If you have seen Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, and have loved it, then would definitely have been looking forward to Shanghai and to be honest would be quite excited for it to come out. Emraan Hashmi in a role he's never done before. Abhay Deol portraying an absolute opposite of what he is known for and Dibakar Banerjee coming with a political thriller starkly different from his earlier work. High expectations already right? And that's where the problem lies. It's like the Indian Economy, expected to grow at 10% and beat china, but actually performs at around 6%. Faster than most economies of the world, but still not good enough because of the expetations. A Recommended Watch, but do not expect anything pathbreaking. Overall, a 6/10.The movie starts at a dismal pace and in an attempt to make it 'real', dibakar doesn't make it entertaining at all. The first 30 minutes try too hard to establish the premise of the movie and the characters do not seem to be making a mark despite being some very good actors being cast in those roles. The first half gets over in the anticipation of something drastic happening but doesn't. The tension of a political thriller doesn't seem to mount anywhere. May be because the background score (or the absence of it) doesn't help the movement or flow of the narrative. The excitement is not created in any of the sequences in the first half. Plain and Simple, you tend to move towards boredom. And when that happens, it would take a herulean task from the cast and the crew to pick the movie up since the audience has lost interest quite early.
The second half does offer it's share of twists and turns but they are hardly any 'Oh shit' moments anywhere. The biggest problem was the absence of thrill in the political thriller. May be it just got too predictable for me. The Good part about the movie was definitely the last 15-20 movies which (almost) compensated for the first half. This is where the movie actually starts to go somewhere. Though predictable, but how the story unfolds is definitely not uninteresting. Though you know who is the actual culprit is but how everything has happened is something you are looking for and that doesn't disppoint too much. The 'Real' nexus of the political system and the bureaucracy is explored in quite an interesting and entertaining way in the second half, which typically has not been shown earlier in its true honesty.
It's the first movie, where i thought Abhay just wasn't good enought. Although in an interview i had read earlier, dibakar had mentioned that he did not fit the part at all and that's why he cast him. But now he must have realize that the challenge didn't pay off as well. He didn't look the part and also didn't do justice to the character. A quite contrary to my absolute dislike towards Emraan Hashmi as an actor, he did a pretty good job overall. He was my pick of the lot in the acting department here. His mannerisms were not over the top and he didn't try too hard which worked for him. A Close second was a subtle farooque shaikh who again fit the part so well and reminded of a show he used to do on television on the lines of british comedy yes minister. Very well done. Kalki offers the same psychotic, screamy, crazy eyed character that she almost had patented herself for. And nobody else i remember to be honest.
The movie is quite 'Real' but is not as 'Entertaining'. The director got too engrossed in the 'storytelling' that he forgot that for a story to be told, 'interest' of the listener/viewer also needs to be kept in mind. You can't get so obsessive about the story that you forgot the person who is supposed to consume it. As already established, the background score (or the lack of it) didn't help the narrative at all. Imagine watching a sarkaar without the govinda govinda or the other gimmeckry. Same happens here. It just got too real and that doesn't help anyone.
Overall, A Recommended Watch for the 'Realness' of it but do not expect to come back enlightened or entertained. Watch it if you are bored on a sunday and have nothing better to do.
Feel-O-Meter: 6/10