Shanghai (2012)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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"..

There are few directors with the capability to pull audiences on their own, irrespective of the cast and story. Dibakar definitely makes the cut. To add to it the promotion and music were hugely popular making it one of the highly anticipated movies of the year.Abhay Deol once again proves his mettle as and off beat actor in the role of an IAS officer Krishnan. However, the real revelation of the movie is definitely Emraan Hashmi, who as Jogi is fabulous. His expressions and acting seems to have miraculously reached new levels. Keep it up. Kalki didn't have much to do and so fits the bill.The story is not new. Set in Bharatnagar, it explores the political and business manifestations about land acquisition and development. What are the games played for profit and how the common man suffers? It makes us think how corrupt the system around us is. However, the brilliant ending does give us hope. There are good people as well.So, I guess the question to answer is "Was it worth it?" The answer is a dicey one. The storyline was definitely engrossing but the pace could have been better. The sub plots were introduced beautifully but their significance and integration with the main story left a lot to be desired for instance the case of Shalini's (Kalki) father. The political equations and repercussions are very well highlighted though and at no point of time it escapes the realms of reality. It stays very true to politics and to India.

To those who may be wondering why this film is tilted 'Shanghai', jog back your memory to times when politicians promised to transform Mumbai into Shanghai. Set in a fictional Bharat-nagar which is effectively a metaphor for any large Indian city, the movie is a take on how common lives get affected due to the politician-builder nexus with all ills brushed under the carpet in the name of modernization. 'International Business Park' is a mega redevelopment project that seeks to displace slums in Bharat-nagar blessed by the Chief Minister (Supriya Pathak). When a leftist Dr Ahmedi (Prasenjit Chatterjee) stands up for slum dwellers, he is quickly eliminated in a planned murder attempt which is made to look like an accident. When Mrs Ahmedi (Tillotama Shome) demands a probe, a Bureaucrat TA Krishnan (Abhay Deol) is appointed to look into it. Trouble brews when he digs deeper than what is expected from him. Shalini (Kalki Koechlin) and a videographer Jogi Parmar (Emraan Hashmi) play key roles with Pitobash delivering a great performance at Jaggu. The film is an adaptation of the novel "Z" by Greek writer-diplomat Vassilis Vassilikos. In fact, the book formed the base for a 1969 French film also titled 'Z' which inter alia bagged two Oscars. Apparently, the film is set in a right-wing military run country and it is about a leftist who gets killed while he plans to speak at an anti-military, nuclear disarmament rally. The developer-angle is more relevant for India though! In fact, after a spate of comedies, it is nice to see Bollywood showing interest in strong themes or current issues. From the maker of near- realistic flicks like 'Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye' and 'Khosla ka Ghosla' director Dibakar Banjerjee's choice of subject is commendable. Also, it was a good choice not to resort to item numbers to sell the film. Instead, he has preferred to focus on its characters and some dramatic tension. The characters in Shanghai are realistic. You can't really slot them into the stereotypes such as the altruistic good guys or the abominable bad guys. Instead, they are all regular people with their own agendas with circumstances bring out the best or worst in them. It could be politicians in power, self serving bureaucrats, a student supporting a professor she has an affair with, aimless street goons, etc. There are just a few drawbacks that deny the film from becoming awesome. Emraan Hashmi's character could have done with a little more meat. The motivations of the leftist, especially one who travels in a private jet could have been better explained. Abhay Deol's Tamil accent is inconsistent and the 'Madrasi' reference is racist. The storyline itself could have done with some suspense rather than focus purely on drama. Probably the ending could have been better; but hey, it's closer to reality. Specifically, there is one bit that beats me; the celebratory mood at Bharat-nagar slums. If they were celebrating the development, then what was the need for the leftist's intervention? Or, what were they celebrating with fireworks?Overall, 'Shanghai' is a decent watchable film. Nonetheless, don't expect it to have something that would blow you off your feet. It has some good acting and it deserves some credit for coming up with characters with shades of grey.

