Director: Dibakar Bannerjee
Cast: Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Farooq Sheikh
Rating: 3/5
Gone are the days when filmmaking meant picking up a top actor, one popular actress and some jaw dropping locations. Tada!! Welcome filmmakers, like Dibakar Bannerjee, who pick up real subjects, make their actors look as real as possible and come out with a path breaking film like Shanghai that keeps you engaged till the word 'end'.
Dr. Ali Ahemadi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is a social-worker who is against the IBP entering Bharat Nagar as it’s not in favour of the poor. Involvement of politicians has Dr. Ahemadi assassinated. Shalini (Kalki Koechlin) is an ardent follower of Dr. Ahemadi and wants to prove that his death was not an accident, along with video shooter Jogi Parmar (Emraan Hashmi). An enquiry commissioner Krishnan (Abhay Deol) is called upon to investigate on the matter. What follows next is the reality of our political society.
Bannerjee is back after making films like 'Love Sex Aur Dhokha', 'Oye Lucky Lucky Oye' and 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' and how. He makes a clean sweep with the story and its processing. However, the screenplay confuses at places. Abhay Deol gets into the nerve of the character and takes the cake away with his flawless performance but who really steals the show is Emraan Hashmi. There was always more to him than the masala entertainers of the Bhatt camp and he proves it with this one.
Kalki Koechlin is nice but she needs better characters to get over her current mould of an NRI in trouble. Prosenjit impresses with his realistic portrayal of an honest social worker. Tillotama Shome is a pleasant surprise. Pitobash is a natural stunner and Farooq Sheikh takes the cake away with his intense performance. All the actors in the film are a perfect cast and do complete justice to their characters.
Music of the film is already topping charts but that’s more because of the unconventional lyrics. Background score is apt but gets loud at places. What really impresses is the honesty with which Banerjee puts light on the dirty politics in the interiors of the country. A definite watch this weekend, 'Shanghai' forces you to think and take charge.