Shanghai review

3.5 / 5

Highly acclaimed director Dibakar Banerjee’s latest offering is Shanghai. It is based on the novel Z by Vassilis Vassilikos. The movie has a very interesting star cast of Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin. This film has been distributed by PVR Pictures and produced by DBP and NFDC. The trailer gave us exactly what to expect – a political thriller based on an investigation into a ‘planned’ accident. Does the actual film satiate our appetite for a riveting investigative thriller?

Bharat Nagar is a typical Indian city (fictional) comprising a lot of naïve, uneducated locals who are all blindly passionate about their ruling party IBP. A big business proposal, also called the IBP (International Business Park) is about to come to this place thereby making it a major developmental hub and a possible Shanghai in future.

The ruling party is firmly behind this business idea. But, social activist Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) wishes to let people know of the actual ground realities of this project and how people would be driven out of their own homes and lands for the sake of this infrastructure. The political bigwigs are obviously not pleased with Ahmedi and wish to eliminate him from the scheme of things, with the help of some naïve citizens of the city. An accident is planned and the doctor is sent into a near death situation. An investigation starts under the helm of the sincere T.A. Krishnan (Abhay Deol), a high ranking bureaucrat.  

Shalini (Kalki), Dr. Ahmedi’s fierce supporter is dying to expose the people behind this accident while Joginder (Emraan), a videographer who is also into pornography, backs Shalini in her pursuit of justice with some important evidence.

The above incidents were all nicely packaged in the trailer itself. Now, whether the actual culprits are exposed, whether the pursuit for justice is fruitful and what happens to the aforementioned protagonists is what Shanghai, the ‘movie’ is about.

Emraan Hashmi has pulled off a really different role in his career for the first time. He has totally gone for an ugly, de-glam look with a paunch as well. His teeth are colored, his laughs are typically rustic and his dressing sense is anything but classy. But, his character wins our hearts. Great show by Emraan. Kalki is fierce and aggression personified. Her character’s motives are lofty and honest. Abhay Deol is a Tamilian in the movie and his English has needlessly been tweaked to make it sound like a Tamilian’s. For example office is pronounced as ‘affice’. A needless gimmick. He speaks broken Tamil also for few seconds and is shown listening to the Vishnu Sahasranamam too. Abhay is required to underplay and he does it well. Prosenjit Chatterjee looks majestic with his beard and spectacles.

There are a lot of local character artistes too, who have done their parts well. The songs by Vishal-Shekhar are among the entertaining elements in the movie. ‘Bharat Mata Ki’ is a chartbuster already. Shanghai has an amazing BGM score too. The movie in fact warrants a repeat just for the pulsating BGM score. The music for the climax and the end credits roll take the cake.

To conclude, Shanghai is another worthy offering from Dibakar Banerjee. He has taken Indian politics as the main subject area and based a nice investigative thriller around it. The way the police and high ranking officials are merely puppets used by politicians according to their whims and fancies, is an oft-repeated plotline in Indian films. But, here it has been shown in a realistic manner without any overt cinematic licenses. How small Indian towns are exploited in the name of big infrastructural development is very relevant to the current times.

The movie is gripping from the word go. You will find yourself sucked into the happenings on screen. The item numbers could have been avoided though

VERDICT: A taut investigative thriller with generous doses of politics.

Jannat 2 review

2.5 / 5

Emraan Hashmi is back with his trademark brand of emotionally engaging cinema accompanied by beautiful music and a hot female lead. It has released in 1975 screens making it his biggest release till date. Produced by Vishesh Films and helmed by Kunal Deshmukh, Jannat 2 arrives with fair amount of hype and expectations, thanks to the success of Jannat and Emraan’s star status. Does it fulfill them? Read more to find out.

Sonu Dilli (Emraan Hashmi) is a street-smart youngster who deals in illegal arms. He believes that this is his way of ensuring parity in the society. As expected he falls in love with an independent doctor Jhanvi (Esha Gupta) who is looking for funds to save her hospital. Then we have ACP Pratap Raghuvanshi (Randeep Hooda) who wants to put an end to this illegal arms racket at any cost. He has a personal reason as well that drives him. Just as Sonu wishes to mend his ways and be a straightforward person for the sake of his lady love, Pratap gives him a chance to work as a police informer and to help him in nabbing the bigwigs in the business. Sonu takes it up and what follows next is the crux of Jannat 2. 

The scenes in the second half when Sonu is caught between his boss at the guns factory and ACP Pratap have shades of ‘The Departed’. Since the movie is set in the streets of Delhi, there are overdoses of profanity which incite more than a mere chuckle from the audience & alcohol literally flows on the screen as Pratap is seen in an inebriated state in scene after scene. The ending of the movie is unconventional but somehow the feeling at the end of the movie isn’t wholesome.

