Shagird

Anybody remember Tigmanshu Dhulia ? The guy who gave us 'Haasil' in 2003. Immediately after watching this film, I went back and checked whether thi... read more

Anybody remember Tigmanshu Dhulia ? The guy who gave us 'Haasil' in 2003. Immediately after watching this film, I went back and checked whether this one was only his second film since then. Turns out it wasn't, and I have some catching up to do (a lesser known film called 'Charas'). Why? Because 'Shagird' does exceptionally well on the benchmark that Dhulia had set for himself 8 years ago.

This film has it all - an amazingly twisted story, stellar performances, and superb direction and cinematography. Getting all of them together in a single film is no mean feat. The Director prefers to take his time in between each of his offering, which has been time well spent.

Nana Patekar as Crime Branch Inspector Hanumant Singh starts off killing bad men with aplomb, with shades of his encounter specialist act from 'Ab tak 56'. The persona is soon shattered as this new guy has simply no convictions whatsoever: He kills criminals who are flush with money and lack taste in Hindi film songs. This does leave his newly inducted subordinate Mohit 'James' Ahlawat a tad disoriented, who wants to be the perfect Shagird (pupil). Little does he realize that Hanumant is merely carrying out the duties of Minister Rajmani Singh (Zakir Hussain).

When Bunty Bhaiya (Anurag Kashyap), UP Gangster and Rajmani's henchman gets caught and is lodged in jail, Rajmani feels threatened and entrusts the task of killing him with Hanumant.

The film shows striking similarities in style with Haasil, which is a good thing because I simply love the former one, having watched it umpteen times. The Dialogues are again brilliant and suit the individual characters, with Patekar being particularly caustic in his choice of words while Kashyap and the policemen perfect proper Awadhi dialects. The soundtrack lends weight to the screenplay, while the cinematography is brilliant - Tigmanshu has been known to use locations to his advantage (Haasil was a treat for any Allahabadi resident). The entire panorama of contemporary Dilli is there for the taking: be it dimly lit bylanes of Chandni Chowk/Chawdi Bazaar or the various flyovers including Akshardham in the background. The car chases and encounters take place in front of glitzy office buildings or in the ridge areas. The only glitches that I could feel was the casting of a smart, computer savvy wife for a rustic Patekar. Also, the film was slightly long-ish, clocking approximately 140 minutes without any songs.

Not to be missed. And if you don't trust me (I am a Tigmanshu Dhulia fan who is going to collect the DVD and cherish it), trust Anurag Kashyap and watch him go one-on-one with Nana Patekar, and leave a lasting impression still.view less

Tigmanshu Dhulia biggest contribution to Hindi cinema is that he gave us Haasil in which Irrfan has performed the best role he has ever done. The f... read more

Tigmanshu Dhulia biggest contribution to Hindi cinema is that he gave us Haasil in which Irrfan has performed the best role he has ever done. The follow up to that called Charas was a disaster. He returns after 6 years with a film which is better than Charas but still not as good as Hassil.

Mohit Ahlawat is a sub inspector who joins Nana Patekars team in the crime branch only to realize how wickedly the system works. Very soon the world of cops, politician & gangsters collide in this thriller filled with ample of twists & turns.

1st Half right from his introduction scene this one becomes a Nana Patekar film all the way. As usual he has the best lines which only he can deliver well. Most of the first half is filled with setting up the characters. Even though he has done this character before it is always entertaining to watch him play this eccentric cop. Anurag Kashyap makes his debut in a full fledged role as Bunty Bhaiyya. He is fun to watch but he doesnt come out of the skin of himself and enter the psyche of his character . If Bunty Bhaiyya is supposed to be a dreaded gangster Anurag performance doesnt make us fear him instead he ends up as funny caricature of a don. The story doesnt move forward till the kidnap of Rimi Sen who does a bad version of a journalist. The twist at the interval point is smart and makes you sit up and take notice of the otherwise leisurely paced screenplay.

2nd half the story becomes an intriguing jigsaw puzzle and you are eager to see how it will end. Zakir Hussain & Anurag Kashyap gets enough meat in the 2nd half & are fun to watch. The only sore point of the film is Mohit Ahlawat. With zero expression he alone sinks this otherwise good film. I wish it was Anurag playing that role instead of him. The film needed a good actor to counter Nanas presence. Thankfully there is not a single song to break the flow but what was desperately required for this script was a faster pace and some new age story telling.

Final few words: this is not a film that will call you out to the theatres but it will surely find its audience on t.v and home video.

Rating : 2.5/5

Ticket meter : worth 100/- bucks
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Tigmanshu Dhulia, the name rings a bell but is not famous enough to be known to one and all. He has some impressive work on his resume. Add Nana Pa... read more

Tigmanshu Dhulia, the name rings a bell but is not famous enough to be known to one and all. He has some impressive work on his resume. Add Nana Patekar and a crime drama to the mix and instantly Shagird becomes a real good candidate to be watched over the weekend amongst all the other releases. If you like hard hitting crime dramas with enough twists in the screenplay to keep you hooked on, then this one is surely for you.

Hanumant Singh played by Nana is an eccentric cop who kills bad guys left right and center. He primarily works for an aspiring politician, Mani, played by Zakir Hussain. Things get spiced up when a young obedient cop Mohit, played by Mohit Ahlawat joins Hanumant Singh's team. Amongst all the killings and busting drug deals, Hanumant is playing a game of chess with almost everyone around him. Mohit who turns out to be his best disciple aids and helps Hanumant Singh to make sure all his plans succeed.

