

A well awaited movie I finally was able to see it and what a surprise, it's another rip off of a Hollywood movie, just in a longer version!

6 strangers get arrested for one crime and end up in one jail for the night. Together they plan a flawless crime, to rob a bank. With flashbacks and some present events, we get to see who is who and how they ended up in that cell. Major, a man with an ill wife on her death bed at home is looking to get some help to get his business sorted out. Marc, a bouncer in love with one of the dancers at the club gets framed by his boss. Bali, a lunatic with a retarded sister at home has half a brain and is aided by a partner he has known for 6 months, Mac. Andy, a small time criminal who knows his way with computers and stuff, but also has trouble at home with his now divorced wife and little son who he can't support. Ajju, a crook, whose crime gets them all in jail where they meet. The robbery goes smooth, but one gets injured and they don't understand how the police arrive there until they grab a cop, who tells them that one of the 6 is an undercover cop.......

For those who have seen Reservoir Dogs, you'll know who the cop is and the mystery will be solved before you know it, but still Bollywood goes all out with great songs and stuff so for those who haven't seen Reservoir Dogs, this is worth a watch.

I rate this 7/10, god acting and some funny scenes.

Sweet & stylized. Who cares if it rips off?

[ezikiel312 · 8/10 · 23 June 2004]

To say honestly, this is probably one of the best Bollywood films from recent years. Considering that it's a total ripoff (and not the first time) of Hollywood crime and gangster movies, that's saying a lot.

The movie revolves around six Indian hoods living in L.A., each with a history or current involvement in crime. You have leader Major (Amitabh Bachchan), loose cannon Ajju (Sanjay Dutt), club bouncer Mark (Suneil Shetty), techie Andy (Kumar Gaurav), bumbling Bali (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his more sane partner, Mac (Lucky Ali). All of them have a desperate need for money for their own separate reasons and decide to band together and rob a bank. Upon doing so, they discover that the police were tipped off to it, and then try to discover which of them is an undercover cop.

The plot can be split into three separate acts, most of the first being derived from The Usual Suspects, the second from Heat, and the third from Reservoir Dogs. The first part (having little to do with the rest of the movie) serves as a character setup, through a police interrogation about a truck, the second about the planning of the robbery, and the third as it's aftermath. Every sequence taken almost page by page off their "inspiration." It's here that most would differ on the film, but I'm looking beyond.

All of the actors are well cast, save perhaps Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav. All a great at playing the tough guy, yet also as their individual characters. Sanjay Dutt portrays an essence of total badass gangsta, and Manjrekar provides some of the film greatest laughs as a bafoon with an affinity for sex an obscene jokes.

Which brings me to my next point. I have never seen an Indian movie with the amount of swearing and vulgar content as this one, probably because of it's Western source material. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind it, but it goes to extremes. I didn't get the idea of an Indian strip club nor how and why the six got to where they were. The film makes a point that there is a huge Indian crime culture in L.A., which I don't believe for a second.

Wowing me were definitely some fun jokes as I mentioned above, and the centerpiece shootout with the cops, referencing almost every big action sequence in film. Mindless, but fun. The de-saturated green picture gave it a gritty look adding to the feel. And of, course, no Bollywood movie is complete without songs, and luckily this one gives us a couple memorable ones which fit the movie, and serve more as background score rather than part of the story.

All in all a fun flick that in fun to look at and watch. Maybe I'm going soft on it since I am very fond of the three aforementioned Hollywood movies, but this movie takes those plot lines and makes them its own. 3/4 stars

Stylish flick that fails to live up to expectations

[ozzyrocks86 · 8/10 · 4 December 2003]

Kaante, boasting of a millionaire star cast which includes Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, and Suneil Shetty, is Sanjay Gupta's latest Hollywood remake. Inspired from Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects, and Michael Mann's Heat, the film is about six NRI Indians who come together to pull off a bank robbery. But the movie falls short of expectations, mainly due to the gaping holes in the plot. Technically, the movie is first-rate, but Gupta's overuse of style becomes the movie's weak link. It seems that Gupta tried to camouflage the movie's inherent weaknesses with style. Performance-wise, Bachchan is commanding as the leader of the group. Shetty delivers a controlled, yet polished performance. Director-turned-actor Mahesh Manjrekar impresses with his funny antics. Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav hold their own. But it is the deadly Dutt who steals the show with his rugged looks and menacing screen presence. Despite its shortcomings, Kaante is a perfect popcorn flick which is worth a watch. 7/10.