Among the cast members, Emraan Hashmi and Randeep Hooda light up the screen with their earnest portrayals. Both of them have matched each other. The actor who plays Dilli’s friend Balli also has a substantial part. The heroine Esha Gupta resembles Angelina Jolie and she is hot to say the least. Her emoting skills just about pass muster. The songs by Pritam are the biggest plus in the movie. They are all melodic and have just about been accommodated in the screenplay. The entire movie is set in Delhi and the frames have that energy and street-smart quality that one associates with the Indian capital.

In spite of some good acting by the 2 male leads and some excellent songs, Jannat 2 falls short of being an emotional potboiler due to the laborious pace and the largely insipid villains who just look menacing.

On the whole, this movie is worth a look for the positives that have been outlined. It won’t bore you as such and even though the movie has all the ingredients of an engaging movie somehow the feeling of having a full course meal is missing.

VERDICT: Falls short of being a wholesome potboiler

The Dirty Picture (2011)

The Plot
It is the real life story of the late South Indian item queen 'Silk' Smitha, with extra masala flavor added. Silk's journey is well documented, from being an ambitious small town girl named Reshma to her encounters in the film industry with various men ranging from a big star Suryakanth to his brother Ramakanth and finally finding a soul mate in a director named Abraham who initially hates her.

Silk carries her reel life glam avatar in her real life as well. She shuns the rules and lives her life the way she wants. She dresses uber glamorously, smokes and drinks to her hearts-fill. She is looked down upon, by the majority of the industry and she is betrayed by most of the men she trusted. Ultimately, she suffers major financial losses and decides to go away in peace.

Hits

• Vidya Balan. SEXY, SEDUCING, DARING, BOLD, VAMP-LIKE etc. etc. It is a shocking make-over where Vidya exposes to the maximum extent permissible on an Indian screen. It is a cleavage fest on screen and it is jaw dropping stuff. The over exposure of her belly could have been avoided. 
• Her acting skills have always been terrific. Be it the sexy/bold attitude or her anguish, she is the best actress around by a mile. Perfect combo of skin show and acting caliber - Kate Winslet like. She is a benchmark in daring and guts among the mainstream Indian actresses 
• Naseeruddin Shah as the southern superstar Suryakanth is natural and elegant as the ageing superstar. His mannerisms and casual attitude are classic. Emraan Hashmi is intense and earnest as always. 
• The dialogs send the masses into a frenzy. Such punch and raunchy in their meaning. 
• The songs are already popular. Oh La La and Ishq Sufiana are the picks. 
• The period feel is quite authentic save 1 or 2 glitches. 

Misses

• The item song featuring Silk and Shakila in the 2nd half is a sore miss. 
• The skin show becomes too much to digest beyond a point.
• The delightful Ishq Sufiana song doesn't suit the overall mood of the film. 
• Tushar Kapoor with his soft voice, is the biggest minus of the film 

VERDICT

A Vidya Balan festival. Sure to become a blockbuster among the masses. 

Murder 2 (2011)

The Plot
Set in Goa, 'Dirty Harry' style x-cop, Arjun Bhagwat has to investigate the disappearance of many call girls belonging to one particular pimp. He finds that a psycho dressed as a woman Dheeraj Pandey is behind these kidnappings and subsequent brutal murders. Pandey loathes woman and he mixes with transgenders and he even sacrifices his penis to the transgender God.

Arjun gets to Dheeraj quite soon and then it is all about the subsequent search for one particular girl Reshma. Whether Reshma is saved and how does Dheeraj meet his end is the climax. Arjun also has a thing for Priya, an ultra sexy model for calendar shoots. They unite in the end after Arjun finally decides to get committed to one woman.

                                                                             

Hits

• Shaggy looking Emraan Hashmi is impressive when he is aggressive
• Ultra sexy Jacqueline Fernandez sizzles and her love making scenes and smooches with the serial kisser send temperatures soaring. Daring and bold dressing.
• The songs are terrific and most of them are shot as montages. Yana Gupta sizzles in the 'Aa Zara' title track. 'Haale Dil' is another smoking hot number. 
• The villain Prashant Narayanan is a real find. He is scary, mean and very convincing as the effeminate villain who tortures every woman. His feminine avatar is quite scary. 

Comments

• The tape recording of the females screaming their lungs out is quite depressing and haunting. The torture that Reshma is subjected to, might put off many. The scene where she wets herself just before her death is too pitiable. 

VERDICT

Decent thriller that could have had more suspense. Not very convincing but as a package of sex, violence and some thrills - Murder 2 works ...