CHANGINGFACES With Shanghai, Dibakar Banerjee has set off in a new direction. The same could be said about actor Emraan Hashmi. Shelly Walia finds out whether the journey has been worthwhile ronically, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ will flip side of this transformation, is mowed acters had to be in sync with the script, with- choose to be honest or corrupt in our path to not go down in the list of famous down by a drunk truck driver. A south out losing the pace,” Banerjee says. progress? The election milieu, a loud, rever- patriotic ditties. The controversial Indian IAS officer, T A Krishnan (Abhay berating soundtrack and a wonderfully song from Friday’s release, Deol), a student, Shalini (Kalki Koechlin), woven story of different individuals make Shanghai, carries the message loud and a journalist-cum-porn film maker, Jogi the film a compelling watch. Iand clear. India has metamorphosed — Parmar (Emraan Hashmi), get embroiled Setting off on in a new direction has not from Mohammed Rafi’s timeless tune from in this gruesome incident. As they seek jus- been easy. The context of Shanghai is close the 1965 film Sikandar-e-Azam “Jahan daal tice for Ahmedi in the labyrinth of Indian to reality, true to Banerjee’s earlier Oye Lucky daal pe sone ki chidiya karti hai basera” to democracy, individual stories unfold and Lucky Oye (based on a true story of a thief on Like Banerjee, Hashmi too steps into unex- the contemporary times of “Sone ki chidiya, the suspense deepens. the run), Khosla ka Ghosla (a comedy plored territory with Shanghai. A step away dengue, malaria”. Patriotism has a new “Like Farooq Sheikh (cast as the subtle around a middle-class family’s aspiration to from the Mahesh Bhatt camp (most of his meaning — it is iconoclastic and rebellious. and scheming right-hand man of the state own a plot in New Delhi) and Love, Sex Aur successful films have so far been with Bhatt) Based on the novel Z by Greek author chief minister) said after watching Dhokha (a stark portrayal of MMS scandals and in the midst of an offbeat cast, the actor Vassilis Vassilikos, director Dibakar Shanghai, the film gives you a goodbye gift. and sting operations). But he believes a lot outshines everybody else. But experts don’t Banerjee’s Shanghai is set in this changing One gets engaged and entertained while more work was required this time to carve think this will do much to change his “lover Bharat. A political party envisions an watching it, but in retrospect, you realise out each character. boy” image. Hashmi today is the exam- International Business Park (a special eco- you are carrying with you a meaning, a mes- “Abhay’s role as a typical Tamilian nomic zone) as the future of a small town, sage, a reality,” says Banerjee. bureaucrat did not come easy. The charac- Bharat Nagar — a progressive transforma- No wonder Banerjee feels this has been ter is the voice of the establishment and has tion, creating no less than the Chinese city his most challenging project. “We shot pri- power, but is conservative. His character of Shanghai in India. Against this backdrop marily in Latur and Baramati in has shades of grey, which keep the audi- is set a political thriller. An activist and Maharashtra. We had to create this small ence guessing. To get the accent right, he socialist professor, Ali Ahmedi (Prosenjit town, Bharat Nagar, and adorn it with elec- had to undergo a month-long language Chatterjee), who wants people to see the tion festivities. At the same time, the char- workshop where he learnt to speak English and Hindi with a Tamil twang,” says Banerjee. Deol also trained himself with the IAS machinery to get the body language and the stern expression correct. “He plays a character much older than his real self. He needed to walk with a slight stoop, as some- one who has led a sedentary life of working on the laptop for long hours,” Banerjee adds. For Hashmi’s character, Banerjee need- ed an actor with whom the audience would connect. “Jogi is a street-smart cameraper- “Abhay (Deol) had to son and part-time porn film maker. We learn how to speak researched quite a bit on porn film mak- English and Hindi ing. The character had to appear dirty and with a Tamil twang” sleazy, so we made him gain 10 kg. He had DIBAKAR BANERJEE to have a paunch, blackened teeth and a Director darker complexion. He also took dancing lessons. Everything about him is in stark contrast to his earlier image,” Banerjee says. ple of a successful actor with several box While putting together the cast for office hits, but one who has not been offered Shanghai, Kalki Koechlin seemed an obvi- any brands to endorse. ous choice. Banerjee says, “She plays a half- Brand strategy specialist Harish Bijoor British and half-Indian student, who is very says, “The movie will not help Hashmi in an idealistic in her beliefs. We gave her a new image makeover, despite this being an out- hairstyle to make her appear attractive and of-the-box role for him. Brand advertise- messy at the same time. Her look is intense ments are all related to happy stars.” Bijoor and without any make-up.” On Bengali star cites the example of a popular actor like Prosenjit Chatterjee, Banerjee says they had Shatrughan Sinha in the ’80s, who would to work on his Hindi-speaking skills. only endorse liquor brands such as Bagpiper Deol plays his role with poise and com- Whiskey. Similarly, John Abraham’s hap- posure, keeping the audience guessing as to py-go-lucky image works well for him in what’s coming next. Although Koechlin’s the advertising space, though he is not as story is only partially told, what with her successful at the box office, Bijoor says. father being involved in a ~40-crore fraud or Brand expert Gullu Sen says that the her studies abroad, she seems the same dis- Indian consumer is still very conservative. oriented girl from That Girl in the Yellow “It took Salman Khan years to rebuild his Boots and Shaitan. Under Banerjee’s direc- image. For Hashmi this must be a begin- tion, Hashmi too proves himself as an actor. ning, but there is a long way to go before he Unfortunately, Chatterjee’s character is starts endorsing brands.” short-lived. As the murder mystery unravels, And though he plays a well-meaning the story gets compelling and enthralling. journalist in Shanghai, here too his earlier For the reality of contemporary India, the image seems to have stuck on. So there he is, last scene sums it all. With our flawed polit- in spite of all that makeover, still doubling ical machinery and corrupt practices, do we up as a porn film maker..