When Hollywood makes a Bollywood film.

[Kaippally · 18 January 2003]

Let me begin by saying that I write this review with a very open mind. I have deliberately refrained from comparing this film to a dozen Hollywood films I have seen in the past. I think its unfair to judge a Bollywood film produced entirely in Hollywood with a budget that's a fraction of the cost of a low budget Hollywood film. Let's judge this cinema as we judge an Indian cinema.

The opening sequence of this film sets the atmosphere for a warm summer day in LA. It sets the mood for some sinister event that is yet to happen. Some crime has taken place in the City and the usual suspects are rounded up by the LAPD and questioned. The usual suspects being: the Yashvardhan Rampal "Major" (Amitabh Bachan), Jay Rehan 'Ajju' (Sanjay Dutt), Marc Issak (Sunil Shetty), Raj Yadav (Mahesh Manjrekar), Anand Mathur (Kumar Gaurav), and Maqbool Haider (Lucky Ali). None of them trust each other, yet they team up to rob a bank. (By mentioning the words "usual suspects" please bear in mind that I am not throwing you any hints.)

The first five minutes of the film sets the mood, perspective, character relationships, general theme of the story and direction of the plot. This first six minutes in itself is a first as far as Hindi film goes.

One of the most outstanding features of this film is that it has done away with post production voice dubbing, and has made live on site recording of the dialogues. This is a real change from the unnatural dubbed voice-overs we have grown sick and tired of in Bollywood films. Dialogues are natural and the sound actually blends in with the LA atmosphere. There is also depth and perspective to the sounds. The sounds of police siren wailing away till kingdom come, constantly reminds us that it is really LA. Some real professionals have been put to work on the sound recording.

The title sequence in this film is also a welcome change. Something I have never seen in other Hindi movies. Smartly designed urban typography with proper spacing and thematic colours. Music is well chosen. Timing is uniform. Motifs and theme are consistent. simply smashing !!!

For once Americans speak the way Americans usually speak as opposed to the usual slowed-down-for-desi-audience-dialogues we usually hear in Indian films.

Cinematography of Kaante is simply brilliant. One can see a perfect marriage of editing and photography with sharp cuts, different camera angles and some dramatic perspectives of Los Angeles city. Anamorphic lenses have been cleverly used to show wide angle shots especially during the shots of the LA strip bar. However the use of warm filter has been a bit overdone. Some indoor night shots can be seen in warm tones, which was quite unnecessary.

Some nice time lapse sequences and aerial shots can also be seen. This does not mean the photographer goes on a tour of LA city tour, as most Bollywood photographers do while shooting in foreign lands. You also won't see the hero and heroin doing the usual Universal Studios tour in this movie for a change.

Kaante is packed with some decent action sequences. Perhaps also a first for a film shot in a foreign country. Money has been well spent on some real American stunt actors playing cops. There is also a tastefully executed strip bar song and dance number with the sexy Malaika Arora. The American cast is excellent.

Has Hollywood invaded Bollywood in Kaante? There are real reasons for technical excellence in this film. Apart from the cast, direction and script writers, there is very little Bollywood presence in Kaante. Cinematography, set decoration, special effects, makeup, and almost all of the technicians in this movie are Hollywood hands. Perhaps that's why this film is so different.

Sanjay Dutt and Amitabh Bachan have performed their roles faithfully well. New comer Mahesh Manjrekar puts on a commendable performance as the crazed hoodlum. I could resist comparing him to Joe Pesci in Casino while I watched him, :. We hope there is more up his sleeves in the near future. The rest of the six main characters do not share equal number of lines or screen time. There is plenty of wit and humour without trying too hard to be funny. The dialogues are natural. Actors perform effortlessly giving the impression of life.

