Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Am I Missing Something?

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Huge disappointment for me as a fan of Dibakar Banerjee. Its shocking in a bad way.There is a scene in the movie in which Ahmedi's wife makes IBP as the agenda, the very idea which her late husband fought against. Now is this satire, not sure but surely this is not comical and yet I was laughing the way it was shown. I was wondering what was good about this movie all through even at the end. How can this be hailed by movie critics as a superb film is what is baffling.May be I am not on their side, but I am on the side of entertainment and this film truly did not entertain me in any way, neither is it shocking nor is appealing and least engaging. When I knew who had attempted a murder and who did it, why would I like it just to know how they caught the evidence for it. Abhay Deol was mostly murmuring throughout, Kalki has performed till date her worst, Emraan Hashmi is mis cast and Pitobash, Prosenjit just are characteristically confusing. Kalki kisses Prosenjit who is married and has a wife and in-fact is his student and then also romances Emraan, Oh, so what do you I have to infer of such character. Many question marks are raised and I have not seen any answers anywhere. But the whole point is missed which is of putting a political satire on how men and issues will be used for their own empowerment by politicians. If thats the point, I surely think its waste of an effort.Screenplay is misguided and editing is never even done, look at the song between Emraan and Kalki an you realize why. Cinematography, I am afraid was done with either HD SLR cams like 5D and that too with few frames shaky, an awful job it was done, its neither showing a dramatic face or is making it a documentary cut out. Sound design and Background score were also misleading. For a drama, we need to have loud music and mostly drum beats. I will go with 1/5 for this movie. May others like it, but this is not for me. Sorry Dibakar but you disappointed me.

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.

There are few directors with the capability to pull audiences on their own, irrespective of the cast and story. Dibakar definitely makes the cut. To add to it the promotion and music were hugely popular making it one of the highly anticipated movies of the year.Abhay Deol once again proves his mettle as and off beat actor in the role of an IAS officer Krishnan. However, the real revelation of the movie is definitely Emraan Hashmi, who as Jogi is fabulous. His expressions and acting seems to have miraculously reached new levels. Keep it up. Kalki didn't have much to do and so fits the bill.The story is not new. Set in Bharatnagar, it explores the political and business manifestations about land acquisition and development. What are the games played for profit and how the common man suffers? It makes us think how corrupt the system around us is. However, the brilliant ending does give us hope. There are good people as well.So, I guess the question to answer is "Was it worth it?" The answer is a dicey one. The storyline was definitely engrossing but the pace could have been better. The sub plots were introduced beautifully but their significance and integration with the main story left a lot to be desired for instance the case of Shalini's (Kalki) father. The political equations and repercussions are very well highlighted though and at no point of time it escapes the realms of reality. It stays very true to politics and to India.

There were many reasons for which I went to theater to watch this film, 1. Acting skills and selectiveness of Imran Hashmi. All of his recent movies were minimum guarantee movies. 2. 2 beautiful songs which I wanted to enjoy in big screen (khudaaya and duaa). 3. Positive reviews.But I was terribly disappointed with the movie. This was a 2 hour movie, but I felt like I spend around 5 hours in theater, I was totally uncomfortable. It was a horrible experience because I was having huge expectations. I felt asleep at times and woke up suddenly by hearing the screaming of kalki.. These are some of my findings. 1. First of all, I agree that this may feel like awesome for some audience. It is a dark political thriller, but its not entertaining, movie was moving slooowly. 2. Those 2 songs which I mentioned above were not in the movies. I don't know whether the dua song was cut, but the khudaaya song was made just for the film promo. There is no such situation in the movie where you can include that song. 3. I think Abhay deol was totally wasted. He is a good character, but not all suitable for this role.Imran hashmi's acting was appreciable. Believe me he is very near to bagging a best actor award.