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The Worst Film Ever

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Shanghai is a level up for Dibaker Banerjee as well as Indian Cinema for so many reasons:1. I don't remember if there has ever been a director after Kundan Shah(Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron) who has braved a quality satire on Indian socio-political system.2. Shanghai shows nothing more than what you already know but still keeps you engrossed because the intensity never dies down.3. It is full of instances where ironical moments have been juxtaposed in the time line and that definitely is one of the core strengths of the movie. 4. Another facet of Abhay Deol is unveiled in Shanghai.He perfectly portrays the characters without overdoing the accent which even a seasoned actor could have ended up with.5. Emran Hashmi never lacked talent but Banerjee's Shanghai provides him of the right opportunity and Hasmi makes full of it by delivering a career defining performance.6. Kalki is her usual best displaying plethora of emotions with aplomb ease.7. The research done to show how the government machinery works is worthy of praise considering how most other movie makers don't even care to research.8. Above all these what makes this movie a grand success is the stupendous casting of all the secondary characters.Kudos!

There were many reasons for which I went to theater to watch this film, 1. Acting skills and selectiveness of Imran Hashmi. All of his recent movies were minimum guarantee movies. 2. 2 beautiful songs which I wanted to enjoy in big screen (khudaaya and duaa). 3. Positive reviews.But I was terribly disappointed with the movie. This was a 2 hour movie, but I felt like I spend around 5 hours in theater, I was totally uncomfortable. It was a horrible experience because I was having huge expectations. I felt asleep at times and woke up suddenly by hearing the screaming of kalki.. These are some of my findings. 1. First of all, I agree that this may feel like awesome for some audience. It is a dark political thriller, but its not entertaining, movie was moving slooowly. 2. Those 2 songs which I mentioned above were not in the movies. I don't know whether the dua song was cut, but the khudaaya song was made just for the film promo. There is no such situation in the movie where you can include that song. 3. I think Abhay deol was totally wasted. He is a good character, but not all suitable for this role.Imran hashmi's acting was appreciable. Believe me he is very near to bagging a best actor award.

In the beginning of this movie, the cover page of a book written by a character of this movie (Dr. Ahmedi) is shown and the title of the book reads as - Kiski Pragati ? Kiska Desh ? (Whose progress ? Whose nation ?). And that's what this movie is all about. So many development projects have come and are coming being termed as the ladder to the progress of the nation. But the question is - what do we mean by nation ? Hence, the related second question is - whose progress is it going to be ? If this nation does not belong to the poor and the underdog, then whom do these things purport to bring prosperity to ? Aren't most of these so-called development projects conspiracies to deprive the commonfolks of whatever little possessed by them and pour further wealth into the already brimming coffers of those occupying key positions in the government and the administration of this 'great' country ? Quite naturally, there are several activists also visible who oppose such projects. Definitely all such activists are not having genuine intentions behind their opposition. The opposition of some of them may be motivated and they may be having their own axes to grind. However, it's the duty of the victims (or would-be victims) to identify their genuine well-wishers among them and lobby behind them. And such people do take a risk of their own life as well. The powerful ones having vested interest in such projects will definitely like to eliminate the opposing ones. Shanghai tells the story of one such elimination only.A social activist - Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is opposing a development project - IBP which is likely to dislodge the lower class people of the concerned town - Bhaarat Nagar. When he is going ahead with his mission in the company of his ex-student and admirer - Shalini (Kalki Koechlin), a truck tramples him. The truck driver is caught but the conspiracy behind this so-called mishap is deep whose strings lead to some very powerful and high profile people in the government. An enquiry commission is set up to look into this mishap due to which Dr. Ahmedi is fighting for his life in the hospital now. This single member commission is headed by an IAS officer Krishnan (Abhay Deol) who comes to know of some evidences linked to this apparently a mishap but actually an attempted murder, through a videographer - Joginder (Emraan Haashmi). Some more murders take place which are of expendable people involved in or knowing about the murder conspiracy chalked out at a very high level. However Krishnan with, his wit and conviction, is though not able to reveal the truth before the world or stop the project from materializing but at least able to prevent the conspirators from enjoying the fruit of their conspiracy.The revelation shown in the climax is not reliable because the apex level politicians never allow themselves to be caught in some tape / CD. There are many layers between them and the real executors of their plans which never allow them to directly come into picture in such a way that some concrete evidence is left for anybody else to see / hear. Besides, the way Krishnan blackmails the lieutenant of the chief minister - Kaul (Farooq Sheikh) to toe his line and also involves the coalition partner in his mission, is too simplified to be true. And his denying to go abroad on promotion is also too far-fetched as well as the other things that appear on the screen in written form when the movie has ended. This slipperiness of the director has not allowed the movie to become an outstanding movie.The Bollywood filmmakers have made Emraan Haashmi typed for the roles with a definite flavour. In a different role, he has got an opportunity to show his mettle and he has done it with finesse. Kalki Koechlin is a good actress but she has also been typecast to play a certain type of roles only. Shanghai is another example of her typecasting. The supporting cast has done exceedingly well including Supriya Pathak and Farooq Sheikh who have come together after three decades (last time, they had come together in Baazaar - 1982). Farooq Sheikh has done something like his Jee Mantri Ji act (a TV serial that had come many years back, portraying Farooq as a minister). Prosenjit has impressed in the low-footage role of Dr. Ahmedi which is the base of the complete story. The show-stealer is Abhay Deol whose underplay is simply outstanding. He is a highly talented, yet low profile actor who can never act bad. Despite being a script-based movie without any undue weightage for any character, Abhay draws attention as the well-educated and sincere bureaucrat.Shanghai is a high-tension drama sans entertainment (though some humour has been inserted through Farooq Sheikh's facial expressions in the climax scene). It hits hard instead of entertaining the viewer. Hence, little wonder, it has flopped on the box office. It bares the ugly, true face of 'progressing' India on the screen. Will you be interested in seeing it when you have already seen enough of it off the screen ?

I slept late at night ,gt up early, went for the early morning show comprimising on my sleep ..but throughout this movie ,never did I even once felt sleepy or bored !!! This tells how much engaging i found this movie , how much the movie gets you involved into it !! There is a perfect set-up , subtle build up and then there is that fine climax !! Despite its sluggish pace Shanghai makes for an excellent watch !! There is a possibility that you might predict the plot but how the director gets there is simply superb . Now thats where lies the beauty of this film. The real people in the frame ,the surroundings ,form most of the background score. So much emphasis is given on the details that a natural humour comes out even in tense scenes. The movie doesn't rely on heavy dialogues to convey its message,now that credit goes to the screenplay! Performances of the ensemble cast is flawless, a special mention ..'Emraan' who comes out of his comfort zone to deliver a performance that will put him the category of finest actors !! Shanghai ,not recommended for those who go for a movie just for a masala entertainment ! Finally Shanghai is a movie that you will either love dearly or hate ,i enjoyed it !!