Dheere dheere

SHOR IN THE CITY (2011)

Since the past few years, we have seen a ‘trend’. That of the filmmakers pouring their fascination of the two great cities of our country, New Delhi and Mumbai, on celluloid. Both wonderful cities in my humble opinion. The best New Delhi film I’ve seen is Do Dooni Char (2010). Shor in the City is the best Mumbai film I’ve seen recently.

We saw Dhobhi Ghat this year as well. It tried its hand at showing Mumbai. The “real” Mumbai. Even calling itself Mumbai Diaries. I wouldn't say it failed. Even the Brits tried it with Slumdog Millionaire (2008). But nothing comes close to Shor in the City at getting the heart of the city right. A side of the city which most films are afraid to explore. Balaji Films gave us the wonderful Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai (2010) last year. This year too they come bearing gifts. Better ones.

The sheer brilliance of this film comes from its effortless screenplay. The pace is a bit slow in the first half but if you want to be rewarded at the end of the stroll, keep walking.  A rare thing of beauty that this film achieves is that it doesn’t get distracted by its multiple stories. Mostly, in such films we see contrived, coincidental bumpings-into. This film does not care about that. It is no Babel (2006) or Amores perros (2000) wannabe. By this I don’t mean it’s apathetic towards its characters and it isn’t cohesive. The movie is aware that life in Mumbai (since we’re being specific) or any metropolitan city in India for that matter, are subtly inter-linked. They don’t need to physically crash into each other. Everyone knows everyone somehow. Just clicking a picture of an unknown person is enough, if you know what I mean. Nothing in this film is wasted, rarely a false note. That itself is a mark of a good film. It refuses to fall into any sort of stereotype.

Tilak (Tusshar Kapoor), Ramesh (Nikhil Dwivedi) and Mandook (Pitobash) are three friends who need to make a quick buck. Sawan (Sundeep Kishan) is a young cricketer who also need to make a quick buck to bribe the team selector. Abhay (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is an "America return" who refuses to bribe people for his security from small-time gangsters who threaten him. Now you see the inter-linking I’m talking about?

All of these stories are slowly leading up to the day of the Ganpati Visarjan and one awesome climactic ‘Bank Hijack’ sequence. It would be stupid not to make a genre out of that. Wouldn’t we like to see a Bank Hijack film? I would! Sort of like our very own Spaghetti Western kind of genre.

Before I drift into nonsensical Indian film utopia of mine. I’d like to add that the film also has heart. The love story between Tilak (Kapoor) and his wife (Radhika Apte) is incredibly “cute”. I know it’s a corny word to use but it really is. Probably ‘cuter’ and creates moments that feel much more real and heartfelt than all of Yash Raj and Dharma’s recent rom-coms combined. 

Another story that struck a chord with me and I found myself rooting for was that of Abhay’s. Its resolution is perhaps the most satisfying, organic. I’m not really sure about the way Tilak's story ends or even Sawan’s (trying to avoid spoilers here) but honestly, by that time the film had completely won me over and I couldn’t care whether it’s borderline clichéd or not.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

But something in me does say the film’s fearlessness should have gone one notch higher and completely gone the distance by killing Tilak and making Sawan bribe the selector. Wouldn't it be more hard-hitting and painfully ironic that Sawan got his place in the team at the expense of a man's life who didn't want to be there in the first place? I think a movie like this one could have done without a happy ending. This is probably why I've taken off half a star.

(END OF SPOILERS)

But I still like it as it is. Can’t really complain too much. It still is a bittersweet morality tale. Tilak is a crook who reads Paulo Cohelo's The Alchemist and develops an interest in philosophy. You will find that the quirks given to the characters are also not shoved into our faces. You might just miss it’s brilliance if you don’t requite. 

This movie also boasts excellence in ensemble acting. Even if the stories aren't directly linked, the actors seem to be coming from the same world. Tusshar Kapoor didn't seem monotonous for the first time. Well done. Pitobash who plays Mandook is bound to receive a lot of attention, his role being such. For some reason, he made me cringe. But then I realized the cringe was more like hating a character like Joe Pesci from GoodFellas (1990) who obviously you can't really hate. Sendhil Ramamurthy does his part complete justice. So do the fresh faces, Girija Oak, Radhika Apte and Sundeep Kishan add sincerity and honesty by just their faces. Also displaying some marvelous piece of acting. I hope I see these faces more often on screen. The background score and even the songs are pretty good. “Saibo” and “Karma is a Bitch” being my personal favorite. Sachin-Jigar take credit.

This film was a unique surprise. A diamond in the rough. This is quite possibly the best film of the year so far. Take a bow, Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru. (Give us a Bank Hijack film on your way out, please?) (Had to say that)

Rating: **** out of *****