Having said all that. There are drawbacks. The script is too wordy at times. The fast paced action sometimes grind to dreaded speech session. Some minor plot holes and illogical turn of events can be noticed. I mentioned that plot introduction and character building took place during the first 6 minutes of the film. But then the story continues to build relationships even till the end of the film. During the last 1 minute of the movie we are shown some 2nd unit shots of Raj Yadav's sister in an institution. This really has little bearing on the story, and is completely unnecessary. We also learn little about Majors wife and family hence we are unable to share his emotions. Sometimes its best to leave the complex relationship building effort in the first half of a story. It tends to distract the viewer from the story line. There is even a song towards end of the film, which was quite out of place. It seems there is an unwritten law in Bollywood that a film has to be longer than two hours, regardless of whether you have the material. This film would have been lot more exciting, if it was a little shorter.

But none of the drawbacks should scare away anyone who wants to see Hindi cinema at the juncture of a major revolution. Kaante will remain an unforgettable and major step in the evolution of Hindi Cinema.

Poor Mans Reservoir Dogs

[nabeelnazir · 6/10 · 25 January 2019]

It is nothing but a slower and longer version of Reservoir Dogs with songs and dance.

Nowhere touching close to the original.

Coming from Bollywood its a surprise!

[DeadManWalking · 7/10 · 30 December 2002]

Kaante is a good film if not an excellent one.Especially after going through all the same stories in each and every film one finds this film as a refreshing film and may be introduction of a martin scorsese type crime genre to the Indian film industry(it should not be taken as if I am resembling it to the martin scorsese movies but the genre is more or less very similar).So sit tight and enjoy.

Adaptation of Reservoir Dogs.

[hunt_ethan · 9/10 · 2 August 2003]

This movie is an adaptation of Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", the only difference being that there are more people in the movie. I must say, for a bollywood movie, I got more to see than I expected. I saw this movie before watching Reservoir Dogs and the performances were simply brilliant. Amitabh, Sanjay and Mahesh Manjarekar make an excellent team. If you want to relax and watch an explosive bollywood movie on a friday night, this is exactly the kind of movie you are looking for.

I say just see "Reservoir Dogs"

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 17 November 2014]

"Kaante" is an Indian version of the Quentin Tarantino film, "Reservoir Dogs". While I can understand and appreciate that the Indian film industry would want to remake this film for domestic consumption, there are two main problems with it. The Taratino film is a classic--so good and such an important film that the director, Sanjay Guptah, is at a HUGE disadvantage and cannot possibly top the original film...or even come close to it. And, more importantly, the Indian film seems a bit sleazy, as no where in the credits does it give any credit to Tarantino...none!

Like the original film, several guys meet in prison and plan a bank job. The planning is elaborate and then the plan falls apart because the cops KNEW they were coming and the final portion concerns figuring out which of them is really working for the police. All of this is right from the original and little is innovative or new. A few little points are nice (for example, I liked Amitabh Bachchan's character and motivations) but some of the new Indian touches are unwanted--such as the silly and very distracting musical numbers featuring a whole lotta strippers who keep a lot of their clothes on throughout their gyrations. Overall, I just cannot see a reason to see this film...see the original.

Kaante is good Entertainer with Great performances

[Mission_Kashmir · 10/10 · 23 December 2002]

Obviously Kaante was made for the Indian audience, not Americans. So, it not fair to compare with a Hollywood film. Not a perfectly made film, it does have some illogical sequences. I saw it in a packed theater. And going by the reaction, everybody seems to have enjoyed it. As for me, Kaante was the most enjoyable Hindi film in a long time. I actually felt happy after walking out of the theatre.

Technically there is no Indian film that can match Kaante. Obviously, they got technicians from Hollywood. Right from cinematography to stunt co-coordinators to music supervisor. Dialogues were well written, but some might complain for being too crude. But then you don't expect gangsters to talk in Sanskrit or Urdu.

Sanjay Gupta's films usually are very stylish, but very poor content wise. But this is not the case with Kaante. The story is well developed, the second half is great. But it is definitely inspired by two Hollywood films: Reservoir Dogs & The Usual Suspects.

