Commercial Hindi cinema has been based out of Bombay/Mumbai for so long that many filmmakers don't even care about the setting of their stories. Unless it's important we are compelled into assuming the location and sometimes when the city is important to the story most screenplays just bombard the senses with everything Mumbai. This is where Shor in the City stands out. It romances the fabric of Mumbai through the sights, smells, events and the lives of its characters but yet rarely goes overboard in celebrating the city.
Shor in the City Plot
An enterprising book pirate who is obsessed about maintaining 'high standards', Tilak (Tusshar Kapoor) continues to live a bachelor's life along with buddies, the ne'er do good bums- Ramesh (Nikhil Dwivedi) and Mandook (Pitobash, a find) while his young wife Sapna (Radhika Apte, magnetic) patiently waits for him to talk to her.
Even though Tilak wants the rest of his life to start right away he, somehow, gets tongue tied when it comes to breaking the ice with Sapna. Unlike Tilak, Abhay (Sendhil Ramamurthy), an NRI who returns to set up a smallish business has no problems getting it on with Sharmili (Preeti Desai), a model, who he meets in a club.
Abhay finds everything changed in the city he grew up in but decides to pick up right from where he left. He doesn't think much of a local goon's (Zakir Hussain, mesmerizing) offer of 'protection' and shuns it away. Soon Abhay finds the irritants turning up at every corner and he realizes that rules are only meant to be broken in the city he wants to call home.
Somewhere else in the city Sawan (Sundeep Kishan), a budding cricketer is at his wits end as he balances his girlfriend Sejal (Girija Oak), whose parents are parading her in front of perspective grooms on a daily basis and a selector's demand of Rs 10 lakhs to pick him for the Under-22 Mumbai team. As chaotic as the city they breathe in, these lives intersect each other thanks to Tipu Bhai (Amit Mistry, move over Manoj Joshi, finally!), a handyman who can get anything done.
With their backs to the wall Abhay and Sawan decide to cross the very line that separates them from the likes of those who exploit them and all roads lead to Tipu who gets Tilak, Ramesh and Mandook to pitch in.
If in the 1970's and 1980's Bombay's middle-class existence was the centerpiece of many films, the underbelly of Mumbai with all the nefarious creatures has been the preferred topic in the recent past. Shor in the City somehow avoids being a victim of any particular genre in its bid to represent the city and its characteristics as a part of the story.
Shor in the City might have the seemingly typical underworldesque characters but there's a bigger representation of the common everyday people than the usual gun wielding weirdoes. These are people who are as different as chalk and cheese yet there's something that connects all of them.
Inspired by real life incidents Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK's screenplay isn't a simple connecting the dots kind of documentation of these lives. More importantly the film has a near perfect rhythm as it jumps stories and doesn't suffer the trappings of a multiple narrative structure where after a while you are waiting for characters to cross paths.
Good Points in Shor in the City
One of things that really makes Shor in the City tick so beautifully is the ease and smoothness that all the actors infuse. Well-etched characters always make it easy for an actor and most of them especially Kapoor, Ramamurthy and Pitobash pitch in good performances. Tusshar Kapoor hasn't had a role like this since Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, his debut that essentially revolved around him. Kapoor meticulously crafts Tilak and makes him wonderfully organic who simply grows on you; the scenes where an inspired Tilak talks about the philosophy of life will crack you up.
Ramamurthy gets the right mix of bravado and vulnerability to Abhay and for someone who'd always find it difficult to get roles that would justify his accent, Ramamurthy has kicked off his 'Bollywood' career on the right note.
Like Chandan Roy Sanyal in Kaminey and Deepak Dobriyal in Omkara, Pitobash is nothing short of a discovery. Several films have traces of a Mandook-like character and it's almost impossible now to expect someone to do anything new with such roles but Pitobash's interpretation is worth its weight in gold.
Radhika Apte draws you with her mere presence and you can't look away; Kishan and Oak's great chemistry makes their comparatively smallish track stand tall in front of the others. Nikhil Dwivedi is convincing in parts; there are patches where he is fine but on the whole he is the only one who seems a little burdened.
Final Words on Shor in the City
Besides the perceptive writing and the fine acting Ashmit Kunder's editing paces Shor in the City very well and it never suffers the pitfalls of one of those three-or-four-parallel-stories-waiting-to-merge kind of films. The hallmark of good cinematography is that you shouldn't really notice the camerawork and Tushar Kanti Ray's fluid photography achieves just this by making his camera one of the players in this tale. Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK's Shor in the City is a film where, after a long, long time, all the elements blend delightfully. Don't miss it.
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