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Thursday, April 25, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD SHANGHAI
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: *** 1/2
Watching Shanghai is revisiting your daily local newspaper, full of
scams, conspiracies and crime stories. In short, the film is a slice of today`s
India.
Adapted from Z, a 1966 novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, Dibakar
Banerjeer brilliantly exposes the reality behind the irony of India Shining.
The scenes are verbatim daily newspaper briefs.
Set in present day nondescript shanty called Bharatnagar, it sees Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjeet
Chatterjee), a US-based professor and activist, visiting Bharatnagar to
enlighten its inhabitants about `pragati` (progress).
He opposes the transformation of the shanty town into a zany township, a la
Shanghai. But he is murdered by the opposition who try to pass off his death as
an accident.
After that the story moves ahead with Shalini Sahay (Kalki Koechlin), Ahmedi`s
besotted student and daughter of an ex-army general who is involved in a scam,
IAS Officer T.A. Krishnan (Abhay Deol), videographer Joginder Parmar (Emraan
Hashmi), Ahmedia`s wife Aruna (Tillotama Shome), chief minister (Supriya Patak)
and her PA (Farooque Sheikh).
While the film grips you, it`s the system that gets to you.
Why did you do commit the murder, when you knew it is wrong, Shalini
asks the murderer.
Another dialogue - Jeene se haraam lagta hai. Par marne se darr bhi lagta
hai... clearly shows the hunger for survival. It`s a sorry state of
affairs, where the common denominator is the victim.
There is a simplistic nature to the narrative and archetype.
The performance of every character is realistic and matter-of-fact. Emraan
impresses with his rustic portrayal, quite different from his usual flamboyant
characters. Abhay Deol, as the IAS Officer, bowls over the audience with his
grit and, of course, unmistakable Tamil accent. Kalki slips effortlessly into
the character, yet again, revealing her versatility.
However, what you take home is not the memories of a character well-performed,
but the story.
The film is frighteningly true.
The strength of Shanghai is its tight screenplay by Urmi Juvekar and
Dibakar Banerjee and the meticulous details leave no scope for arguments.
What adds to the flavour is excellent cinematography by Nikos Andritsakis and
the marvellous use of sound, both ambient and otherwise, to build up the tension
in the political drama.
The controversial song Bharat Mata Ki Jai and the item number
Imported Kamariyaa are well-picturised and the latter is on the way
to become the next favourite numbers at all `basti` celebrations.
Despite its simplistic and down-to-earth locations, Shanghai has a
nice hard-boiled vibe and a sense of semi-exotic danger. Definitely gives you a
lot to ponder about.
Don`t miss this one.
Actress Kalki Koechlin feels it is great to have a conversation about equality in the industry, and says it is important to keep the discussion going. Read More
A small town somewhere in India is poised to become the next Shanghai. Billions of dollars are being poured into an upcoming International Business Park.
On the eve of its launch a drunk truck driver mows down a prominent social activist.
A lone girl believes it to be a murder, supported by a porn film maker who claims to have the proof that will bring the government down. A high ranking bureaucrat is brought in to investigate the accident.
Shanghai, a political thriller, follows the journey of these unlikely heroes as they come together to find justice in the labyrinth of Indian democracy.
Music Launch of movie Shanghai Photo Gallery