Performances by six lead guys are very good. Amitabh Bachchan is very good. Sanjay Dutt is brilliant in a tailor made role. Mahesh Manjrekar is the surprise packet. Sunil Shetty is actually good in this film. Kumar Gaurav & Lucky Ali does well also. The girls have miniscule roles.

The thing I really liked about Kaante is that it didn't really focus on Love, Family Relations, and other clichéd rules of Indian Cinema. It basically defies the stereotype of Indian Films.

Kaante is definitely worth a watch or two. I am going to watch it for a second time.

OK for what it is, but doesn't have much personality of its own

[simon_booth · 6/10 · 18 March 2006]

I'm still not quite sure why I had to wait nearly 4 years before I could see KAANTE, the Bollywood remake of Reservoir Dogs starring Amitabh Bachchan... the DVD just seemed to get held up in limbo, and eventually I stopped checking for it every month or two so I'm not sure exactly when it did finally come out.

Was it worth the wait? No, not really... I might have enjoyed it more 4 years ago, but I've moved on and the times have moved on, and now it's just kind of... "meh".

The plot is largely familiar... a group of small time crooks living in LA come together to pull off a big job... to rob the American Service Bank, the bank where all the cops have their accounts (apparently). The heist goes awry, and they suspect they have a mole in the team.

RESERVOIR DOGS was already a remake itself - of Ringo Lam's CITY ON FIRE. However, Tarantino significantly changed things... switching the focus of the story from the undercover cop infiltrating a criminal gang to the gang itself, and replacing the nihilistically downbeat noir-ish vibe of CITY with a hip, street-talking post-modern sort of self-awareness (i.e. some witty dialogue). KAANTE retains the focus on the gang but largely dispenses with the wit & humour... it's a relatively straightforward tale of crime (spread out over 2.5 hours with some musical interludes, naturally).

KAANTE's main claim to fame is that it was the first Indian film shot in the US... "Bollywood Goes Hollywood", as the box claims, and it's quite literally true. There is some attempt to explore the racism that the Indian community in LA encounter, with the police always picking them up as suspects and harassing them... this supposedly provides the motivation for them to actually commit the crime, since they're always being accused of it anyway... hmmm.

Technically, the film is fairly well realised... quite slick and stylish (though the yellow filters which are used on outdoor scenes, presumably to make us think "smog", get a bit much). The acting is pretty good, the script is OK... the film just doesn't have much of a personality of its own. When Tarantino remade CITY ON FIRE he gave it a unique style and spin, made it into a film of its own. KAANTE doesn't seem to have such ambition - it's happy just to be "the Bollywood remake of Reservoir Dogs". Taken on these terms, it's not a bad effort... but the viewer may well be left wondering "was it really necessary?" and "couldn't it have been something more?".

Reservoir Dogs + Heat + Usual Suspects = A very muddled, weak, amateurish effort....

[Brawl_666 · 1/10 · 19 December 2009]

The only reason you might want to see this film is for the extremely effective use of fish-eye lenses and wide-angle anamorphic shots, especially in the LA strip bar. Well, of course, since they employed an American crew to shoot the film. Thanks to the top-notch production values, this film does manage to create an authentic atmosphere, to an extent. As an attempt by Indian filmmakers to adopt Western technical standards, it is just fascinating. Everything else is as wrong as wrong can be - a poor screenplay, too much style and no substance, terrible casting choices, the overuse of yellow filters, and above all, a glaring lack of realism. It must be said, however, that the dancers in the strip bar were drop-dead gorgeous, yes. Not that it helps the film. The fantasy of Indian "gangsters" in LA unintentionally reflects the degree to which Indian audiences (and directors) enjoy aping American action-movie stereotypes....

