Paanch - A High 5!

While the cricketing world goes high on spot fixing threesome, CNN-IBN asks the view of former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan on the match fixing issue. The Glam dog politician says a very interesting line in his interview which brings me to write this review of “Paanch”, a film by Anurag Kashyap that didn’t see the green signal from our pious-bias censor board [Saif Ali Khan, was that enough for Sharmila to show the green signal for Omkara!]. The line said by Immi was “Crime does not pay you”. It’s a very simple sentence. It may hold no value for a common man like you and me as we don’t get the time to commit a crime [:D], but for a person who commits crime or has been committing crimes, it means big.


Crime is toxic and cumulative if it enjoys success. Like telling lies one crime can derivate hundred more. Intoxication of crime is hard to get rid off, though it pays you nothing in the end.

There have been a number of movies made in Bollywood based on the crime world. Anurag himself wrote the script of “Satya”, one of the biggest blockbusters based on underworld. But “Paanch” is a different kettle of fish, because it tells you how the youth gets involved in crime business rather than showing how the business works in crime world.

The story of Paanch is based on a struggling rock band named “Parasite” made of five different personalities; Luke (Kay kay), Joy (Fernandez), Murgi (Aditya Srivastava), Shiuli (Tejaswini kolhapori) and PornD (Vijay Maurya). It’s a movie of many blasphemous dialogues and some very high end characters; each holding a reason behind his/her place in the movie. Let’s find how they are sketched:

Luke: Luke is the boss of the rest and an absolute canon. I have rarely seen a character sketched so dark and murky in a Hindi movie. He is evil, a true evil. You see the sketches on his walls, you will understand, how many pieces of personalities are fitted inside his single soul. Throughout the movie several change of events tugs and disturbs those pieces and you see the stitches going hay wire. Luke turns demonic when some body hits him. He himself confesses what he did to his father, when his father had beaten him once in childhood. The Graffiti on his wall tells –“Franz Kafka, Van Gogh, Michelangelo were unrecognized geniuses in their life. Recognize me”. Frustration, dreams, struggles and some delirious illusions; all boils down to a rage for money for Luke, and soon you find the guitar going missing from the front man’s hands.


Joy: A monster with a huge build, but a ‘chamcha’ inside. An extremely loyal friend of Luke, often called as “Genda” too, who can never find a fault in Luke’s doings. Again an alternative character, as people with that sort of bulk, hardly live like “yes man” in today’s world. But Luke gave him the shelter, so you got to understand why he comes in this package. He is the victim of friendship, which you discover later.

PornD: A boneless creep, target of every joke, who is bullied through out his life. You can see a character like him every where and any where you go. Being a typical “phattu” by default, PornD makes it worse for him as he develops a crush on Shiuli.

Shiuli: Ok! a single line can define Shiuli. Shiuli might have dated more guys in her life than the number of Handkerchiefs she has lost. She is promiscuous by nature and all done for money. I like Anurag’s definition of Shiuli’s character. No where in the movie do you find the reason behind Shiuli’s date-bed business. No sympathy, just the character she is; Straight and rough.


Murgi: The most level headed character in the movie; speaks less and sees all. Murgi understands Luke the most, but hardly goes against Luke’s decision to turn up as a cannon fodder. He quietly does what he is asked to and calmly expresses what he feels a few times. He is the perfect balance between the two, Joy and PornD.


These guys need money badly to record their first album and a rich guy's son who often comes to their live show and practice sessions, gives them the idea of kidnapping him only. Paanch agrees as Luke likes it and the heist follows into a series of ransom- rage killing, serial killing, ego clashes and mistrusts and self doubts.

What happened to them, what’s waiting for them in future, to know these answers you got to see Paanch.

And if that’s not enough for you then Kay Kay Menon can be a good reason for watching it. Brilliant actor. You see Manoj bajpai in Satya and Shool; He sweeps you off your feet. But that’s Manoj’s range. After watching Gulaal, Shaurya and Paanch I have no doubt that Kay Kay’s repertoire is far stronger than Manoj’s.


Music: Well, Anurag has a different taste of music than others; very alternative and ever changing. He does not stick to a single MD. Vishal Bhardwaj gave the music for Paanch. It’s easily one of the best albums from Vishal’s stable. Lyrics are “fadoo” though positioning of the songs are not. The last song is quite forced and not really needed.


If anything that lacks in Paanch; is the ending. Tarantino or Scorsese would kill it if they would have worked on Paanch. But as Vishal does to his movies many a times, Anurag too missed the plot for Paanch which could have been a thousand times more gripping and darker finish than what it is shown. I have always felt directors of this genre (Like Vishal and Anurag) coming from India have a weak link on finishing up with female characters, an urge to show the female character as the “bad-a**”, they often commit the mistake of making it melodramatic.


I liked that illogically logical part of the movie, where the gang goes inside a room to burgle and starts eating and playing music inside the master’s room. Though it sounds weird, you got to understand these characters are not quite the tom dick and harry we see in your daily life around you. They are impulsive by nature and that’s what makes them draw evil faces in their room and beat a bus conductor on the road.

Paanch was restricted and banned with reasons of extreme drug abuse and violence by censor board. It’s available in some file sharing websites (Like Torrent) as preview copy. If you think, it’s worth a watch; watch it for sure.

P.S :ROCK ON IS FOR KIDS , PAANCH IS FOR MEN ! YA I HAVE SAID IT !!