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Shanghai
Critic reviews and ratings
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Shanghai, Banerjee’s fourth film, is his best. It’s also a very important film, in addition to being consistently engaging and extremely satiating.
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This is one of those rare films that is as pertinent as it is compelling. Cannot. Be. Missed!
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...Dibakar Banerjee has crafted this film with the kind of precision and invention that - should Shanghai be a commercial success - can change the course of cinema in India.
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Banerjee's passion for film-making is now a given. Like Tigmanshu Dhulia, he has defined his own brand of cinema, one that will find its own audience.
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...undeniably one of the most politically astute films ever made.
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...a no-frills but searing political thriller that is under-wired with intelligence and nerve, both cinematic and ideological.
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...a riveting drama with a sledge hammer of a social message.
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Shanghai is all Dibakar, who we must lift on our shoulders with grateful pride.
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...is a dark earthy film; it’s a drama played over and over again in front of us in the 9 pm news, these are characters we are acquainted with.
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An immensely enjoyable thriller, helmed by a brilliant cast of actors and a master storyteller in Dibakar Banerjee.
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It is the heartland political thriller that several among the Bollywood lot have tried to make lately but didn't quite have the guts to.
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With not a single dull moment and every department in fine form, this is tour de force filmmaking. Simply one of the best and bravest films you will see this year.
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...brings to fore the immense originality of thought and perspective of the director, who in one sweep, gives us a political thriller, a snarky comment on our contemporary times yet informing it with the argument of the complexity of our times.
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It is the best Hindi film I’ve seen this year.
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...is off-beat or mainstream is debatable, but if you thrive on rustic realistic cinema, however heavy-duty - this is your pick.
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...it is an important, relevant film that demands to be watched not just for what it is saying, but for how it is saying it -- angrily, fearlessly, pointing out, as a line in one of the film’s songs puts it, both the ‘gur’ and the ‘gobar’ in this, our Bharat.
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...consistently watchable...
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...demands some patience … this is not one of those films that sucks you in right from the first scene. It takes its time to draw you in. When it does though, the sadness is inescapable.
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...does make for a compelling one time watch, especially for the outstanding performances.
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Visually appealing because of raw, rugged ambience and characters, Shanghai ultimately ends up being yet another political drama that chooses the quick-fix, short-cut.
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...is full of memorable filmmaking but it isn’t a memorable film.
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In a film that has more heavy breathing and silence than dialogue, it’s a remarkable feat of Banerjee’s to portray the corruption everyone takes for granted as such a frustrating, and yet comical, thing that affects us only when it confronts us.
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The plot is implausible but the superb acting and understated tone make it eminently watchable.
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Why Dibakar Bannerjee went derivative is a conundrum, especially when he has a 1,001 real-life stories to tell around him.
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