Great film

[singh-amrit · 9/10 · 6 December 2005]

Kaante boasting of a dream star cast, is among the finest action films made in India. Though there are some loop holes in the story but the slick direction and great performances more than make up for the deficit. Technically the film seems to be flawless, with stylish direction, great music, amazing background scores and breathtaking camera work. The story is about 6 NRIs who plan to pull of a robbery, with one of them turning out to be an undercover cop. All the lead actors portray the character with great aplomb. Amitabh Bachchan is great as always as the leader of the group. Suniel Shetty, Kumar Gaurav and Lucky Ali also do a good job, but the surprise package is débutant Mahesh Mangrakar, who surprises with his amazing comic timings and keeps you alive with his one liners. But it's Sunjay Dutt who steals the show with his invincible screen presence. Though the movie is inspired by Reservior Dogs, but that doesn't stop it from being a great movie watching experience. Worth your time...!!

One of the best Bollywood movie inspired by a Hollywood movie Reservoir dogs.

[xmanin · 7/10 · 25 July 2018]

After watching the full movie I gave 7/10 ... In my opinion Kaante is far batter then Reservoir dogs..due to it ,good direction, music,its hazy vintage picturisation expressing the past ... Very nice movie..

very disappointing (spoiller alert)

[aqsabutt · 1/10 · 31 December 2015]

this film had excellent actors but the story was a complete let down it was very weak and was completely unoriginal.This is a movie that takes a couple brilliant Hollywood crime films and tries to link them whilst adding the special Bollywood affects to it. I think kaante is a mix up of heat and usual suspects.This movie could of been a really good remake of the two movies but i think the whole story was over exaggerated and predictable. the first half of the movie was a lot like a Hollywood film but was quite impressive but the last scene when they are all sat in the warehouse and Andy leaves and gets back together with his wife now that he has money.

What about the American?

[jfdavis3 · 23 January 2003]

This is a unique film in many ways, most of which have been touched upon. It is a refreshing new version of Bollywood film making. Cheers to Sanjay Gupta for taking the chance to be different.

Sanjay Dutt was excellent in this film. He reminds me of Jean Reno, and hopefully this will open him up to an international audience.

What I would also like to comment on is my performance as Detective Maquarrie. I busted my butt to give the audience a realistic LA detective, and did all my own stunts as well.

It was a pleasure working with some of Bollywoods best, they are truly a great bunch of guys and were very profesional. Hats off to all of them for taking a chance on this film.

If you have any comments, please feel free to e-mail me.

I can also be seen in last years "Windalkers" as a marine sgt., and you will be seeing alot more of me in the future.

Thanks to all that saw the film.

JF Davis

The Usual Suspects meet Resovoir Dogs

[Sherazade · 7/10 · 30 November 2009]

A truck load of stolen money goes missing and the suspects have been apprehended but did they really need to drag out the interrogation process? I mean seriously in the beginning it seemed fine but this film nearly clocked 3 hours just based on unnecessary scenes. The acting was top-notch and I loved the song and dance sequences by Isha Koppikar and Malaika Arora-Khan which were great. You can tell a lot went into the thought and making of this film from the location (Los Angeles, California) to the all star cast including but not limited to: Amitabh Bachchan, Lucky Ali, Suneil Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Gulshan Grover, and others. Helmed by the maestro Sanjay Gupta.

flawless remake of reservoir dogs with bad Indian drama

[ptewarie · 6/10 · 3 January 2003]

A film with such great actors, none of them need to make a poor performance like this, the film is a bad copy of reservoir dogs. The film has good ingredients with good actors, good filming, only the story is a flawless remake of reservoir dogs, a classic gangster movie,

Excellent

[syed_186 · 10/10 · 9 January 2005]

This movie is the best Indian film in the history of Indian cinema. the best part about this movie is the way that snajay gupta has put the songs into the film, they are not those where the hero and the heroine run off together into the hills and start to dance, the songs are related to the story in one way or another. I especially like sanjay dutts acting, to his Hindi slang to his crude acting is top performance. The way sanjay gupta has done his style by introducing what i call the "buzz" effect, the way he shows the power of the guns on the screen by blurring the images with a trail. And i like the storyline even though it has been copied from Hollywood, the climax is outstanding, like reservoir dogs you don't actually get involved with the characters, here in kaante you feel each and every persons reason to do the robbery, the way life has treated them amongst all this is the humour, mahesh manjrekar's performance is one of the best i have seen, he also provides the humour. Overall this is a great movie i would rate this movie 10/10

Remake worth watching

[kingofptg · 7/10 · 28 June 2021]

For those of you who haven't seen the original film. This film will be a mighty entertainer. The plot is easy to follow with some very good acting. Some scenes in this film are ao rich in its grit that you forget that they are just actors who are working for a living.

