Reel Reviews: Shanghai

Magneto's Movies

Reel Reviews

Movie: Shanghai

Release Date: 8 June 2012

Runtime: 2 Hours

Director: Dibakar Banerjee

Cast: Abhay Deol as TA Krishnan, Emraan Hashmi as Joginder Parmar, Prosenjit Chatterjee as Dr. Ahmadi, Kalki Koechlin as Shalini Sahay, Supriya Pathak as Chief Minister Madamji, Pitobash Tripathy as Bhagu, Anant Jog as Jaggu and Farooq Sheikh as Kaul

Genre: Political/Thriller

Score: 9.5/10

Pros: -The tightly woven script

          -Spectacular cinematography using detailed lighting and camera work to present viewers with certain thoughts

          -Original idea of creating a political thriller that is more politics and less but enough thrills

          -All round near perfect performances

          -Entertaining, yet still a thinking man/woman's movie

Cons: -A thriller hinges on it's revelation, and the movie has one that is quite obvious. Although the point of the movie wasn't it's suspense (of the incident) but the negative and positive consequences of the incident.

          

Best Scene: Krishnan (Abhay Deol) having been exposed to the plot must decide whether to do the right and honest thing or play a part in the corruption and secure his future. Deol moves backwards across the room in a state of shock, the camera placement allows him to move between full light and complete shadows to show the ticking choices between right and wrong within his characters mind.

Best Performance: Emraan Hashmi as Joginder 'Jogi' Parmar

Best Dialogue: "Sone ki chidya, dengue, malaria. Gud bi hai, Gobar bi hai. Bharat Mata ki jai!' ('There is the Golden bird, dengue, malaria. There is the good and the shitty here (India). Hail Mother India!')

Dibakar Banerjee charts the tale of Bharatnagar, a city whose ruling party wishes to make it a metropolis and take it to the heights obtained by Shanghai and China. An official adaptation of the French novel Z written by Vassilis Vassilikos, in the up and coming city of Bharat Nagar the ruling political party has planned to create a project (IBP) that will turn the city into a staggering metropolis so as to outrun China and their city Shanghai. For this the government requires to relocate the people living in slums, fighting for them is Dr. Ahmadi (Prosenjit Chatterjee). During a speech against the party, Ahmadi is overrun by a truck and an investigation is set up to find the hit and run criminals. Where the investigation begins, Ahmadi's student Shalini (Kalki Koechlin) believes it to be murder where as Joginder (Emraan Hashmi) gains evidence to back this claim. The investigation is headed by honourable and righteous Krishnan (Abhay Deol) but head of the project IBP. Together these characters discover a conspiracy plot that runs deep within the party and it's higher officials.

When watching Hollywood movies such as Inception or Prometheus, most viewers are liable (after watching) to discuss and search for information such as 'Inception ending explained'. Shanghai, albeit not a science fiction movie with such heavy questions is in the same category. Hindi movies are naturally known to give information in excess through points hinging on the plot, Banerjee debunks this with Shanghai. The thriller includes lots of subtext and a particularly ambiguous climax. This can be all pointed towards the stylistic camera work and deep script.

In turn this is what creates the strong foundation for the film. Camera work is an essential point in the script for giving the 'thinking' viewer an encapsulating experience. Few scenes are standouts in such case. There is the aforementioned best scene which presents the viewer the crucial decision Abhay Deol's (fame Dev D) Krishnan must take. Others include a scene which sees the three leads pass through a hallway being cleaned (a metaphor for their minds and moral compass); Kalki Koechlin's (fame Dev D) Shalini slips and nearly falls down in turn mirroring her eventual mental downfall once she hit's the truck driver (responsible for her teacher Dr. Ahmadi's accident) savagely without thought. Krishnan (Deol) slips but is eventually able to save himself from faltering hence linking to the lighting (best) scene in telling the viewer that he's selfishness will cause him to falter but eventually his moral values will cause him to do the right thing. Finally Emraan Hashmi's (fame Once Upon A Time In Mumbai) Joginder who just walks through the hallway, in turn informing that he does not deter from exposing the truth and neither loses his cool physically through the incident.

Such scenes are a sensation to watch but they would be nothing without the actors performing them. Banerjee an his casting crew bring an eclectic collection of actors. Inclusive are veteran thespians (Farooq Sheikh and Supriya Pathak), regional cinema stars(Prosenjit Chatterjee and Anant Jog), nex-gen talents (Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin) and popular A-lister and the most underrated actor in Hindi cinema today; Emraan Hashmi.

The all-round performances are sensational. It's a hilarious turn from one film old Pitobash Tripathy (fame Shor in the City) who bring impeccable comic timing to the front and helps begin the film with a bang. His Jagu is the only link to show between the strength of the Morcha (people handling political rallies), the common folk being replaced by the IBP and the corrupt politicians. He aptly supports the 4 leads.

Among the lead actor the shortest screen time goes to Bengali cinema's Prosenjit Chatterjee. While the character's fight is genuine, Dr Ahmedi is quite a cunning and smart man. He realizes that his advantage is in befriending the elegant film actress as he also will get media coverage with her and can send his message forward. Prosenjit plays this off with under tones of menace and a devilishly wicked charm but also firm strength. His character is the driving point of the plot but Prosenjit leaves a mark with this stellar turn.

The three main leads are then those who end up acting on the basis of the thriller and drama. Kalki Koechlin as shine though and through. Her expressions are subtle and it's splendid to see her once she goes of unhinged beating Anant Jog (fame Singham) in a frenzy as well as biting a Morcha man's hand. She knows not to over exert herself allowing Hashmi's Jogi to carry the film but she also like with Prosenjit uses her screentime well. After last year's nearly show stealing performance in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and brilliant lead turn in The Girl in Yellow Boots, Kalki proves that she is one of the better actresses in Bollywood today.

Abhay Deol on the other hand is his reliable self, he gives a touch of excellence to a very difficult role. Being a north Indian it would have been hard for him to act as a south Indian especially in concerns to the accent. He pulls this off with aplomb, and does not let himself veer into a form of a caricature as most actors would if given to play with the Tamil accent. Being the lead he is provided some of the best scenes including the climatic confrontation which sees him pull off the rug under the corrupt plot behind Dr Ahmadi's accident. He is however far out-shined by the next man.

Emraan Hashmi finally gets to sink his teeth into a role that uses his submerged acting talent. He proves himself to be the most underrated actor in Hindi cinema as he flamboyantly plays Joginder 'Jogi' Parmar. The paunch, stained teeth and wicked smile are just the top of the layer of the best performance I have been able to witness this year from a male actor. There's not anything I can say that can do justice to this tour de force performance except that it is a big reason to check this film out. Watch him as he dances tongue wagging to the zany 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai!' (Hail Mother India!), as he smiles weirdly in a washroom to Krishnan while peeing and his piercing shrill while running from goons. 

 

Emraan Hashmi as Jogi during the song 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai!'

Layers of subtext, rusting and realistic visuals, a particularly interesting score from Vishal-Shekar, some really silent poignant scenes, some other loud and thrilling scenes, superb performances and deeply thoughtful script and cinematography. Shanghai is one of the biggest though provoking and most politically astute but despair filled (especially the subtle but haunting ending) film you will see. Like with the book Z it is a stark message that reminds the viewer that even if one corrupt politician is removed from power there are a hundred more ready to take his/her place. Watch this! Bharat Mata Ki Jai!