Friday, February 9, 2018

FILM ANALYSIS – SHANGHAI

(Written on June 21, 2012)
I consider Dibakar Banerjee (DB) with the best storytelling sense in Bollywood. He has that knack and with varied topics has managed to tell good stories. However, for once I was disappointed, with Shanghai.
I believe that this was his toughest story to ‘show’ – commenting on the politics of our times; the scope is very broad and challenging. Both in terms of setting and characters of the story ‘Z’.
He has followed ‘Z’ (the film) to a good extent except for one big change: creating the (Kalki) character of Shalini, a lover, who takes forth the battle to get the criminal behind bars. Or well…she is supposed to.
This is a problem, or a challenge very difficult to deal with: trying to put a passive character at the center of the story. Then…dealing with multiple narratives and intending to focus on stories of other key figures. The danger is in keeping track of the core of the story.
The big flaw for me is his strategy of execution to tell the story. With regards to cinematography and editing.
He goes hand-held for most of the times, which gets jarring over the time; worse, it takes you away from the characters. I am sure the Shanghai crew will back their strategy but shakiness, all the way, even if justified, is very hard to execute. It can work if the characters are developed and arc well; you need emotional resonance. Shanghai doesn’t exude that.
Hand-held relates to certain tension and for most parts, the tension isn’t there. Even though to be fair there’s a conflict at play. What hampers this is the editing. The quick-paced editing takes you out of scenes too quick to feel the (emotional) impact. Again, either they didn’t get good footage (!) or it was deliberate, which I would like to believe. There are moments when the characters (especially, Shalini) seem to linger on too much on the camera. Besides, the transitions seemed to take you out of things. Now…that could very well be what DB wanted but they do take you out. At least me.
For me, Kalki was alright. I thought the direction and editing made things seems bad for her. As for Hashmi, he was effective but at times DB went the Kashyap way, which I can’t relate to – focusing on character traits that ought to appear cute/funny – taking you out of the story; this is highlighted especially by the (lame?) dialogues.
It’s admirable that he tried to tell this story. For trying multiple narratives. For making a comment on the system at play. For getting good performances. Well even for the ‘detailing’, which many critics have stressed on; sometimes I don’t know what’s the big deal – you need that stuff. I mean, yes, I appreciate the sets and the real locations, which I salute DB a lot for but you need that for the sake of the story; plus it’s not Wake Up Sid stuff, where struggling young adults have a house that should have a rent of 50K/month! But then…those films are another genre.
One angle as some have pointed out – some of the stuff seems naive. This is a serious picture in a way. Focusing on realism. I am not disturbed by the songs et al. In fact, I won’t be surprised to find that the Bollywood dance show actually happens. Am sure it can be worse. Is Shalini plain dumb to not understand how the system works?
Krishnan is the smart cookie and Deol plays him well but what spoils stuff is the weak writing and quick cuts. I don’t know why Krishnan avoids talking to the activists till the very end. One cliched masala-movie stuff: quick resolution when Deol takes on Sheikh – “I know you have done this, I know you have nexus et al…” What’s the point? To be impressed that our man has integrity. Well, you were on the right track – here’s a character caught in-between, here’s a dude who stands for the principles you stand for, but does DB emphasize the struggle? He highlights it for sure but the turn-around is too quick and goes for a quick-fix.
The big point – Which characters you relate to? How emotionally affecting the story is? He was there and…wasn’t. I thought the story had meat but it was poor execution. Trying too much. Doing too much. Moving around too much – the camera, literally!
I was pretty curious to know how the highly acclaimed ‘Z’ was and well, it’s fully available on YT: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheodorakisZ
Made in 1969, the scale, when it comes to having gang-fights is kind of bigger. But DB follows the film to a good deal. The big difference is the narrative flow. ‘Z’ flows simply even though it’s a complex film – no straight-forward protagonist. However, by making the judge (Krishnan) the key guy, who keeps following up, you are more in sync with the story. Garvas does less and achieves much more.
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