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Sunday, May 28, 2023
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BOLLYWOOD SHAGIRD
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ** 1/2
There is this utterly delightful action sequence where Nana Patekar, playing a
belligerent corrupt but effectual cop in a crime-infested small town of Uttar
Pradesh run by the political mafia, barges on to a nefarious hideout. He peeps
into the room where the goons are watching a vintage black-and-white song on
television. Then they switch to a channel airing a Himesh Reshammiya song.
Patekar slams into the room and shoots them all down. This is what happens
when you listen to the wrong songs.
The savage humour of this sequence stays with you in a film that could have made
a much more forceful impact had Shagird come four years earlier.
Given today`s jaded political scenario with politicians of both genders
perpetrating the most obnoxious deeds of corruption on the national exchequer,
the Bunty bhaiyas and the Shakeel bhais of this film appear to be relatively
harmless creatures of the underworld.
Like the cops in the films of earlier millennium, this film arrives a little
late after the action is over. The film exudes the scent of jadedness. That
could also be because of the characters who are so steeped in corruption and
debauchery they seem born for hell. However, the feeling of experiencing
something decadent seeps deeper into the narrative.
Much of the goings-on fall into the realm of `realistic` cinema located in the
cow-belt that has been a staple of a certain breed of directors like Vishal
Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia.
The absence of an inspiring budget repeatedly takes its toll on the narrative`s
claim to credibility. There are innumerable sequences which jump out of nowhere,
and not in a startling but annoying show of unpredictability.
The kidnapping of the TV journalist Rimi Sen and her two colleagues by militants
looks so staged you wonder how seasoned professionals could fall for it.
What works are some of the dialogues and Nana`s wry cynical cop`s part. He
brings in that familiar yet engaging element of intrepid defiance into the theme
of corruption and compromise. Here again, the role suffers from a sense of
staleness. Nana and his shagird from the police department were far more warmly
portrayed in Shimit Amin`s Ab Tak Chappan by Nana and Nakul Vaid.
Shagird is not devoid of merit. The Nana character`s affinity to
vintage film songs gives a centre to an otherwise-doddering tale of desperate
corruption.
They don`t make songs like they used to. Neither do the contemporary cops
thrillers like Dum Maaro Dum and Shagird match the
brutal persuasive powers of past cops flicks like Zanjeer and Ardh
Satya.
Khakee is a fading colour in our movies. The hero in Shagird doesn`t
even bother to wear it.
Shagird is a fast- paced action-packed cop drama that unfolds in the capital city of Delhi amidst the power of paisa and politics. Delhi Police Crime Branch Officer Hanumant Singh (Nana Patekar) - a respected yet feared officer whose tactics and ethics are questionable, mentors Mohit (Mohit Ahlawat) a new junior officer in his team. Their ideologies cross paths when a notorious gangster Bunty Bhaiya (Anurag Kashyap) enters the fray. Together, Hanumant Singh & Bunty Bhaiya work for power hungry politician Rajmani Singh (Zakir Hussain), who rules the state using unfair means and will not let anything or anyone come in his way. In this nexus, who stands right and who stands wrong? What crosses the line in the gray zone of law, crime & politics? Who wears a mask and who comes out a winner forms the rest of the story.
