Shor in the City is a brilliant movie. Yes, it does have a lasting hangover from many a Guy Ritchie movie but then it plays so well with human emotions that you tend to start liking this dark comedy.
This movie actually manages to get the needed Mumbai feel across without being pretentious. It’s a non-linear plot with all of three tracks intersecting each other at some point of time.
Tusshar Kapoor, Pitabash Tripathi and Nikhil Dwivedi are three friends who are also petty criminals. They obviously don’t see crime as a bad thing and that’s the reason Tusshar calls his book-bootlegging business a ‘publishing company’. Nikhil Dwivedi and Pitabash Tripathi are a little more criminal than Tusshar. Pitabash’s characterization and portrayal is one of the best I have seen recently. You seem to like his character Mandook instantly.
The second track has Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes, anyone?) playing the America-return boy who tries setting up a business in India but gets haunted by a group of goons led by the fantastic Zakir Hussain.
The third track has Sundeep Krishnan, who plays a struggling cricketer under pressure as his girlfriend is on the verge of getting married.
Now these three plots meet each other at numerous points of time slightly aided by the charcter of Tipu Bhai, brilliantly played by Amit Mistry. Pepped with realism, witty lines and wannabe intellectual philosophy the script is a marvel in itself and the works of Krishna DK , Raj Nidimoru and Sita Menon need to be applauded here.
The cinematography brings in the gritty, grimy feel which is laced with over-exposed in-the-sun shots. Editing is razor-sharp and that’s the reason this movie never loses steam or pace.
Sound design in this movie is pretty innovative. The soundtrack of the movie is perfect for the narrative and never does it seem even a bit out of place and yes Karma is a bitch. A bitch you’d love listening to.
Final words: there is still hope in the world and maybe one day, they ll make more of these kinda movies instead of movies which sell because of Deepika Padukone’s 5 minute appearance.
