Sanket's Review: "Shagird"- watch it for performances

Cast: Nana Pathekar, Anurag Kashyap, Mohit Alawat, Zakir Hussain

Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia

Length: 2.05 hours approximately

Simple and smart is the basic tools for any thriller. Shagird misses both in its treatment. It has loop holes filled script and discordant direction that bores you. SHAGIRDis only partly engaging because it does not offer those off-the-edge-seats sequences and instead it heavily depends on the dialogues which are unintentionally funny.

The first half of the film takes for some interesting moves in the premise, where the play is still imaginable. But the second half takes copious turns and keeps you unmoved. The film gives you a chance to peep in the lives of cop and this is all what throughout you see is. The pace is numbingly dull and its slopped second half makes SHAGIRD just any other bollywood film. The film has an whole kidnapping episode which almost tests your endurance with its stretched and unconvincing conclusion. But the screenplay takes some high but they are few and far between.

Well SHAGIRD has some terrific performances in its bag and also one nicely handled twist, yes just one out of many. Nana pathekar outshines everyone in the film and he tries bringing depth to the film. Mohit Alafat is superb and tries rolling wheels within wheels with Nana. Zakir Hussain is remarkable with his mysterious expressions. Anurag Kashyap has decent substance in his character which gives him enough opportunity to show his abilities, and he definitely does that. The performances become the vital reason why SHAGIRD is watch-able.

As I pointed earlier, even the screenplay works for SHAGIRD. But how I wish, the plot of the film was much more polished and neatly presented because the direction looses the grip over the second half. The music of the film is poor where the background score has decent timing. The cinematography clicking the by lanes of Delhi is excellent. In-fact much of the feel is picked from the truly marvelous cinematography. The action sequences are good because it never tries to be unconventional and thus you don’t mind it. SHAGIRD is not your daily film to declare it predictable, but it does not have those smart moments which usually should have been the case.

SHAGIRD is collapses in its second half, but its performances save the film from being unbearable. If you take films for time-pass then SHAGIRD may provide you. You don’t have to put your mind in it, and you never take it serious. The director don’t accentuate his story in his execution, rather he extracts rocking performances from his protagonists. Thankfully, the performances does not disappoint though the film does at times.

Rating- 2.5/5