SHANGHAI....................AFTER A LONG TIME SOME ONE DARES ....

Stuck in traffic because of a local festival, i was filled with such a rage that i wanted to jump out of the auto and beat every one back and blue who are dancing to a vulgar tune before the local deity. Your rage expands further when the  auto driver who drives you demands more for the delay for which your are not the reason or the cause. Your rage multiplies after reaching home as you realize there's power cut owing to severe power usage by the festival organizers. Your rage raises to exponential proportions as you find out the youth drinking celebrating and dancing as if they are the new kings of India..Your rage  reaches  a saturation when the vegetable vendor informs you that a kilo of lady fingers is Rs 80. Your rage evaporates as you find out you cannot do anything.Such rage is/was a common feature among the conscious citizens of this country.We shelve our feelings...opinions...attitude...character......honesty...for one simple thing....TO LIVE.

SHANGHAI steps in to fill a vacuum which is slowly growing beyond measure. A vacuum where no one never hears or sees. Dibakar Benarjees gushes us   into known territories introduces known faces and reveals  known intentions showing us how impotent we are in a world filled with venomous designs to gain ...you know what. Nothing on the celluloid he shows us is a new thing for us.Nothing new is there as you know this from the day you knew you are an indian. The way the director brought the entire thing before us makes us feel how worst and stupid our lives are. It knocks out our cleverly put innocence cloaks around us with ruthless detailing and clever metaphors. TAKE A BOW DIBAKAR BENARJEE 

PLOT:

An imaginary town Bharat Nagar is the place where the drama unfolds. A chief minister of a coalition govt has a pet project IBP coming up in the town. The coalition partner is one among the beneficiaries. The poor who are losing their houses are against the project and their voice is strongly made audible by one doctor Ahmedi. The entire party workers are in a threatening mode against the poor and the doctor. The doctor has a loyal and intimate student who adores him. He has a beautiful and a selfish wife.  A honest bureaucrat is in charge of the project who is chief ministers pet to complete the project as per schedule and the rewards are a posting at Stockholm on behalf India. In midst of this we have a local journalist whose another vocation is making porn. We have a ambitious principal secretary, a head strong cop , a fearing servant maid and lots of others with different personalities. The town gears up for the inauguration of the project. The chief minister and bollywood stars land for the opening. The doctor lands up to protest. Celebrations throughout the town. With a ambition of converting Bharatnagar into Shanghai the govt uses every devious measure to stem any opposition. A truck rams and kills the doctor. The govt appoints a inquiry commission  and appoints the Honest bureaucrat as the head and advise him to lap it up quickly. What happens latter is the crux of the movie.      

With a great detailing and an absolute gem of a presentation the director entwines you into the proceedings. The helplessness of the characters is shown in number of ways. The chains which lock us whenever  we dare   are shown in a impeccable manner. What enthuse the poor and why the poor elect corrupt leaders is a undercurrent theme in this political drama. It tells us how slippery are the ground where our ideals try to find a sustenance. In fact the working of Indian bureaucracy is well researched and filmed.

The girl with the ball in the inquiry hall, the nurse who advise to fight out on the streets, the street smart ruffian   who wants to know the english word for "mutton", the cop with a state backing, the principal secretary with his own agenda  and many more characters make you think. This directors ability to leave spaces here and there for your own interpretation is a masterstroke and this movie also leaves spaces.....to analyse ...to understand...... you feel uncomfortable as this time you know what lies there.   

The characters are well played that you never see the actor only character. Emraan Hashmi , Abhay Deol and Kalki have played their roles with remarkable ease that your root for these people to win. Prosenjit who played Dr Ahmedi performed in a outstanding manner. Every one played their characters to the book. Its Farooq Sheikh as principal secretary takes the highest honours.

All the technical departements elevated the movie to a higher level. The music is a character in the movie.Whenever there is a pause it took over.

I watched this movie with only twenty people nearly. As the movie ended no one rose from their seats. There  is a deadly silence in the theatre. The attendent at the exit door looked at all puzzlingly. He will never understand what happened in his life time. The entire audience were shocked with the ending. I leave the ending for you to watch. 

Some one dared to bring out how  cheap our living has become. Some one finally blew the lid of our hypocritical lives. It is a prayer call. Your god is on sale. Move fast. Your son of age five is mouthing foul words. Run. Your watchman may lock the door as it is becoming dark and he is the incharge of the entire apartment. Sprint. you are no more controlling yourself. 

bharatmata ki jai bolo