Shanghai (2012)

I watched "Shanghai" yesterday and it is a decent Indianized adaptation of "Z" by Costa Gavraswhich had far reaching consequences in the real world. You can read the real life implications in my other review of the classic itself.Good acting from Deol and Emraan Haashmi carried the movie all over. There were some dramatics hrown in for Indianing the story but that goes with our taste and spirit. Same for a couple of songs and an Item number, to make it commercially viable.Mr Banerjee adapting from the Costa Gavras movie after 40 long years probably proves once again that a classic is "timeless". It is good that he did pay homage to the original during the name casting which some very well known directors sometimes miss so sorely ; example SLB when he made "Black" from "The Miracle"..

Shanghai(U/A)-------------Rating: 3/5 GOOD*It is a political thriller which starts slowly but ends up with a great twist... *Emraan ashmi character was awesome. where kalki-abhay were average.... *Songs were not good except "bharat mata and khudaaya" where as direction and camera was taken into the realistic feel....Story starts very slow but wraps up fast in the climax..... - Actress was disappointing in her performance....Prime leader of a campaign against a big government project is killed in what appears to be a road accident. An IAS officer is ordered to probe the incident and the veils of falsehood begin to drop.

Right from the beginning of Indian cinema, Bengali directors have been phenomenal in contributing spellbound movies to Hindi cinema. Dibakar Banerjee (Khosla ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Oye, Love sex aur dhoka) continues this legacy, and Shangai is the latest evidence for that. From the casting to the performances to the story to the bg-score to the dialogues, everything scores full marks for this political thriller, set in the contemporary India.The story begins with a preplanned accident of Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chaterjee) , a political activist, who raises voice against a leading political party which is trying to encroach the slum area of Bharatnagar. Rest of the movie is about gathering the evidence about this by his student (Kalki koelchin), with the help of Jogi, (Emraan Hashmi), a porn movie maker. Meanwhile, T.A.Krishnan, a bureaucrat (Abhay Deol), is brought in to the case, to investigate in the favor of the political party. Do the circumstances and the system in the contemporary India, will be successful in doing any justice? forms the climax.What I liked: Story Abhay Deol as a south Indian doesn't speak like the way usually a Tamilian is shown in Hindi cinema. No forced accent Emraan Hashmi performs naturally as the rustic guy (He should take a break from the Bhatt camp and act in movies like these) Pitobash was extremely good as the gullible youth of Bharatnagar A very realistic approach for such a themeWhat I did not like: Affair between Dr.Ahmedi and Shalini was unnecessary. It did not make any sense to the story.

I slept late at night ,gt up early, went for the early morning show comprimising on my sleep ..but throughout this movie ,never did I even once felt sleepy or bored !!! This tells how much engaging i found this movie , how much the movie gets you involved into it !! There is a perfect set-up , subtle build up and then there is that fine climax !! Despite its sluggish pace Shanghai makes for an excellent watch !! There is a possibility that you might predict the plot but how the director gets there is simply superb . Now thats where lies the beauty of this film. The real people in the frame ,the surroundings ,form most of the background score. So much emphasis is given on the details that a natural humour comes out even in tense scenes. The movie doesn't rely on heavy dialogues to convey its message,now that credit goes to the screenplay! Performances of the ensemble cast is flawless, a special mention ..'Emraan' who comes out of his comfort zone to deliver a performance that will put him the category of finest actors !! Shanghai ,not recommended for those who go for a movie just for a masala entertainment ! Finally Shanghai is a movie that you will either love dearly or hate ,i enjoyed it !!