If you're seeing this review you should watch this film. You might get amazed. And those of you who care about remakes being worthless, to your surprise Quentin Tarantino himself has declared this film to be one of the best adaptations of his work.

An Instant Classic!!

[scarface786 · 10/10 · 23 December 2002]

This remake of Reservoir Dogs is brilliant, even better than Dogs!! Amitabh Bachchan and the rest of the cast will blow you away with their impactful yet emotional acting. Simply not to be missed.

Reservior Dogs + Usual Suspects

[silvan-desouza · 6/10 · 21 February 2014]

This film was called one of the most stylish films of bollywood and changed trends, the look was of International standards, the lingo used, double entendrees.etc The film was a remake of Reservior Dogs(1992) and also The Usual Suspects The first half is similar to the latter, where prisoners meet in the prison, the start is a bit slow, but the scene in the jail when they meet is well handled, the focus is more on establishing things and one liners but several scenes don't make sense like the training to rob a bank is very stupid, from shooting on rooftops to all, it hardly seems convincing The robbery scene is well handled at the interval The second half is similar to Reservior Dogs, but lacks the intensity yet the scenes where the characters suspect each other is well handled, However there are flaws, like how come the characters roam around freely after robbing the bank? Why do they hessitate to kill one cop when they killed millions while escaping from the bank yet there are superb scenes like the pre-climax when the culprit stands exposed, the climax too is superb But the director tries to force in romance too and hence some aspects don't cut ice.

Direction by Sanjay Gupta is good Music by Vishal Shekhar was trend setter, be it Ishq Samundar, Rama Re, Mahi Ve.etc

Amongst cast all get equal footage irrespective of their star status Amitabh Bachchan is good in his role as always, Sanjay Dutt lends style to his role and plays it as only he can, Suneil Shetty too is superb Mahesh Manjerekar makes a confident debut though his role does annoy at times, Lucky Ali and Kumar Gaurav leave a mark Malaika Arora is okay, Rati Agnihotri is decent Gulshan Grover irritates rest are okay

What else we can expect from a thief!

[Rid_mad · 1/10 · 23 September 2003]

I am not a movie buff nor I have huge knowledge of movies .I agree that Kaante is a brilliant action flick from Bollywood .It is told that Kaante is inspired from Reservoir Dogs.But I think there should be a limitation of inspiration. The score is not original,two important songs {rama re,another one played on the death of major's wife} are also inspired!The making style is inspired from Martin's movies.When we love something so much and want to make some thing like that,thats called inspiration.But when we copy something consciously,thats called stealing.Most of the Bollywood movies including the name of the industry{Bollywood} are also inspired!Gupta what ever what do you do please try to make something original.Your other works are also inspired!But as a thief what else we can expect from you.

Very different indian film but its awesome

[Dhanesh · 10/10 · 6 January 2003]

Great movie , One of the best indian movies I've seen , Everything is just perfect , the performance of the actors , the settings of the camera , the way they shot the last scene , the bank scene , everything is just perfect . The dialogue are very good , and i think , we've have never seen dialogues like " Your girlfriend gives me a hard on " translated in english ,.

Well i'll recommended to anyone , those who don't like indian film , i am sure they like this one .

9.5 out of 10 for me .

Kaante

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 3 April 2024]

The first Bollywood film to be completely shot in Los Angeles, Kaante combines The Usual Suspects with Reservoir Dogs and the inspiration of Tarantino's movie, City On Fire, and becomes its own movie. Director and co-writer Sanjay Gupta said of the movie, "The whole world thinks Kaante is Reservoir Dogs. No, it isn't. There are a few similarities in the second half of the film, but the genesis of Kaante was the Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri & Sons Jewellers robbery case, which was later made into the film Special 26. Till today, that's unsolved. My idea was: 'What if they were six boys from Dagdi Chawl, who conducted the most successful heist in the history of India, go back to Dagdi Chawl, which is suddenly surrounded by cops?"

