SHANGHAI
opens with a slow-mo scene where we see a mob of rioters looting a shop and
rubbing black paint on the corpulent face of the shop proprietor. We see him
struggling, we see his face glisten, black and monstrous, and yet, for all its
brutality and brutishness, I dare you to look away. This scene pretty much sets
the ball rolling for the film in terms of style. Scene after scene, we are
bombarded by the vision of a colossal, rotting, filthy system, rife with
corruption, and yet all this makes for such a delightful treat, you walk out of
the cinema feeling guilty.
Dibakar
Bannerjee has arrived, and with his fourth film, has crafted his best yet. This
is bound to become a modern classic of Indian cinema. Attempting a genre rarely
attempted (and almost never done well) in Bollywood, he gives us a political
thriller fit to stand with the best that the world has to offer.
Based
on the novel Z by Vassilis Vassilikos (and yes, I keep forgetting the guy’s
name, so I Wiki-ed him), the film depicts the CM of an unnamed state, and her
coalition partner, spearheading the building of an International Business Park
in a town called Bharatnagar, hailing it as their pet project to put India on
the financial fast-track. However, opposition comes from Dr Ahemadi (Prosenjit),
a Socialist thinker and New York-based professor and writer, and his team
(including his student and lover portrayed by Kalki) who point to the thousands
of people who would be displaced from their homes by this project, and protest
against it. Death threats are made, an assassination attempt takes place. An
IAS officer (Abhay Deol) is brought in for damage control. In the midst of this
is a seedy cameraman (Emraan Hashmi) who shoots some crucial evidence
inadvertently and, as a result, is thrown against his will into the thick of
things. The screenplay is deliriously
good, building up paranoia and fear layer by layer, as the plot twists and
turns, loyalties change and conspiracies emerge. The seedy underbelly of
Bharatnagar becomes a battlefield, every shadow hiding an unknown danger. Kudos
also to the non-traditional, almost Orwellian ending.
Dibakar’s
direction in this film is impeccable. From use of music to use of location, he
is spot-on in every department. A scene shot with a hand-held camera from the
back of a truck showing the city burning during a riot, the camera wheeling and
turning, stands out for its dizzying flair. Yet another scene comes to mind
when Kalki and Emraan are running through a riot-affected area in Bharatnagar
under cover of night. There are many ways to shoot this kind of scene: from the
back, making the audience a third member of the party, (hopefully) creating a
sense of paranoia; from the front, allowing the audience to see the
panic-stricken faces of the protagonists, (hopefully) creating a sense of
solidarity between the viewers and the viewed. Dibakar goes for an innovative
approach. He shots them in profile, from the side, with long shots. He tracks
them as they run and hide as jeeps carrying goons drive past. Then for quite
some time we don’t see them, as a row of shops come in between the camera and
the protagonists. For a long time, we can only hear their labored breathing and
their footsteps. Knowing as we do by then, that they might easily be killed,
this blindfold, so to say, only heightens the tension of the scene. We prick
our ears for sound of a gunshot, a yell, a groan of pain.
The
acting by all three leads as well as the huge cast of supporting players is
excellent. Abhay Deol is flawless as the Tamil Brahmin IAS officer with
integrity; Kalki is also very good as a woman on a mission of vengeance. But
Hashmi is the surprise package here. I was not a huge fan of his. But now I am.
Stained teeth, shifty gait, et al, he plays the part of a street-smart videographer/pornographer
brilliantly. He is equally good post-interval when certain events in his life
force him to pick a side. The supporting performances from Prosenjit as the
idealistic activist, Farooque Sheikh as a corrupt bureaucrat and Supriya Pathak
as the enigmatic Chief Minister, are exquisite as well.
I
can see no reason why you should avoid seeing this film. Revel in the filth.
Cower in the shadows. Laugh at the ludicrousness of it all. Bolo bolo bolo,
Bharat maata ki jai!
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