References in Kaminey –

Apart from belonging mostly in the genre of films like Pulp Fiction, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Manmohan Desai film films which Vishal Bhardwaj openly says he admires, I found two other films that may have influenced Kaminey –

1. PARASH PATHAR(1958) - The scene in Kaminey towards the end of the film when the little boy trades chocolate with Amole Gupte for keeping quiet is a reference to Parash Pathar directed by Satyajit Ray.

2. OLDBOY(2003) – In the scene where Charlie recalls how his Dad died, we see Charlie as a grown up child as well as a kid in the flashback. Vishal Bhardwaj uses that brilliantly. We see young Charlie bring the money to get his father out of the prison. But it’s too late and Guddu throws the money back to Charlie. The young Charlie is replaced by Shahid Kapur in the scene and the scene becomes a metaphor that Charlie even after growing up feels the pain he felt when he was young and holds himself responsible for his father’s death. The switch of young Charlie to Shahid Kapur in the flashback itself is a reference to Oldboy when O Daesu goes back to his school to remember the incident that happened. We see the switching between young O Daesu and the older one when he tries to recall the incident.

Metaphors in Kaminey –

1. The shifting in railway tracks – After the death of his father, Charlie changes his track and goes into the bad lane. He comes back on the right track after the confrontation with his brother towards the end. And both the scenes which made him first go to the wrong track in life and come back to the right lane happen near the railway tacks. So the shifting in railway tracks can be related to Charlie’s life.

2. Mikhail when he first appears in the film wears a dress and shades that is very similar to the ones that are used to represent AIDS disease in the Fatak song. Is Vishal Bhardwaj trying to say that association with people like Mikhail is as dangerous as the AIDS disease?