646f9e108c Police Inspector Samar Pratap Singh is transferred to Motihari, in the Indian state of Bihar, along with his wife, Manjari and a daughter. He is honest and diligent and these attributes sets him up against his superior - the District Superintendent of Police,wellhis subordinates and fellow officers. His diligence in maintaining law and order, and his belief in justice for all, regardless of one&#39;s background, makes him a powerful enemy in the shape and form of Bachu Yadav who is the local MLA of the ruling political party, and will not stop at anything to get rid of Samar and his family, by hook or by crook, and no one will dare to stop him. Samar Pratap Singh (Manoj Bajpai) is an honest police officer, and Manjari (Raveena Tandon) his supportive wife. They have a little daughter Sonu. Samar, because of his honesty is frequently being transferred, and has now finally reached the little town of Motihari in Bihar. Motihari&#39;s lord and master, so to speak, is slimy MLA Bachu Yadav (Sayaji Shinde). The police and most of Samar&#39;s colleagues kowtow to Yadav . The epitome of corruption, Yadav has been the MLA for 15 years, but loses his tickethis party opts for someone else. On hearing this ,Yadav makes short shrift of the unfortunate man, and avails himself of the party ticket. Samar, an honest cop, has frequent run-ins with Yadav, to the point where he (Samar) begins to fear for his family. Does Samar manage to take on Yadav and win ? Shool is an excellent crime drama about corruption and murky politics in India. This plot isn&#39;t anything new, but what makes the movie work is the mind-blowing performance of Manoj Bajpaian honest cop trying to do his job in a corrupt environment. With his work in this film, Bajpai has proven himselfa great character actor, at par with another cinema great, Shah Rukh Khan. Both these actors have proven that you don&#39;t need good looks to make good movies.<br/><br/>Aside from Bajpai, Shool is filled with wonderful performances, suchthe de-glamorized Raveena Tandon&#39;s heart-breaking portrayal the police officer&#39;s wife, and Sayaji Shinde&#39;s genuinely scary villain!<br/><br/>A mature film intended for a mature audience, Shool is a film that shouldn&#39;t be missed by anyone looking for quality in the otherwise lackluster world of Indian cinema! Debutant director E Nivas bravely tells the story of a courageous police officer and his fight against the system for justice. Though the man-against-the-system story has been overused in Indian cinema, &#39;Shool&#39; has a grittiness and honesty that makes that sets the tone apart. The movie doesn&#39;t merely show the battle but it delves into the psychology of the protagonist and his inner conflicts. The viewer can really connect to Samar Pratap Singh and his wife Manjiri.<br/><br/>Shot in washed out green-tinted colours and the use of the shaky camera and with the lack of overdone sets, &#39;Shool&#39; looks very raw and authentic. The violence, though suggestive, implies very brutal and graphic mental images. The film starts with a telephone-call which is followed by a brutal murder and this already tells us what kind of a person Yadav (the antagonist played by Sayaji Shinde) is.<br/><br/>The performances are superb. Manoj Bajpai nails the part. The character seems to have been written for him and a lesser actor could have easily made a caricature out of this, but not Bajpai. He&#39;s simply excellent in displaying even the toughest expressions and this ranks among his best works. Sayaji Shinde is great. Even though his mannerisms are the sameother characters he&#39;s played, they perfectly suit Yadav&#39;s personality. Raveena Tandon takes the role of Manjiri after Juhi Chawla who had to walk out due to an accident which caused her to be hospitalized. &#39;Shool&#39; couldn&#39;t have come at a better time for Ms. Tandon. After all the glamorous roles and comedies, the actress was looking for something different and in &#39;Shool&#39; we see a deglamourized Raveena Tandon. Here she gives a very subtle, convincing and heartbreaking performanceManjiri. The child actor is expressionless.<br/><br/>On the flip side, &#39;Shool&#39; is quite predictable but one can&#39;t think of an alternative ending that would have made it better. Nonetheless, even though we know what will happen, the last scene is very effective, mostly due to Manoj Bajpai&#39;s performance and dialogue delivery. Anurag Kashyap&#39;s dialogues and E.Nivas&#39;s screenplay are good. Some scenes would have stood out more without the background score (which isn&#39;t that impressive). The songs are passable (and fit the situations) and of course there&#39;s the famous item number &#39;Main Aayi Hoon UP Bihar Lootney&#39; filmed on a raunchy Shilpa Shetty. This is perhaps one of the few films where an item number actually worksit both fits the situation and tells more about the character of the actors (e.g. Sayaji acting all wild around Shilpa).<br/><br/>On the whole, &#39;Shool&#39; is a great piece of Indian cinema. Although the story isn&#39;t new, it&#39;s presentation is and unlike others this one digs into both the protagonist&#39;s and antagonist&#39;s psychology.
Kindtitunens Admin replied
363 weeks ago