Kaamyaab Review: A Significant Film with Full of Heart!

Kaamyaab is full of heart and is dedicated to those that Sudheer (Sanjay Mishra) refers to as the ‘Aaloo’ of Bollywood films – the character artists and the extras, because ‘Yeh log sab jagah fit ho jaate hai.’ The one thing we all can bet for a fact that even while being the best of movie buffs, most of us would have never cared to know or recall the names of eight out of ten famous side-kicks and extras that we have repeatedly seen in dozens of films year after year. From the time we were growing in the 80s, 90s and to date. Kaamyaab, written and directed by Hardik Mehta, brings us their struggles & behind the scene stories.

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Like any other cinema fan, I love watching movies that are based around the film industry, be it the exceptional Luck By Chance or the biopic of a controversial actor in Sanju, or the highly entertaining, The Dirty Picture. Every single one of these movies are connected through the background lens of sadness and gloominess that the industry hides beneath all things glitter and gold.

Kaamyaab also tries to explore a rather dark space in speaking the mind of Sudheer. An almost nameless actor who is way past his glorious phase but finds new hope when an interviewer hands over to him his own ‘IMDb List of Movies’ that he has featured in (exactly 499), and therefore he now desires to search for his 500th film.

Sanjay Mishra is exceptional when it comes to exploring serious cinema space. The guy who’s rather famous for ‘Dhondu Just Chill’ or his ‘Pappa Dialogue’ amongst the Aam-Janta, had also acted in underrated gems like Kadwi Hawa and Aankhon Dekhi. Kaamyaab camouflages like being a film in a film, but at the same time, also plays out as almost a tribute to Sanjay Mishra himself, by giving him yet another one-liner that will be cherished forever.

His character in the movie is a household name after a profound dialogue in one of the many films he has done in the 80s – “Enjoying life, aur option hi kya hai!” This line will be a golden feather (and probably the most important one now) in his real-life too. We all love to go on a nostalgic trip after all, with these ‘Chote mote kirdaar’ in movies, which is mostly through their funny reactions or references to their clothes or comic expressions.

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The film breaks the fourth wall when bringing alive the forgotten faces and telling about a certain actor’s actual journeys. There is Avtar Gill playing himself (The Inspector, Goon, Judge, Advocate, Evil Father in many 90s films) who’s success in the real life is largely credited to being close to Mahesh Bhatt.

He gets some of the best ‘tongue in cheek’ dialogues (written by Radhika Anand) and also brings home most of the film’s humor. There’s a whole sequence of older actors used for marketing ayurvedic medicines in late-night TVCs.   And then there’s him saying: ‘Woh din door nahi jab yeh log patriotism ka syrup bhi bechenge’ – “Pehle mein desh ka gaddar tha, lekin iska sevan karne ke baad ab mein ek sachcha Deshbhakt ban gaya hoon.” I clapped, and, so did the audience in the entire theatre. Then you have the cute Guddi Maruti in a brief appearance (that chubby college girl of every single 90s film). It was lovely to see her again after ages.

The supporting cast of Kamyaab includes Deepak Dobriyal playing the owner of a Casting Agency, the tagline of which says “No Couch, Only Casting.” There’s also Akashdeep Arora, Isha Talwar and Sarika Singh who play their parts perfectly. Additionally, the quick recreated scenes that were typical to the 70s and 80s commercial potboilers, was fun to see.

Writing – as cine-goers, we often complain of commercial films forcing ‘commercial aspects’ to leverage their substandard products. But, in my opinion, Kaamyaab was one such, where-in the extra-ingredients were rather needed to make it an even better package, and none of it would have looked out of place. The heart lies beautifully in making an earnest story, though the same could have been brought to life with a little more effort on the execution level too. More on the negative side of things, the climax also plays out in a clichèd manner.

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Overall, Kaamyaab largely turns out to be a significant watch with the positives outweighing the negatives. If you’re one of those people who complains or is tired of hearing that ‘Bollywood mein achi filmein nahi banti’ and open to exploring the slightly off-beat indie stories, Kaamyaab deserves to be seen. The fact that such underrated movies are now backed by big and note-worthy production houses like Red Chillies Entertainment and Drishyam Films certainly gives a gleeful hope for the future of our Bollywood cinema.

Rating – 3.75/5 | Grade – B+

Written by Neelam Joshi (@Nilzrav)

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