Shanghai

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.

Just coming home after watching the movie, and I was really really impressed with... Everything. While coming back, I heard some friends say it was boring and not very good, which made me write this review:

Watch It if you are looking for some serious cinema. Definitely Watch It if you have a brain to actually THINK about what the movie is trying to say.

I've been disillusioned with Bollywood for some years now, but every year, there come some movies which are absolutely top class, which actually say something rather than throwing undercooked brainless (un)comic crap at us. Shanghai is one of the former, and nearly everything is well done in this movie.

The direction is very good and tight, the background score is very apt, the cinematography is fantastic, as is the editing. And although the story is actually not very new, revolving around the general hopelessness we associate with Indian politics and law, the way Dibakar Banerjee presents it, and the (un)happy-ending really makes it shine...

I think that the movie may probably not do extremely well in theaters because "most" Indians go for mindless comedies these days, but those who want to see a GOOD movie, This is definitely one for them.

Take any of your favorite political thrillers. What you'd find is political insight and compelling suspense, seamlessly woven to demystify your flimsy notions and beliefs about that subject. While the protagonist peels the layers off falsehood, you experience the joy of veils dropping. You get more than just the solution of a mystery; a new interpretation of the event, a shocking perspective. Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai is one such political thriller. This terrific film hits you like a hurricane and terrifies you to bits. It has an abiding effect that will haunt you even hours after you've left the theater. If you enjoy true cinema, go for SHANGHAI.. Else, better wait for SRK or FARAH KHAN's next POPCORN FLICK!! Go for SHANGHAI for Kalki Koechlin, for Emraam Hashmi,for Abhay Deol, for the Music & for everything you want from a masterpiece! And next time you end up comparing why do Bollywood standards do not reach Hollywood, stay quite! You don't deserve a word!

10/10

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