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A sham called Shanghai


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Zoeb
What A Biased Piece!
by Zoeb on Oct 19, 2012 07:45 PM

Mr Mihir Sharma, I think you are seriously biased towards the film. Let me correct your opinions so that you think again.
Firstly, IBP is not India Banega Pardes. It is India Business Park and the Jai Pragati bit is actually a nice cynical joke by Dibakar. It means Hail Progress and also the name of the party of the politician. What were you dozing off?
Secondly, you mention that there are pro-development people burning up a bookstore selling books of an activist. Watch the movie again Mr Sharma. Those were not regular people. They were the part of a mob that the party had recruited like an army in the town. The mob was trying to foist propaganda on the people of the town. And there were many people who were still supporting Dr Ahmedi. Dont you get it?
And finally, what is this about an upper-class man becoming a hero? If you love Z so much, you should know that even in that film the main character was a bureacrat. Krishnan does not become a hero. He simply realizes the darkness in the system he works in and he simply voices out. He is a bureacrat. He may have felt cramped up all his life. He just rebels for the first time.
By the way why are you so bothered about the geography of the place? Everyone who loves this film knows that it was not a place in North India or any place in India. It is a fictional town but it represents our India to a great extent.

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Jena Bharati
this is a great depiction of india particularly
by Jena Bharati on Sep 11, 2012 10:10 PM

bollywood, a place of incompetents. great job mihir sharma.

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Avijit Chatterjee
shanghai
by Avijit Chatterjee on Jun 25, 2012 11:37 PM  | Hide replies

mihir sharma was spot on. loved your critique... the hoax that bollywodd is needs to be more blatantly exposed....when will you ever learn

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Kunal Chandra
Re: shanghai
by Kunal Chandra on Jun 26, 2012 02:55 AM
on the face of it, the review is biased, insisting on factual scrutiny isolated from context or film making intent...nor has he got his facts or observations in place. The film for me places NO ONE on a pedestal, and certainly not an IAS officer, who merely redeems a small truth in a vast reality too omnipresent and alive or deny or defeat. The review quite clearly comes from a lack of attentive respective viewing, the strong negative bias notwithstanding.

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Kunal Chandra
Re: Re: shanghai
by Kunal Chandra on Jun 26, 2012 02:58 AM
on the face of it, the review is biased, insisting on factual scrutiny isolated from context or film making intent...nor has he got his facts or observations in place. The film for me places NO ONE on a pedestal, and certainly not an IAS officer, who merely redeems a small truth in a vast reality too omnipresent and alive to deny or defeat. The review quite clearly comes from a lack of attentive respective viewing, the strong negative bias notwithstanding.

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shashwat
Dibakar Banerjee
by shashwat on Jun 25, 2012 08:01 PM  | Hide replies

He is one of the worst Directors in Bollywood tday. Only his movie Khosla kal Ghosla was good by mistake, all his other movies are trash.
Please don't waste your precious on this director's ridiculous movies.

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shashwat
Re: Dibakar Banerjee
by shashwat on Jun 25, 2012 08:02 PM
Only his movie Khosla ka Ghosla was good by mistake.
Please don't waste your precious time and money on this director's ridiculous movies.


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james bond
Re: Re: Dibakar Banerjee
by james bond on Jun 25, 2012 10:43 PM
People make senseless movies like Jannat2 hit.

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Kunal Chandra
Re: Re: Dibakar Banerjee
by Kunal Chandra on Jun 26, 2012 02:39 AM
"good by mistake?"...you sir still have a lot to learn about how films are made

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Opinionated Man
Re: Dibakar Banerjee
by Opinionated Man on Jun 26, 2012 07:01 AM
Which was bad Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, or LSD ???

I think a Houseful or RaOne is your brand of films...GO ahead and enjoy those...

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SP
Good Article
by SP on Jun 25, 2012 05:43 PM  | Hide replies

Banerjee is the master of pretentious cinema...
Only khosla ka ghosla was good...
LSD was bullcrap...A 2 hr mms clip which had nothing new to offer.
We have seen better political thrillers in bollywood before which are much better than shanghai.
And please..Z was a classic political thriller...much ahead of its time when it was released in 1969...Shanghai stands nowhere close to it.

