Shagird

One of my and many of my friends' all time favourite movie Haasil was directed by then first time director Tigmanshu Dhulia. It was then I knew that this guy had talent. He seems to be a storyteller. I had seen Charas and realized that this guy is a storyteller but he seems to falter when it come to choosing the right cast. Nothing could justify casting of Uday Chopra in that film. When I went to watch Shagird today, I did not know its star cast except Nana Patekar. While watching the credits I came to know that it starred Mohit Ahlawat among others. Yes, Mohit "James" Ahlawat, who cannot even stand straight. It was at this point my expectations from the movie dropped to ground zero.



The movie begins to a promising start with a dramatic arrest of dreaded gangster Bunty Singh, played by Anurag Kashyap. Hearing Bunty Singh speak made me believe that this is going to be an enjoyable ride, since it echoed the same level of dialog writing I witnessed in Haasil. It is then we are introduced to Mohit, played by ever confused Mohit Ahlawat. In the very first scene he makes me pray that he should have a very limited appearance in the movie. Then we are introduced to the way of working in Delhi Crime Branch immediately followed by an encounter sequence introducing Hanumant Singh, played by Nana Patekar. "Hanumant Singh bhagwan aur insaan ke beech ki cheez hain. Hanumant Singh ji bhagwan se darte hain aur insaan Hanumant Singh ji se." It is then we are also introduced to the female lead of the movie, TV reporter from Aaj Tak, Varsha Mathur, played by Rimi Sen. Again making me wish that she does not have much to do in the movie. (the only good thing she has done in her career is dance to Shikdum from Dhoom). Another important character in this story of deceit is Minister Rammani Yadav, played by Zakir Hussein. What follows next is a twisted tale of everyone trying to double cross everyone else for their personal benefit. Shagird Mohit learning the tricks of the trade from guru Hanumant just to later use them against him only.



Since the movie is a suspense thriller I must not reveal much about the story. Only thing I can say that it is a very well crafted story for a suspense thriller. Nana Patekar is brilliant and so are Zakir Hussein, Anurag Kashyap and rest of the supporting cast. Only exceptions being Mohit Ahlawat and Rimi Sen. I cannot come up with any justifiable reason to their casting unless Tigmanshu Dhulia was doped or forced into this. This guy cannot even stand straight and is so confused that he does not know when to show what expression. To compete with him in bad acting there is Rimi, who manages to smile when one of her kidnappers approaches her with cruel intentions. The way the encounter and the chase sequences are shot is remarkable and shows the talent of the remarkable director Tigmanshu is. Dialogs are very well written and sharp specially Nana's.



I would recommend you to watch this movie and if you are not allergic to Mohit Ahlawat, you will enjoy it. This could have been India's departed, had it not been for this great acting non-talent.