I have been delaying this for some time now, mainly because I was in some dilemma about the movie. But I decided to watch the movie again to see if I missed some subtle points in my first viewing. Indeed the second viewing helped me make up my mind. So here is the review.
Dibakar Bannerjee's Shanghai is a look at the dirty and corrupt world of politics and bureaucracy in our country. It has been adapted from a novel Z by a greek diplomat, but the story has been molded to suit our environment. Dibakar Bannerjee has always had a knack for subtlety and satire, which he was able to put to the best use in Shanghai. Although Oye Lucky Lucky Oye in my opinion was also a pretty satirical movie, but political satire is something that people grasp more easily than other forms of satire, in that respect Shanghai hits the right note. The beauty of Shanghai's plot is that its very simple and clear, even if one is half awake during the first 15 minutes, during which a murder/accident takes place, one wouldn't find it difficult to guess who the perpetrators are. So plot wise there are almost no twists, in spite of this, the movie can become difficult to understand if one doesn't concentrate. That is because of its shrewd screenplay - the story is told in such a way as to try to confuse the viewer, hide some minute yet important details from plain sight, to keep the viewer guessing. Here's an example - while relieving my self during the interval I found quite a few people discussing/pondering over some very basic facts in the story line like -
Shanghai at times looked like an experiment in resource optimization. There was hardly any self-indulgence from the director or the actors, and the editing was at times too precise. I say this because I tried hard to find faults in the movie, but I couldn't find anything significant. I doubt if Shanghai would resonate much in people's minds, but technically it was quite perfect. The lack of an out & out hero in the movie, who brings justice to the oppressed, is synchronous with the tone of the movie, but often that is the difference between a movie being good and a movie being memorable. And that is my major complaint with the movie - the lack of a strong character, one with whom the audience could empathize with. I felt both Kalki's and Abhay Deol's characters were under portrayed, their characters should have been developed more. Like it wouldn't have hurt to know what was actually Kalki's father accussed of, and what effect it had on her development and her decision to become a social activist. Abhay Deol throughout seems striving for a transfer to stockholm, maybe the story could have dealt more with his reasons to go to stockholm and what all compromises he made for that. All in all Shanghai is a landmark in Hindi cinema, we have had quite a few in the last few years, I would rate it 3.5/5. Keep looking for more gems from Dibakar Bannerjee.
P.S - I thought I would clear a few doubts which I guess some people who have already seen the movie may have. If you haven't seen the movie you could skip this part.
IBP stands for International Business Park, it's not the name of the CM's political party, it was a development project undertaken by the State Govt and a pvt company called Genron. Although her party's name is not taken explicitly anywhere, but on keen observation on a poster I found it was Bharatiya Rashtra Dal. There were in coalition with the Mukti Morcha or Morcha in the state whose leader was Deshnayak.
After the 1st viewing of the movie I was annoyed with the fact that the name Shanghai was not referred to anywhere in the movie, making the name of the movie kind of out of context. Although people shout slogans - "sheher nahi Shanghai hai" but the context is not apparent. Shanghai obviously stands as a symbol of a developed city, but in the absence of a direct reference it could well be Tokyo or New York or London. Why shanghai? On second viewing I found that in the penultimate scene when Abhay Deol and Farooque Sheikh are talking, Farooq Sheikh says this - "ye CM PM ban sakti thi. Hum China se bhi age ja sakte the". To me that's good enough.
Dibakar Bannerjee's Shanghai is a look at the dirty and corrupt world of politics and bureaucracy in our country. It has been adapted from a novel Z by a greek diplomat, but the story has been molded to suit our environment. Dibakar Bannerjee has always had a knack for subtlety and satire, which he was able to put to the best use in Shanghai. Although Oye Lucky Lucky Oye in my opinion was also a pretty satirical movie, but political satire is something that people grasp more easily than other forms of satire, in that respect Shanghai hits the right note. The beauty of Shanghai's plot is that its very simple and clear, even if one is half awake during the first 15 minutes, during which a murder/accident takes place, one wouldn't find it difficult to guess who the perpetrators are. So plot wise there are almost no twists, in spite of this, the movie can become difficult to understand if one doesn't concentrate. That is because of its shrewd screenplay - the story is told in such a way as to try to confuse the viewer, hide some minute yet important details from plain sight, to keep the viewer guessing. Here's an example - while relieving my self during the interval I found quite a few people discussing/pondering over some very basic facts in the story line like -
- what is IBP
- who is Deshnayak
- what exactly does Abhay Deol do
Undoubtedly Shanghai is not for the leisurely movie-goer. If you want to chill out this is not the movie for you, you may well get annoyed after some time and leave. Moving on ... a quality of Dibakar Bannerjee that I quite like is his ability to transform an easy going, mostly uneventful or even happily treading along story, to a suddenly grave or almost shocking conclusion. He did this with the 1st story in Love, sex aur dhokha, I remember when I had gone to watch the movie in the theatre, I heard quite a few shrieks, sighs mostly from girls during the last scene where the boy and girl were brutally murdered. Shanghai doesn't have any shocking revelation or conclusion only a more satirical one, but the movie grows progressively gloomier with the passage of time, in tone as well as color.
