There has indeed been a lot of "shor" throughout 2011. The cacophony of corruption , the noise made by Anna Hazare against it , the cheer of India triumphing at the cricket world cup , the hullaballoo of the royal wedding , the euphoria surrounding Osama's death and not to forget the annoying IPL trumpet.
We are indeed living in noisy times. Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK get it right stating with the title itself.Mumbai in the last few years has ceased to be the dream city conjured up by Bollywood over the years. It has emerged into the city of the Slumdog , of Aamir , of Dhobhi Ghat and now as a noisy ,dirty and eccentric metropolis.
Three stories run parallely during the Ganpati festival. Each story deals with fringe characters desperate to make it into the mainstream. So we have petty criminals , foreign returned Indians and an out of favour cricketer. In Inarritu style they criss-cross each other's lives which culminates into the climax.
Hats off to the directors for the mood they lend to the film. The opening credits run amidst chaotic Mumbai streets where cars narrowly miss you. A sense of claustrophobia persists throughout along with intense , scorching heat. The bustling and crowded outdoors , the narrow dingy lanes , the deserted rooftops hardly give you any breathing space. The viewer is immediately overtaken by a sense of visual noise.
The sudden cuts coupled with edgy music and pedestrian language keeps the narrative tight. Again , hardly any breathing space anywhere. The performances blend into the story. Pitobash as Mandook stands out. Special mention for Tusshar (he's dropped the Kapoor) here for whom its been a long journey from Bore to Shor .
The 'shor' gets heightened as Tilak (Tusshar) who been married for a while now hardly even knows his wife. The story unfolds during the Ganesha festival with his idols dotting the city. But its almost as if God himself has been rendered helpless against the times. Is he just an excuse for another festival? While the ending may remind one of Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver , its best left to the viewer to be the judge of it.
This is a film "full of sound and fury" Signifying existence in between -Sushovan Sircar for MuvieMadlyDeeply.com
