Shanghai
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SHANGHAI an engaging and enlightening thriller (Movie Review)

Dibakar Banerjee’s political thriller not only shocks, engages and enthralls, but also makes you mind go roll on the current state of the nation.

The real hero behind Shanghai is neither Emraan Hashmi nor Abhay Deol, but the rhetoric story teller Dibakar Banerjee and his co-writer Urmi Juvekar. A political thriller as comparable to “Shanghai” has rarely been adventured before in Bollywood. Dibakar Banerjee has made some compelling efforts with the film. Emraan Hashmi too share the piece of cake , as he stepped out of his usual forte and delivered at par with doyens of acting.

The film has to it way more than what you might expect from the trailers, its like the Johny Gaddar “deja-vu” returning back where an exceptionally well movie was thought of as cliched. In director’s own words, it’s a ‘hustler’. Not only he amazed everyone with the film, but also managed to give us a political thriller starring the ‘serial killer’ Emraan (BAD NEWS: He didn’t kiss in this one!)

However Shanghai is a story of a fictional city called Bharatnagar but it just represent every developing city in India. Rakish politicians, abject poor & helpless people and the common stoic commoners who suffer with no fault of their own, all are portrayed in a film of less than two hours.

Adapted from Vasilis Vasilikos’ novel Z, Dibakar’s Shanghai represents whatever is happening around us. The shopping malls, the metro railway lines and all the other development that is being spoken about, mean a lot more – only if you bother to dig deeper. You could end up as an outcast in your own land if you sell your soul.

Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi are the protagonists, supported by Kalki Koechlin and Prosenjit Chatterjee, who manage to convince us through the movie that we have to draw a line between capitalism and socialism. You can’t see your city in malls. You see it when you step out to roads and get stuck in traffic jams. Then you are exposed to the true picture of the society and all hope seems to be lost. Shanghai shows that India is not shining. It shows where are we heading as a nation.

You may or may not like the movie, but it will set you thinking. It will force you to initiate a discussion about what we need: a shopping mall or a revolution.Shanghai is an important film that deserves to be watched because of its relevance to our life and society.

Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Pitobash Tripathi have done excellent work to make Shanghai a memorable watch. Though the movie carries a serious subject, it entertains and has its light moments too. We just hope that this socio-political thriller gets the audience that it deserves.

Source: bollywoodlife.com

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