As a subject this was indeed a brave and path-breaking choice made by Dibaker, who is sure going to be respected much more as a director post SHANGHAI. However, at the box office there is going to be a different story all together as the film certainly has much lesser elements for the masses going against all the expectations from the director of Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and Love Sex Aur Dhokha. In fact all these three films had a certain dose of fun and comedy in their narration which was widely appreciated both by the critics as well as the viewers. But as far as SHANGHAI is considered,it is undoubtedly going to be a "Critics movie" more than the masses.The film is based on Greek writer Vassilis Vassilikos' political novel "Z" on which director Costa-Gavras also made his project titled "Z" (French) in 1969, which means "He is Alive" in a symbolic form. It received 2 Oscars and was widely appreciated by the Academy Award Jury and many more festivals all over. Having seen Costa-Gavras's classic, I can say that where "Z" is a sober, intense and realistic adaption of the novel, there "SHANGHAI" tries to walk on the same line while adding many deliberate commercial angles in its script to cater the Indian taste. For instance, the inclusion of 2 songs which don't really serve any purpose, the avoidable extra-marital affair of the honest leader and Emraan Hashmi portrayal as a porn film-maker. It seems that Emraan's illegal profession is simply added just to make the proceeding more spicy, whereas the inclusion never gets used properly in the entire script.In the first half it all keeps moving at an average speed with Kalki impressing the most, followed by Emraan Hashmi. But there is very less of Abhay Deol in this period of film and he actually comes into action post intermission with a brilliant climax. Set in a fictitious city, the film talks about the same old predictable settings of political conspiracies, corrupt system, greedy politicians and their loyal workers ready to kill anyone for their party benefits. But SHANGHAI actually scores much higher than all the earlier political thrillers made in the country mainly due to its subtle and calm treatment of an intense plot which keeps you engrossed especially in its second half. Yet, if you are only there in the theater, looking for the entertainment as enjoyed in Dibaker's previous films then you might feel majorly dissatisfied in the end. Here I would like to point out a very questionable drawback in the film which was not expected from a director like Dibaker. Now just imagine that a political leader (in 2012) gets a tip that a videographer has a tape which can reveal the real truth about his criminal activities. Now if he sends his goons to raid the videographer's house then what instruction they would have or what will they go for searching. Obviously they would go for all the tapes, computers and hard disks visible in his house because that's where the evidence can be hidden in the first place. But in SHANGHAI, a group of people raid the videographer house, throw everything out on the road but very strangely leave a whole CPU (Computer) lying right under the main editing table just like that.Ignoring the above mentioned point, SHAHGHAI scores well due to its polished performances lead by Kalki, Emraan, Abhay & Pitobash. Frankly, imagining Emraan Hashmi in an ugly kind of getup and then, the "Kisser Boy" accepting the role too, shows the commitment from both the actor and the director towards their profession. Emraan takes a major transforming leap with this in his career and Abhay Deol once again proves that he has got a great understanding of the medium which he uses perfectly while selecting his projects. Being the only leading female character, Kalki shines brightly as a surprise package of the film because the girl could have been easily declared as a misfit to the role due to her western looks. But she honestly scores even better than Emraan & Abhay as the distressed girl fighting for her interest. After the lead cast comes Pitobash who is repeatedly exceptional in his short role along with Prosenjit Chatterjee, making a strong impact as the opposing leader. Farooque Sheikh and Supriya Pathak show their sparks towards the end and the supporting cast performs well in their brief roles.Musically SHANGHAI also made me think about another sheer wastage of efforts in the Film Business. The question it raises is that when you are only going to use 1 or 2 songs in the movie itself then why to record a whole soundtrack of 6-7 different songs which are not going to reach the listeners at all unless the film becomes a big hit. As a result, though Vishal-Shekhar come up with just an above average score in this flick, still their whole effort of composing and recording the other songs of SHANGHAI would go un-noticed. Nevertheless, Cinematography remains the asset of the film as always in a Dibakar Bannerjee directed movie.On the whole, for me SHANGHAI remains a fine political thriller but not a great one and certainly not a film made for the masses. It lacks the entertainment factor needed to win over the viewers and it also doesn't have the pace of an energetic powerful thriller (may be due to the absence of a suspense element in its predictable plot). But the film undoubtedly becomes a worth praising effort majorly due to its execution and superlative performances derived from the entire cast by the talented director.Admittedly, my review here is based on the fact that I have seen the original Oscar winner "Z". But despite of this fact, SHANGHAI still remains a different kind of attempt from director Dibakar Bannerjee wherein he is not able to surpass his previous three films comparatively.