[Movie Review] Shanghai: A Ruthless Political Pit

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Prasenjit Chatterjee    
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Genre: Thriller
Music: Vishal & Shekher

It takes a maverick director to craft a cinema so bleak and brutal in its portrayal of truth that it has the power to provoke debates and lead to heavy handed argumentation. Dibakar Banerjee steers a political thriller so acidic in its content and so bitter in its handling that it hits you hard in your guts and leaves you wanting for more.

When an activist leader, Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is mowed down by a fast moving truck in what appears to be an accident, the hypothetical city of Bharatnagar boils down into a war field of riots and horrors. A student of Dr. Ahmedi, Shalini (Kalki Koechlin) becomes convinced that it was not an accident and was a preplanned murder. She along with a local photographer Jogi (Emraan Hashmi), who claims to have decisive evidence, fights for justice in a city brimming with deceit, bureaucracy and corruption. A high ranking official Krishnan (Abhay Deol) is given the responsibility of investigating the case.

At its core, Shanghai carries the notion of development at the stake of humanity. As the slogan of a prominent party IBP in the movie goes, “Kasam khoon ki khayi hai, Sheher nahin Shanghai hai”, Shanghai is treated as a metaphor for all the progress and evolution that the party promises in bharatnagar. Yet, regardless of the ballgame and skin crawling riots and unforgiving violence, the citizens of bharatnagar, proudly sings, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”.

‘Shanghai’ is a painfully slow movie. So, the viewer who has to sit back in the first hour only has his comfort in the beautiful little nuisances spilled across the screen. Dibakar Bannerjee has an eye for the details and he hits all his notes correct in detailing the landscape of silver screen. It is in the second hour that the movie grips the audience and sucks us into the world so true yet so oblivious to our naked eye.

Dibakar Bannerjee who previously directed Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (2008) and Love Sex Aur Dhoka (2010) shows superlative skills of direction and writing. The script is savage and brutally raw.

Shanghai is an atmosphere driven movie and the screenplay scores brownie points by depicting the circumstances as authentic as they could have been manifested on the silver screen.

The film tends to get distant from the viewer and is deliberately a tad sluggish. Kudos to the star cast with Emraan Hashmi leading from the front with a visceral portrayal of a middle class citizen. With Shanghai, Abhay Deol gets another coat in his armor and he is undoubtedly, ‘the dark horse’ of Bollywood cinema. Kalki Koechlin shines again as a lone girl seeking for justice in a ruthless system.

‘Shanghai’ is merciless and forces the audience to ponder over the state of our nation. It is by no means a yet another 100 crore blockbuster. It is an intelligent political thriller with a noble intention and a callous crime drama at its heart.

(first published in udaipurtimes.com)

Rating:  3.5 / 5

Prometheus: A Visual Grandeur

Year 1979, a director simply altered the way people used to look at sci-fi cinema by concocting Alien, a cinematic masterpiece that stood the test of time. Ridley Scott created an atmosphere so bleak and horror so unknown that it haunted people for years to come. At 74 years of age, after thirty long years, Ridley Scott has revisited the future and has come up with the much hyped visual grandeur ‘Prometheus’.

When a team of explorers come across a star map encrypted on fossils that lead to the origins of mankind and delve upon deep questions dealing with life and God, they board ‘Prometheus’, a spacecraft, to a distant moon LV-223 to fathom our existence. Never did they knew, that a mere scientific exploration would turn up into a battle of survival of the crew and endangering the entire human race on the brink of extinction.


Right from the moment the vulnerable crew sets foot on the planet, the atmosphere of dread clouds them. It is the master craft of Ridley Scott, who has an expertise in creating tension that elevates this movie from regular sci-fi clichéd stuff. The creepy cave scenes and the glimpse of the metal alien (Yeah, it makes a brief appearance!) have the potential to crawl under your skin and scare the daylights out of you.

 It has often been noticed that big screen ambitions, wind up in forgettable debacles. But, Prometheus rises from the gravity of profoundness and never looks back. The slick and neatly cut gadgets brings an air of awe to the proceedings. The spectacular soundtrack delivers the sense of meaning this movie was looking for.  Stunning CGI and visually dazzling celestial backdrop elevates the happening and the mystery of unknown keeps you on the tip of your seats.

Wait a second, what was the fuss about profoundness, when you end up giving no answers at all? Prometheus soars with a brilliant start, a decent middle and ends up in a lousy fashion. Only if the writer had come up with a finer script that had been thought through till the end, this surreal journey would have been an epic in all measures.


When a sequel/prequel is considered, the comparisons with the original are inevitable. As an individual cinema, Prometheus hovers to the heights of being a sumptuous 3D affair having state of art sequences and reaching depths of visual accomplishments. But, as a companion piece to critically acclaimed Alien, it falters on some level. It was the horror of the unknown that ignited fear in the roots of our stomach in Alien. While here, Ridley Scott and the tittering screenplay assures us that the horror is long gone, and it is the sense of wonderment that sweeps the canvas of the celestial body.