Shanghai is high on symbolism like Dibakar's other movies, like Oye Lucky ... and keeping with the general style of the movie the symbolism is quite subtle sometimes accompanied by slight humor which looks almost unintentional and spontaneous. Here are some things that I noticed -
Shanghai is high on symbolism like Dibakar's other movies, like Oye Lucky ... and keeping with the general style of the movie the symbolism is quite subtle sometimes accompanied by slight humor which looks almost unintentional and spontaneous. Here are some things that I noticed -
- There were quite a few scenes where a sweeper is seen cleaning something or the other. The guest house where Abhay Deol stays, it's dry swimming pool was being cleaned by a sweeper in the background in atleast 2 scenes. And on both occasions the swimming pool looked pretty dirty. Then the school which is made the inquiry commission's make shift office is also cleaned again and again. I felt it was an allegory of the dirty political and bureaucratic system which needs constant cleaning.
- Also there is the scene where Kalki and Abhay Deol both slip while walking out of the classroom. It looked funny but could also be symbolic.
- Then there is the scene where we see Farooq Sheikh working out in the gym and some guy, standing there holding a towel and a water bottle. Then there is this police inspector to whom the SSP gives his shades, his cap and mobile to hold as he takes them off one by one. It is a reminder of the bootlicking and sycophancy that is so characteristic of public service.
- The members of the Mukti Morcha are seen dancing and celebrating on the road almost everyday for no apparent reason, causing inconvenience to general public, blocking traffic. This is not so much symbolic as it is a true portrayal of the "Dabangaai" that a lot of political parties in our country thrive on.
Coming to acting. My pick was Kalki. She has cut a niche for herself in these kind of girl-troubled-within roles. The surprise package was Emraan Hashmi. He did justice to the small part that he was given. Abhay Deol was good as usual although I found his south-indian accent unconvincing and inconsistent. Pitobash plays a cameo, and proves that he was the right choice for the eccentric character of Bhaggu. Farooqe Sheikh played his role with consummate ease. Cinematography was good, not over the top.
Shanghai at times looked like an experiment in resource optimization. There was hardly any self-indulgence from the director or the actors, and the editing was at times too precise. I say this because I tried hard to find faults in the movie, but I couldn't find anything significant. I doubt if Shanghai would resonate much in people's minds, but technically it was quite perfect. The lack of an out & out hero in the movie, who brings justice to the oppressed, is synchronous with the tone of the movie, but often that is the difference between a movie being good and a movie being memorable. And that is my major complaint with the movie - the lack of a strong character, one with whom the audience could empathize with. I felt both Kalki's and Abhay Deol's characters were under portrayed, their characters should have been developed more. Like it wouldn't have hurt to know what was actually Kalki's father accussed of, and what effect it had on her development and her decision to become a social activist. Abhay Deol throughout seems striving for a transfer to stockholm, maybe the story could have dealt more with his reasons to go to stockholm and what all compromises he made for that. All in all Shanghai is a landmark in Hindi cinema, we have had quite a few in the last few years, I would rate it 3.5/5. Keep looking for more gems from Dibakar Bannerjee.
P.S - I thought I would clear a few doubts which I guess some people who have already seen the movie may have. If you haven't seen the movie you could skip this part.
IBP stands for International Business Park, it's not the name of the CM's political party, it was a development project undertaken by the State Govt and a pvt company called Genron. Although her party's name is not taken explicitly anywhere, but on keen observation on a poster I found it was Bharatiya Rashtra Dal. There were in coalition with the Mukti Morcha or Morcha in the state whose leader was Deshnayak.
After the 1st viewing of the movie I was annoyed with the fact that the name Shanghai was not referred to anywhere in the movie, making the name of the movie kind of out of context. Although people shout slogans - "sheher nahi Shanghai hai" but the context is not apparent. Shanghai obviously stands as a symbol of a developed city, but in the absence of a direct reference it could well be Tokyo or New York or London. Why shanghai? On second viewing I found that in the penultimate scene when Abhay Deol and Farooque Sheikh are talking, Farooq Sheikh says this - "ye CM PM ban sakti thi. Hum China se bhi age ja sakte the". To me that's good enough.
