Shanghai

Before I start, let me tell you that I haven't read Vassillis Vasilikov's Z and neither have I seen the Academy Award winning film by Costa-Gavras. Shanghai based on the same book, for me, comes as an original standalone in Hindi cinema by the double time National Award winner Dibakar Bannerjee.

Shanghai, is what this fictional town of Bharat Nagar will look like with the flourishing of "International Business Park (IBP)", as promised by the Chief Minister (Supriya Pathak). You can expect it to be any other political scam. Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) who believes this project will degrade the living of the poor, lands here to set his march of opposition. Alongwith Ahmedi, comes a Katrina Kaif caricature Tina. While she is doing Imported Kamariya at the IBP (India Bana Pardes) show, Dr. Ahmedi is slayed to death by a truck. His student, Shalini Sahay (Kalki) is stubborn about the fact that it was not an accident but murder. IAS Officer T. A. Krishnan (Abhay Deol) leads the Enquiry Commission set by the CM. Meanwhile, Jogi Parmar (Emran Hashmi), a pornographer reaches an evidence material of the case.

Meeting of every two aforesaid characters is marked with playful scene like entering of a ball in the newly setup office of Krishnan between a heated discussion, or the English conversation of Jogi with Shalini.

Leisurely paced, the first half is cooked up with two songs where Bharat Mata Ki Jai is just abrupt, misled and serves no purpose to the story. That's what you wanted Mr. Producer, right? An item song and a peppy track? But what makes the direction extra-ordinary are the detailing with the arts and sound design in almost every scene. Note that sound of a crying baby in the background amidst the tensed situation when Dr. Ahmedi is admitted to the hospital. Whereas the background score in most of the parts is overdone with the same beats.

For its running time of 114 minutes, this thriller grips you leisurely with not many scenes that brings you to the edge of your seat but its raw treatment and toning , fine editing and engaging performances. Emran Hashmi stands out of the lot with his best performance of his career. You are never let to believe that you are actually watching the same Hashmi. The most experienced actor Faroque Sheikh draws every attention in his scene. Kalki plays the deepest character of the film with mild tone and louder-than-words silence. Abhay Deol is in the skin of the character of a generous officer with his Tam accent. Pitobash is almost similar as you have seen him in Shor In The City.

By the end, things resurface to the top, gets unfold, and many unanswered questions are left to you to think. Dibakar doesn't hammer you with the dark side of the political system but asks many questions. Prominently, Is India really shining? Judge yourself. But Indian Cinema is really shining with this movie at the theaters.

Though I don't account Shanghai as DB's best work (for me, it's still L.S.D.), but it is the best political thriller you could ever see.

When me and two of my closest friends, me and one of my bros were quite skeptical after reading the trashy review the people are giving on the social networking sites,but had it not been for my other bro, we were inches away from missing probably one of the best Indian cinema made in the last decade.

Taking a detour from every clichés of Indian political cinema, rather Indian cinema , This movie has no melodramatic dialogue, no over the top meaningless item number( imported kamariya does have an importance in the story, not just an added novelty and is presented in a way that we do not get distracted from the movie), no sad songs ( though i would have liked the inclusion of the song Duaa) and the biggest of them all, no ENTERTAINMENT. if you want to watch this on a Sunday evening with the family for entertainment, just forget it. if you want gritty realistic , will make you think type of cinema, your best bet. Good direction , wobbly camera-work, very less makeup , good script, even better execution, and the nest acting by the three leads in a long time.

If you want to be ignorant or want a movie just to let you release mind's pressure, don't come and watch this. cause, Cinema is eventually an art form to let the reality be known in a merge with over the top neo surrealistic situations. and Shanghai completes the first part in excellence

Dibakar Banerjee, Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi. There cannot be any better reason to watch this movie and well, it's worth the expectations. Shanghai, the Desi adaption of Z by Vassilis Vassilikos is a fine thriller.

First things first, you can feel the Dibakar Banerjee style in each and every frame of this around two hour movie. In first ten minutes itself, the culprits are revealed and there is no whodunit feeling in first half, but thanks to brilliantly panned screenplay (courtesy Urmi Juvekar and DB), the tension builds on in a continuum till the climax and climax pays it off.

The power of Shanghai lies in its characters and subplots. Director leaves much upon the imagination of viewers but, still it is amazing to witness such a powerful cinema with a short and simple story. Abhay, Emraan and Kalki play their milestone characters and they play with such an ease that it is impossible to picture any actors in their shoes. Prosenjit Chatterjee, though plays a cameo, makes his presence felt throughout the movie, which is incredible.

Shanghai could have been a loud political thriller with grungy background score and over the top acting, but DB chooses the path less traveled. Like his last three films he chooses his own subtle and proportionately dramatic storytelling that makes it a standalone from clichéd and crass political thrillers. In order to keep the intensity of such a mature subject, Dibakar has deliberately avoided soulful songs like Khudaya and Dua, and placed situational tracks like Bharat Mata Ki and Imported Kamariya, which is a courageous effort.

The negatives? First half takes a bit more of time to create the situations and subplots making the movie a bit drag occasionally. Apart from this, I can't find out any other loopholes in this movie.

Watch it or not? If you are a fan of "the real powerful cinema", do go for it.

"Until and unless you step out of your comfort zone and try something new, no new grounds will be broken, no new films will be launched, no new stars will be discovered, people won't get to see new stories and our industry will not be injected with new blood," director Dibakar Banerjee recently said.

With his latest film – "Shanghai," a political thriller - he appears to be staying true to his words.

With "Shanghai," which releases today, Mr. Banerjee takes an offbeat look at the drama of coalition politics and bureaucracy in India, featuring actors Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi and Kalki Koechlin in lead roles.

Set in a fictional city called Bharatnagar –set to become the "next Shanghai" as a redevelopment project kicks off – the film starts off with the murder of a social activist who had been opposing the project. The film is an adaptation of Greek novel "Z" by writer Vassilis Vassilikos.

A high-ranking bureaucrat, played by Mr. Deol, is put in charge of the investigation and a local videographer, interpreted by Mr. Hashmi, claims to have key evidence to resolve the case.

Mr. Banerjee has for long been synonymous with films that tackle big issues without being  overly preachy. There's the 2006 comedy drama "Khosla Ka Ghosla," about one family's struggle to get their land back from a property shark, or the well-crafted black comedy about a super thief in his 2008 film "Oye Lucky Lucky Oye."  Then, with his 2010 film "Love Sex Aur Dhokha" –shot entirely on a digicam – he turned to the subject of voyeurism, honor killings and sting operations.

There is only one word to describe the cinematography, the set designs and the dialogues, and that is Exceptional! You don't just watch the scenes happening, you feel them. The movie is a real thrill ride. The action scenes are well pictured and the music is electronically haunting. Never, in the run time of the movie, you will get a chance to move your eyes from the screen to any other object.

The film is hardly one hour-fifty minutes long, and you wish that there was no interval. You don't need one when you are watching a crisp and thrilling film like this one! It's an engaging thriller with a political backdrop, and the performances are mind blowing. Kalki Koechlin is fabulous. Pitobash Tripathy is superb. Abhay Deol has captured the nuisances of the south Indian accent perfectly. He is restrained and strong. But the star of the show is Emraan Hashmi. It might turn out to be too intelligent for Emraan Hashmi fans who generally come to see him smooch his leading lady. So we will have to wait and see if a brilliant film like this is lapped up at the box office or not. Shanghai shocks, engages and makes a powerful statement. Dibakar lives up to the standards he has set for himself.