‘Shorgul’ movie review: Jimmy Sheirgill, Ashutosh Rana are a treat to watch

Directed by: Jitendra Tiwari, P. Singh
Produced by: Swatantra Vijay Singh, Vyas Verma
Cast: Jimmy Sheirgill, Ashutosh Rana, Suha Gezen, Hiten Tejwani, Sanjay Suri
Duration: 2 hours 12 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3/5

The title of director duo, P. Singh and Jitendra Tiwari’s film, ‘Shorgul’ roughly means lot of noise, and boy, they do make a hell lot of noise for most part of the film. The noise is almost deafening beyond a point. Perhaps the best decision made by the filmmaker-duo is to pit Jimmy Sheirgill against Ashutosh Rana – the duo is a treat to watch. Each time they come together in a frame, you wish there were more movies made with them in leading roles. ‘Shorgul’ starts on an almost silent note, only to burst into an item song where we see a skimpily clad Hrishita Bhatt gyrating to a catchy tune composed by Lalit Pandit of Jatin-Lalit fame. In the course of the song we see that it’s a victory celebration where gun shots are fired in the air.

Set in a fictitious place somewhere in UP-Bihar, the film is about the political-power-tussle between Chaudhry (Rana) and Om (Sheirgill). They are supported by a bunch of talented actors like Hiten Tejwani, Eijaz Khan and Narendra Jha. The pivotal character of ‘Shorgul,’ Zainab, played by Suha Gezen, is the weakest link, and that doesn’t help the film’s case one bit. In the lawless land where the film is set, killing comes naturally to everybody except Saleem (Tejwani) who is shown as a non-fanatic progressive educated Muslim, but still ends up in a bloodied situation where Chaudhary’s son (Anirudh Dave) is killed in cold blood. Actor Anirudh happens to be the second most weakest link of ‘Shorgul.’ If not for Suha and Anirudh, this could have been a far better film.

The thing about ‘Shorgul’ is that perhaps the best films in this genre have already been made. One strong case in point being director E. Niwas’ Manoj Bajpayee-Raveena Tandon-starrer, ‘Shool,’ and there are many more films like this which have already tackled the issue of love entangled in politics and religion. ‘Shorgul’ is a timid, but really loud addition to the list. Some parts that might have made the film relevant have been muted by the CBFC, so that’s another blow to the film. There are many moments and scenes which show sparks, but they are few and far in between with Rana and Sheirgill in the frame. A special mention for the costume designer of this film – both Rana and Sheirgill look so dapper, perhaps even more well turned out than Ranbir Kapoor in Prakash Jha’s ‘Rajneeti’.

‘Shorgul’ is shot well by DoP Manoj Pradhan and edited well by Prashant Naik, but the unnecessary songs also take away a lot from what should have been a taut and gripping drama. Despite the flaws, this film should be watched if only for the power packed performances thrown in by Ashutosh Rana and Jimmy Sheirgill – they roar and soar above the predictable script and how!

P.S.: ‘Shorgul’ is one of the rare mainstream Bollywood films in which the writers get the opening credit – respect where due.

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