Shanghai - The Aeon Battle

How well can Dibakar Banerjee go with his movies. The latest one being Shanghai in his kitty. I always admired this hugely talented director for his out-of-line movies. Shanghai is yet another brilliant example. At least someone has the balls to get out of the box and push mainstream Indian Cinema into outer flanks of a zone that is not so widely and strongly shown. Its a classic example of the Octopus known as Politics entangling every street of this nation, no matter how remorse it is. The movie stars some of the most 'talented' people in the Industry . It basically revolves around this small nondescript city BharatNagar's cheap politics. IBP rules the state which ironically stands for India Bane Pardes , kind of India Shining but all it has for the place is Bharatnagar whining. The movie begins with Dr.Ahmedi(Prosenjit Chatterjee), an activist and a professor,landing in BharatNagar to address a rally against a business park project that will displace hundreds of families against their wish. It is seen as an Open challenge to the CM ( Supriya Pathak ) and the Govt. The man is a convincing speaker, a natural leader of emphatic grace and significant charisma, and a serious itch IBP can't wait to scratch. Or scratch out. The man delivers a speech and the next moment he is mowed down by a racing vehicle. The police as usual tries to do away with the case in the name of drunk driving. But thats when Kalki Koechin decides to fight against the effing administration and make sure justice is done by proving it was not just an accident rather a brutally planned one. She portrays the perfect example of a helpless person in agony and seething in anger, like the others in her camp. Emraan Hashmi plays the role of a "Self-Proclaimed" journalist when in reality he was a mere scruffy videographer and a pornography cameraman. Let the word not misdirect you to his real character in the movie. Too bad for him, Director din pay him enough to get rid of his stained teeth and slouchy gait and moreover did strip him of his lady-killer demeanor . But its the first time we see him as a Real Actor. I always believed there's
a lot more than what meets the eyes with this guy and he proves it in Shanghai. He owns a footage of the accident and hence is the man in demand. And by demand I meant only Kalki, the rest ( IBP activists) wanted to chop his head at his first sight. Moving to the one person that made the "Silent" Difference in the movie, T.A.Krishnan(Abhay Deol), an IAS officer who is ordered to probe the incident and the veils of falsehood begin to drop. Its the meticulous detailing of Banerjee that distinguishes him from ordinary Make-Fast-Money directors. Shanghai has this one feature that can be dodgy for the movie itself, the pace. Well for a pedant like me I liked this approach but for ones coming out for a real entertainment jam packed with strong dialogues, fighting scenes, heroic moments it can be a disappointment. So strident is Dibakar Banerjee's voice as a filmmaker that even this adaptation -- of Vassilis Vassilikos' Z, about a wholly
different time and political situation -- is turned into a strikingly relevant story of our times and our crimes. The one another aspect of the movie that can be a showdown is the ending. Its an ending with no solution to the problem but rather leaving a lot for the audience imagination which is rather pragmatic in our society. And to all IAS aspirants, well well well , there's a hell lot of power . But with great powers come great responsibilities and greater threat. Abhay's terse with words probably because he has to talk in the South Indian accent which he does quite comprehensively.. The events do unfold slowly, yet the movie never loses its ultimate goal. Everyone can connect to this movie for all of us live in the same dark, daunted redolent with danger society of which we are mere pawns played by mighty politicians.As for the rest nothing more needs to be told right now. the movie's worth a watch. You won't regret for sure.