Kaante (meaning ‘Thorns’) might have been inspired by ‘Reservoir Dogs’ but this Indian version matches its Hollywood counterpart down to a tee as far as the technical aspects and slick production values are concerned. The film opens on six Asian suspects who are rounded up by the Los Angeles police department during a routine criminal investigation. Fed up of such continual harassment, all six decide to rob the American Service Bank which holds the accounts of the entire Los Angeles police force. The members of the gang comprise of Major (Amitabh Bachchan) the leader and mastermind behind the whole plan. The rest of the gang consists of Ajju (Sanjay Dutt), Marc (Sunil Shetty), Andy (Kumar Gaurav), Baali (Mahesh Manjrekar) and Mak (Lucky Ali). Each has differing characteristics and motives to rob. There's the Major who is nursing a bed-ridden wife (Rati Agnihotri), there is Marc the 'The Bouncer', who want to get his girlfriend (Malaika) away from cabaret dancing, and then there is Andy, who is trying very hard to save his marriage and to be close to his son. However ‘trust’ for these characters forms their greatest challenge in order for their plan to work. So for them to succeed, they must put aside their differences in order to pull the whole thing off. On the D-Day everything moves smoothly and the bank robbery is successful. But the twist in the storyline comes when all six are confronted with a bloody ambush. It’s then that they realise that one of them is an undercover cop. So the race begins to find the traitor, with guns pointing at each other as the film reaches a shocking and surprising climax not seen before in even Hollywood films. Shot entirely in Los Angeles, ‘Kaante’ is a visual treat due to the involvement of Hollywood technicians at all levels of its production, whether it is its slick editing, background score or its mind blowing stunts. Overall the script could have been tighter but director Sanjay Gupta manages to keep the film at an even pace which in turn sustains the audience’s interest throughout. Neisha Folkes' choreography deserves a special mention, especially the ‘pole dancing song sequence’ with Malaika Arora and Isha Koppikar. Simply breathtaking! The tension in the film is relieved at regular intervals by lighter moments, provided by actors Sanjay Dutt and Mahesh Manjrekar. Mahesh Manjrekar comes out a winner in terms of screen performance. He portrays his crude character and stammering dialogues with élan. The rest of the cast has equal footage which does not over-shadow the performance of each individua,l thanks to director Sanjay Gupta ‘s script. In terms of style and looks, actors Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty take full credit in this film. Their appearance will definitely gel well with the female audience. Overall, ‘Kaante’ is doing exceptionally well at the UK Box Office - even against the Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers due to a combination of good performances, slick production values and a novel storyline. It’s Bollywood at its best. For once this ‘Kaante’ has no ‘thorns’ for other film critics to pull out ! Reviewed by Manish Gajjar, BBC Shropshire’s Mr Bollywood. | 
