The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Pure cinema at its best!!! what needs a special mention is the small nuances in the story which makes the story move forward and the attention to details which the director wants the audience to observe.Shanghai is edge of the seat political thriller one will ever get to see from Bollywood in years!!Dibaker Benerjee gets the story downward spiraling and gets the audience feel part of the story and the interrogation. The symbolic addressing of the movie theme to the socio-political arena adds to the tension of the plot and creates the atmosphere which makes it a perfect watch spearheading to a nail biting end.Do yourself a favor, watch Shanghai if you haven't yet.

I saw "Z" nearly 8 months back after i came to know that Shanghai was based on it. the expectations from the movie were high coming as it does from the director of bona fide Hindi classics such as "khosla ka ghosla" and "love sex aur Dhokha". And Dibakar Banerjee does not disappoint. the movie is about the investigation of the murder of a social activist who is lobbying against the incumbent party about the acquisition of land. Emraan Hashmi and Abhay Deol are both brilliant in their respective roles. Kalki stares at the camera throughout the movie and this expression doesn't change much. Prasenjit Chatterjee as the slain activist is pitch perfect. The real pleasure is in seeing the exchanges between Farooq Sheikh and Abhay Deol (between the chief secretary and the collector) and the lowlifes that Emraan Hashmi in his role of a video recorder encounters. the pace of the movie is slow and it tests your patience at times. but the payoff at the end is good. Recommended.

Its really comforting to see recent Bollywood is been blessed with a bunch of talented and eager film makers who are honest with their frame and don't seem to compromise the portrayal against Box Office success. Dibakar Banerjee is surely the front liner amongst the elite.The story telling, characterization, brilliant drama and clinching suspense along with a superb performance from the entire cast was good enough to lift up this movie, but what made it a masterpiece was the perfectly delivered 'Real' ending. I wont spoil any, but the last 10 mins just blew me away. I have seen many movies plotted on socio-economic crisis/ issues and they wind up with a conventional ending of good sprouting over evil. One has to consider his film acceptance among the audience before delivering. And I'm sure majority of the happy go like audience will turn back on Shanghai just because the way it ended. Kudos to Dibakar for his guts to stay in real ground till the very finish line.The film has inherent honesty so one can relate the agony and absolute hopeless situation, the frustration of characters for their incapability. Symbolic use and character development is not an easy task for such a fast paced thriller, yet done in almost flawless manner. The disturbed girl, emotional attachment of a tyro videographer, blunt innocence of a criminal were painted beautifully. The song 'Bharat Mata ki' was so ironic. The movie forces you to realize in a Power backed corrupt country like India, best living policy is to play the 3 monkeys role of Gandhi. Don't hear Wrong, don't see all the wrong doings (keep your eyes shut to it) and don't talk about Evil or against it. Keep a safe distance from all these and you may be able to live an earnest life with daal-roti.This movie entirely belongs to the Directer who didn't show us cure or hope, but has thrashed us over the solidity and deed of our society, country and future as well.

I slept late at night ,gt up early, went for the early morning show comprimising on my sleep ..but throughout this movie ,never did I even once felt sleepy or bored !!! This tells how much engaging i found this movie , how much the movie gets you involved into it !! There is a perfect set-up , subtle build up and then there is that fine climax !! Despite its sluggish pace Shanghai makes for an excellent watch !! There is a possibility that you might predict the plot but how the director gets there is simply superb . Now thats where lies the beauty of this film. The real people in the frame ,the surroundings ,form most of the background score. So much emphasis is given on the details that a natural humour comes out even in tense scenes. The movie doesn't rely on heavy dialogues to convey its message,now that credit goes to the screenplay! Performances of the ensemble cast is flawless, a special mention ..'Emraan' who comes out of his comfort zone to deliver a performance that will put him the category of finest actors !! Shanghai ,not recommended for those who go for a movie just for a masala entertainment ! Finally Shanghai is a movie that you will either love dearly or hate ,i enjoyed it !!