Six Indian men living in America - all with a criminal record - are arrested by the police and interrogated about stealing laptops. Enraged at being profiled, they work to rob a bank where the LAPD paychecks come from.

They are Jay "Ajju" Trehan (Sanjay Dutt), Yashvardhan "Major" Rampal (Amitabh Bachchan), Marc Issak (Suniel Shetty), Andy (Kumar Gaurav), Bali (Mahesh Manjrekar) and Mak (Lucky Ali). After the bank robbery - during which they have an extended gunfight with a SWAT team - they go back to their secret hideaway. There, Bali goes all Mr. Blonde on a police officer and gets killed by Mak, who ends up being Mr. Orange.

So, yes, imagine Tarantino but add in a near 3 hour running time because, of course, Indian Hindi-language movies need music numbers.

Quentin himself said that this movie was his favorite of all the movies influenced by his work. "I think it was fabulous. Of the many rip-offs, I loved Hong Kong's Too Many Ways To Be No.1 and this one, Kaante. The best part is, you have Indian guys coming to the U. S. and looting a U. S. bank. How cool is that! I was truly honoured. And these guys are played by the legends of Bollywood. Here I am, watching a film that I've directed and then it goes into each character's background. And I'm like, "Whoa." For, I always write backgrounds and stuff, and it always gets chopped off during the edit. And so I was amazed on seeing this. I felt, this isn't Reservoir Dogs. But then it goes into the warehouse scene, and I am like, "Wow, it's back to Reservoir Dogs." Isn't it amazing!"

Tarantino later screened Kaante at his New Beverly Cinema with Reservoir Dogs and City on Fire.

It is amazing as it shows so much more than its inspiration. There's a lot that explains why the characters are getting involved in the robbery, such as Marc wanting to save his dancer girlfriend from a club owner, Major is trying to save the life of his terminally ill wife and Andy is trying to get custody of his son.

It also has so much influence from other American movies, as Gupta tried watching Reservoir Dogs but found it boring as he loved the movies of Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. He didn't want too much talking and instead, you get explosive battles. The arrest and interrogation scenes are very close to The Usual Suspects and the tip of the cap to that movie is that the main officer is named Detective MacQuarrie, a reference to screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie.

How realistic is the idea of this movie? Suniel Shetty, after going back to his hotel after working out, was taken by the police as they suspected he was a terrorist as this movie was filmed right after 9/11.

Usual Suspects + Reservoir Dogs = Crap

[adityad · 1/10 · 7 January 2003]

If you've seen Usual Suspects and especially Reservoir Dogs don't even bother with this. Here is a movie that is has a large budget(esp. by Bollywood standards) good actors and a great idea: take two excellent hollywood crime flicks and put'em together. How did they ruin it? The director/editor went nuts with about 2 billion cuts. I felt like I was watching a music video instead of a film. There is no need for 4 consecutive color to black and white fadeouts every other minute. The whole movie felt like it was made by an overactive youngster who just learnt all the tricks from film school. The acting was good. Even though Manjarekar was doing a good job his stutter got a little annoying. Tremendous plot holes when trying to move the story of Usual Suspects from English to Hindi: Who the hell is going to round up 6 indians for a truck theft?? aren't there some other criminals left. ok im willing to ignore that. The bank robbery has got to be the most incompetent in movie history with or without the undercover cop. Why argue about killing McQuarrie because he is a cop when the shootout to escape from the bank probably killed 50 police officers??? What's one more. The opening credits which lasts 3-4 minutes just shows the 6 guys walking shoulder to shoulder in slo-mo. That just gives u an idea of how annoying this film was. Why try to make the film schmaltzy by making all the guys be kinda nice?? What a waste!!!! This movie could have been an excellent remake but ended up being an overstylized piece of junk. Sorry to be so harsh but this movie took too much of my time