MOVIE REVIEW

Shanghai
Thinking man's thriller

TSI Five-O : Cuts through the clutter of genre norms

Shanghai is a nifty political thriller that pushes the boundaries of the genre further than any Mumbai film has done in recent years. A trenchant critique of a lopsided development model that leaves little room for the dispossessed to escape their misery, the film sets its own pace and steers clear of the clichés that one associates with supposedly 'angry' films. Sans any grandstanding, action set pieces, and crowd-pleasing bluster, it hits all the right buttons as it comments on how India's power brokers work to benefit a wealthy few at the expense of the general public.

Adapted from a celebrated Greek novel, Vassilis Vassilikos’ Z, Urmi Juvekar and director Dibakar Banerjee's screenplay exudes sharp intelligence and latent verve. It takes an alien text and converts it with precision to reflect the contemporary Indian reality. A left-leaning activist (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is a sworn opponent of a business park planned on a stretch of land that's been sold for a song. He is bumped off by those who hate his guts. His wife (Tilottama Shome) and a former student (Kalki Koechlin) cry foul.

The chief minister (Supriya Pathak) appoints an upright South Indian IAS officer (Abhay Deol) to probe the murder. It soon becomes apparent that the exercise is an eyewash. The smooth-talking principal secretary (Farooque Sheikh) seeks to prevent the investigator from digging too deep.

This dark cautionary tale is aided by the contributions of cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis, film editor Namrata Rao, sound designer Pritam Das and background music composer Michael McCarthy. Together, they embrace the ambience of Shanghai with complete conviction.

Abhay Deol is near-perfect and Emraan Hashmi is a revelation. The latter, playing a part-time porn peddler, does not miss a trick. The supporting cast is first-rate: Prosenjit makes a strong impression, as do Supriya Pathak and Farooque Sheikh. Shanghai is a must-watch.  


 

Prometheus
Is our past darker than we imagine?

TSI Five-O: If cosmic horror is your thing, this is your heroin..

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is one of the best sci-fi films I have come across. The last sci-fi film that I truly loved was District-9 and this one’s at par.

Right from the word go, Prometheus creates an atmosphere which is dark and bleak. But it isn’t bleak in a dreary way. In fact, the gloom and desolate atmosphere draws you in and grows on you throughout the film.

In a quest to find the roots of humanity, Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway lead a team aboard Prometheus, a space exploration vessel, and make their journey to a distant moon LV-223. Discovering a large monolithic statue of a humanoid head and several stone cylinders, the crew’s fate slowly turn foul as they have to… and there is my cue to shut up for there are spoilers ahead.

Prometheus is not a horror film in its strictest sense; it has its scary moments, but the over arching sense of the unknown is its true weapon. Ridley Scott, who has also helmed Blade Runner, brings his more than adequate experience to the party with his tight, industrial style of direction backed up by Dariusz Wolski’s (of Pirates of the Caribbean and Sweeney Todd fame) amazing cinematography. In scenes like the one where the crew begins to explore the forsaken moon, their combined genius reaches its creative peak. And it doesn’t ebb from there.

So buckle up and see what makes cosmic horror truly amazing when it is in the hands of a true visionary.

You may do well to avoid the popcorn; the crunching-munching may take away from the overall experience. Take a Coke, don’t slurp though…