The flaws of the movie are redeemed by a stellar cast. Michael Fassbender as the emotionless android is a scene stealer. He captures the scene and grips it hard with his terrific screen presence only to let go to Noomey Rapace who outshone her role with a testament to endurance and humanity. Guy Pearce (Wait! Was he even there?) presence was unnecessary and Charlize Theron did justice with the part she was entrusted with.

Prometheus might not be a cinematic achievement which it tries too hard to be, but it bestows enough unadulterated sci-fi goods to the genre lovers to keep them intoxicated. With drops of intelligence spilled in, this is a pure summer entertainer everybody rooted for.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

(first published in Udaipur Times)

[Movie Review] Rowdy Rathore: Relish The Rowdiness

Director: Prabhu Deva

Producer: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ronnie Screwvala

Music: Sajid-Wajid

Genre: Action, Comedy

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Paresh Ganatra

“Jisne bhi yeh socha ki main darr gaya, vo arthi pe apne ghar gaya.” When you see a larger-than-life protagonist delivering such heavy handed dialogues in a rustic yet unflinching fashion, you ought to put your appetizer down and give a hand to the rowdiness of our own khiladi, Akshay Kumar. 

The dancer turned director, Prabhu Deva directs Rowdy Rathore, a remake of telegu movie VIKRAMARKUDU [2006], with eccentric confidence and panache. With Rowdy Rathore, he proved that WANTED [2009] was no fluke and he has an eye for the masala entertainment.

Shiva (Akshay Kumar) is a con who falls for Priya (Sonakshi Sinha), a girl straight from Indian heartlands, Patna. When things were going heavenly for our veteran, a juvenile girl, calling Shiva her father enters the scenario. Life threatening attacks and a deadly secret leads Shiva to a town in Bihar ruled by the ruthless politicians and small time thugs. A place whose inhabitant’s only redemption lies with Shiva!

Raving dialogues, vivid background and unabashed heroism of Akshay Kumar makes Rowdy Rathore a hardcore crowd pleaser. Sonakshi Sinha reprises the role of a desi girl with charm and brilliance. A lack of expressions of our female lead is redeemed by the brutal delivery of her raw one liners especially in the second half of the movie. Prabhu Deva deserves brownie points for handling the flashback sequences with subtlety and ease.

The first half of the movie was a tad uneven in pacing but is backed up with a visceral second hour which gives the audience enough to whistle about. Akshay Kumar found comfort in his role and brings out a strong performance elevated by his sense of comic timing. The compelling action sequences derived from the cinemas in south were a definite USP. Special mention of the music composed by Sajid-Wajid is a must as it has been a rage since its release and definitely explodes on the silver screen.

When the main aim is to make an instant blockbuster, storyline usually finds its feet in the grave. Rowdy Rathore suffers from a similar fate. With a tinge of predictability and seen-it-before feel, the storyline does not let the movie reach its crescendo. The emotional scenes lacked a punch and the romance between Priya and Shiva felt unbaked.

The packaging of the movie is such that it shadows the faults and provides paisa vasool entertainment in all measures. Rowdy Rathore has blockbuster written all over it. Have a decko, and relish the rowdiness. 

Rating: 3/5

(first published in udaipurtimes.com)

Commercialization Of Art

Since time immemorial art has been the savior of humankind from all the curses of lives. It completed the vacant spots of an individual with rich and soulful beauty. To be precise, art is the expression of human skills and imagination which can create an object which is aesthetic in nature and pleases the sentiments of common people as well as satisfy the thirst of intellects. It is indeed a disgraceful opinion to relate art with money. But, as the bitter nature of truth stands today, art is getting commercialized and is leading to the death of authentic talent.

There were times when artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo walked our planet. They were not seeking capital from their respective works, but the sense of self satisfaction and self-fulfillment. The most talked about work of art, Mona Lisa was completed by Leonardo Da Vinci in a span varying from 4 to 7 years. Is it possible that such a glorious depiction of artistry would have been actualized from the hands of a person seeking glory and money? In my opinion, possession of real talent blinds the greed and the notion of commercialization in one’s eyes.

It is due to the marketing and money minded thinking, that there is a dearth of raw and pure talents amongst us. The excess of commercialization has resulted into the demise of imagination and ingenuity among the young minds. The core concept of greed has blackened out the inventiveness and freshness of art. It never was a business and should never be treated as a pursuit of extracting revenues.

The enormous power that art possess has gone beyond one’s conception. Commercialization will only corrode its roots and will destroy the flair of a burning mind.  As Oscar Wilde has quoted, “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known”, we all should remind ourselves the admiration we gather for real talents and thus should not let this individualism burn into commercialization.