A darker side of the cop world is shown in this flick. Murdering people is shown as though some one was killing ants. After the first 25 I lost count of the number of people Hanumant Singh kills in this movie alone. I guess Tigmanshu originally had the script's name as "Ab Tak 57". The deep roots between the corrupt politicians and the police is the crux of the movie.

Acting wise, Nana Patekar gets to play the same old role he has been playing for centuries. If you saw any of his roles where he plays a cop, its the same old routine. Mohit Ahlawat impresses as the naive young cop. But in the end its Zakir Hussain once again who steals the thunder. Trained well under the RGV camp, Zakir Hussain has become one of the most sought after villains and duly so. Rimi Sen is ok. Anurag Kashyap does a neat job in his first big outing as an actor.

Tigmanshu does a great job in penning the script and the screenplay. Keeping this a song less movie really helps the movie's cause. The movie's length could have been a little shorter though. Half way through the movie one feels the length of this movie. The second half picks up the pace to Tigmanshu's credit and is a fast pace road with lots of curves.

Overall, this movie is definitely the best bet to watch this weekend.

Reasons to watch:
1) Interesting different plot
2) The performances
3) Good story telling

Reasons to skip:
1) Too much violence
2) Same old banal Nana Patekar.

Repeat value: After 1-2 years on DVD.

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All it took was Nana Patekar to salvage the rusting career of director Tigmanshu Dhulia who has time and again been churning out one flop after ano... read more

All it took was Nana Patekar to salvage the rusting career of director Tigmanshu Dhulia who has time and again been churning out one flop after another at almost regular intervals be it Pan Singh Tomar or Ghulami, Charas or Con Flick Or Fame. So far none of his flicks were accepted by the audiences so he strived to keep going waiting for just that one film that would drag him out of the dumps and get him some respectaibility.

Having said that wonder what the possible connection is between Rimi Sen, Harshita Bhatt & Jimmy Shergill with Tigmanshu? He has actually repeated Rimi in 3,Jimmy in 2 & Hrishita in 2 of the 6 films he has made to date? Is it a sheer coincidence or is they lots more than what meets the eye? Cud it be possible that is the best his directors can afford for him to call the shots?

However now that he has tasted decent success with his latest film Shagird, one hopes he may get to work with more classy heroines than the ones he has worked in the recent past. Considering that Jimmy Shergill has always been there for him in his bad times isn't it sad that he chose Mohit Ahlawat over him to partner with Nana Patekar? Maybe Tigs had lost all hopes on Jimmy or else could not afford him after his recent success like A Wednesday!!!

After a terrible start as RGV's discovery in James opposite Nisha Kothari and some more equally terribly films with his mentor he had a brief cameo in Ghajini but his patience has finally paid off because Mohit has a truly plum role running right across the film and he manages to rub shoulders with Nana right through the film. Seems doing a brief cameo wid Aamir has actually worked wonders for him.

For people who have a razor sharp memory one fact that shall not go noticed that Shagird takes off from where Ab Tak Chappan tapers off and I don't mean just the trigger happy encounter specialist Nana. Even though the film has heavy shades of AT-56 yet nobody is complaining because Nana performs brilliantly but then when doesn't he really huh? No wonder there is an instant connect with Inspector Hanumanth Singh and the audience even though he has no scruples about how he walks on the edge.Honesty is something he has put aside and taken on ruthlessness to cover the means he adopts to reach his end.

Set in Delhi this is one film that the Delhi Police isn't going to love as it has torn its reputation into tiny shreds and exposed it to one and all but then who didn't know about the encounter specialists in Delhi Police and how they operated for personal gains?

Shagird is the story of a fresh honest cop who joins Delhi Police and is shell shocked in the way his senior partners operate not just cold and ruthless which they're expected to be but also the questionable means they adopt like being trigger happy to settle scores on behalf of their political masters. Right from his day one encounter where he freezes seeing how gangsters are shot in cold blood he realises that if he wants to keep his job and survive he shall have to adapt to their means to settle in the groove.

However once he does learn the tricks of the trade he transforms into a smooth cookie and next thing you know he actually starts conning his own guru in such a slick manner that it's hard to tell who is the real guru and who the Shagird.

The love angle is badly developed between the rookie cop and the Aaj Tak babe who is hardly sabse tez as she walks into a trap with her eyes open when a carrot of an exclusive interview with a dreaded terrorist is dangled at her.

Considering the role Rimi Sen had and the item number Hrishita Bhatt jiggles her goodies too one can imagine they were cast only as lucky mascots for Tigmanshu. All said and done Shagird is Nana Patekar's film and he delivers a real fine performance of a nutty but manipulative cop who is a walking musical encylopedia who not only loves old songs but knows who was the play-back singer the film the composer and lyricist and the year the film was released. Even though Mohit stands to benefit the most from this film. However the surprise packet of Shagird actually happens to be Virender Saxena.He really springs a neat surprise on the audience as a money launder. That apart watch out for Anurag Kashyap who gives a really impressive performance as Bunty who has too many shades of Bunty Bhaiya to be a mere coincidence.

All said and done Shagird is indeed a truly engrossing and entertaining film.The last one saw of Nana Patekar was in Pathshala almost an year and a half ago before he gave a paisa vasool performance in Shagird.One wonders how long the wait shall be before his next release.Till then it's Shagird for all Nana fans!!!

REVIEWED BY THE LIP SHANDIL
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SHAGIRD also works because it never takes the tried and tested route as far as the written material is concerned. It's devoid of clichs.