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Rajkamal Goswami
Re: Good Article
by Rajkamal Goswami on Jun 25, 2012 05:59 PM
Whoever claimed that Shangai betters Z for you to even raise that point?

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Rajkamal Goswami
Puerile piece
by Rajkamal Goswami on Jun 25, 2012 05:27 PM  | Hide replies

Seems more like a personal outburst of a person who worshipped Z and hates Dibakar. The critique against the movie per se is unsubstantial and irrelevant. It is naive to expect a sole narrative of dissent and corruption, as the movie is, to encompass the vastness and diversity that exist in reality out there. There are no heroes or messiahs in the movie. How far state can go to push its agenda of growth can be seen in the real life examples of Binayak Sen, Arundhati Roy, Angshuman et al. Death is salvation and that’s what the film wished to portray. Each and every living character’s moments were filled with despondency and resign. No one emerged a hero at the end. Life’s struggle continued as much as the transformation of Indian towns to Shangai. Its’ the closest that a film noir has ever come to terms with post modern realities of India while keeping the tension afloat. Its' a commendable piece of cinema notwithstanding the views of an insecure leftist about the political relevance of Indian cinema and the politics of the film-maker.

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ramen das
Re: Puerile piece
by ramen das on Jun 25, 2012 05:38 PM
"No one emerged a hero"...

Abhay Deol's character emerged a hero in the film... & tht killed it...

The author is mostly right... I agree to his basic point...

Where is the need to adapt a foreign novel based on real incidents happened in another country... don't we have enough real and much more horrid events here?

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Rajkamal Goswami
Re: Re: Puerile piece
by Rajkamal Goswami on Jun 25, 2012 05:55 PM
Creative impulses may not be 'need' based Ramen. Abhay remained in the system and emerged far from 'hero' who usually triumphs in the end. Can you say that Abhay or anyone in the movie emerged winner?

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Narayan Adeeb
Re: Re: Re: Puerile piece
by Narayan Adeeb on Jun 25, 2012 11:20 PM
Clearly a case where Mr. Mihir Sharma went to the movie theatre with his wife & 2 year old.. the wife bombarding him with family/relative matters and the kid jumping on his cajones throughout the length of the film. Since he barely paid any attention to what happened on screen and doesn't have the facts right about the film, I can't expect him to write a half-decent review.
'India Bane Pardes' party?! IBP was not a party but the name of the developers behind International Business Park (which were rustically hailed as India Banega Pardes for promotion).
'Jai Pragati' doesn't signify a corrupt politician proudly hailing progress. His party's name was Pragati party and thus Jai Pragati. Ever heard about 'Sahara Pranaam'?
Here's a typical case (Mihir Sharma and those who agree with him) of people who although rightly appreciate good international cinema but find it highly fashionable to pan Indian efforts (be it adaptation of foreign works with an Indian flavour)
My advice to Mr. Sharma. Next time you go for a non-Mithun or Govinda film (or not one of those International classics "that you know you are supposed to like") leave the wife and kid at home. Or just do everyone a favour and stay away from anything that involves satire or dark comedy. Nobody really has the time to elaborate the subtleties of the execution to you. Old foreign films are fine..you can find enough critical analysis and appreciation online about those for your retrospective comprehension.

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Sachin  Nagraj
Re: Re: Re: Re: Puerile piece
by Sachin Nagraj on Jun 26, 2012 01:54 AM
Well said, your understanding of the film facts is bang on. I was wondering how someone could mess up the actual IBP with a branding (within film) and write a review almost completely based and bashed it up.

That said, the film doesn't deserve many of the 3.5 to 4 star reviews I see everywhere, just so because it seems dark and masquerades as a satire.

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Rajkamal Goswami
Puerile piece
by Rajkamal Goswami on Jun 25, 2012 05:12 PM

Seems more like a personal outburst of a person who worshipped Z and hates Dibakar. The critique against the movie per se is unsubstantial and irrelevant. It is naive to expect a sole narrative of dissent and corruption, as the movie is, to encompass the vastness and diversity that exist in reality out there. And there are no real heroes of messiahs in the movie. Its the closest that a film noir has ever come to terms with post modern realities of India while keeping the tension afloat. Its' a commendable piece of cinema notwithstanding the views of an insecure leftist about the political relevance of Indian cinema and the politics of the film-maker.

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