Shor in the City
Encyclopedia
Shor in the City is a 2011 Hindi
film directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. starring Tusshar Kapoor
, Sendhil Ramamurthy
, Preeti Desai
, Nikhil Dwivedi
, Pitobash Tripathy
, Sundeep Kishan
, Girija Oak, Radhika Apte
and Amit Mistry in the lead roles. The background score of the film was composed by Roshan Machado. The first look of the film was unveiled on 21 March 2011 while the film was released in India on 28 April 2011.
. Tilak (Tusshar Kapoor
) is a small time publisher of pirated books who along with his friends Mandook (Pitobash Tripathy
) and Ramesh (Nikhil Dwivedi
) kidnaps a famous author and forces him to give the manuscript of his latest book to them so that they will be the first ones to publish it. Abhay (Sendhil Ramamurthy
) is a NRI who returns to India
to start his own small business and meets Shalmili (Preeti Desai
). Sawan (Sundeep Kishan
) is a young cricketer hoping to break into the under-22 Mumbai cricket team. The story focuses on their trials and tribulations as they battle life in the city of Mumbai during the chaotic period of the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi
.
The film tries to deal with concepts of chance, the constant struggle between hope and despair and self actualization. The opening of the movie starts with the song "Karma is a bitch" which fits in with the central theme of the story where the characters of the film keep trying to come to terms with their own actions. Abhay has a dark past which is not revealed in the film but it can be speculated that he came to India to stay away from it. Tilak initially holds himself responsible for the tragic accident that happens in the movie which brings him closer to his wife and viewing life from a different perspective. The goons who traumatize Abhay eventually end up being shot by their own bullets on the day of Ganesha Visarjan indicating to an extent the influence of God in the movie. Tilak gets a new life and finds his treasure at home. Sawan who is financially pressed decides to keep the money he finds at the bank robbery and gives up on the cricket selections- a choice he could have well chosen not to take-Towards the end of the movie all characters move on different paths.
awarded it four stars out of five and stated "With a zany screenplay (Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK), excellent cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray and peppy music by Sachin-Jigar, Shor in the City is another breaking-norm film from Ekta Kapoor". Taran Adarsh
of Bollywood Hungama
gave it three and a half stars and wrote "Shor in the City belongs to one of those rare categories of movies with sensibilities that would not only entice the festival crowd and the cinema literate, but also lure the ardent moviegoer." Aniruddha Guha of the Daily News and Analysis gave it three stars and said "Shor In The City is the kind of reassuring film you yearn to watch amid, well, what ‘Bollywood’ has to offer every week. Also, it articulates something you have only probably thought before – ‘Karma IS a bitch.'" Rajeev Masand
of CNN-IBN awarded three and a half stars saying "A delicious mix of quirky humor, gruesome violence, and surprising sensitivity, 'Shor in the City' works on the strength of its smart script and consistent performances from its ensemble cast." Rediff awarded the film four stars and said "Raj-Krishna's Shor In The City robotically registers itself in Indian cinema's history." Anupama Chopra
of NDTV
gave the movie four stars and wrote "Shor in the City is a terrific film. It’s surprising and disturbing and has a vein of rich, dark humor coursing through it." Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express gave it a three star rating and commented "What makes 'Shor In The City' an instant clutter-breaker is its darkly comic treatment. It makes you smile because its humour comes from within. It’s not grafted. And it’s got heart : we feel for the characters."
Tushar Joshi of MiD DAY gave it a four star rating and wrote "Loaded with humor, sarcasm and wit. That truly is the beauty of the makers who succeed in arresting you with their tales. The spectacular climax is easily one of the best written in recent times."
Karan Anshuman of Mumbai Mirror
gave it a four star rating, saying "Three stories, eleven days, myriad layers, believable characters, fine performances, spirited direction, taut script, momentary explosions of originality."
and the Dubai International Film Festival
in 2010. The film won the Best Director Award for Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK at MIAAC in New York.
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
film directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. starring Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Tushar made his debut with Mujhe kuch kehna hai alongside...
, Sendhil Ramamurthy
Sendhil Ramamurthy
Sendhil Ramamurthy is an American actor. He is best known for the role as geneticist Mohinder Suresh in the NBC drama Heroes.-Personal life:...
, Preeti Desai
Preeti Desai
Preeti Desai is a Indian Actress who was Miss Great Britain 2006. A British Indian, she made history by becoming the first British woman of Indian origin to ever win the title. She speaks English, Gujarati and Hindi and is based in London, England and Mumbai, India.-Early life and...
, Nikhil Dwivedi
Nikhil Dwivedi
Nikhil Dwivedi is a Hindi film actor. He has till date three movie releases to his name, making his debut with My Name is Anthony Gonsalves in 2008 that also saw him being nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.-Early Life:...
, Pitobash Tripathy
Pitobash Tripathy
http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/dna-daily-news-analysis-mumbai/mi_8111/is_20110719/working-relationship/ai_n57866073/Pitobash is a Hindi film actor, originally from the state of Orissa, India...
, Sundeep Kishan
Sundeep Kishan
Sundeep Kishan is an Indian film actor, best known for his role in the film Prasthanam . Earlier he had assisted director Gautham Menon on Vaaranam Aayiram...
, Girija Oak, Radhika Apte
Radhika Apte
-Early life:Apte was born on September 7, 1989 in Pune. She is an Economics graduate from Fergusson College, Pune. She is associated with Mohit Takalkar’s theatre troupe Aasakta in her hometown.-Career:...
and Amit Mistry in the lead roles. The background score of the film was composed by Roshan Machado. The first look of the film was unveiled on 21 March 2011 while the film was released in India on 28 April 2011.
Plot
The film revolves around five central characters in the city of MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. Tilak (Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Tushar made his debut with Mujhe kuch kehna hai alongside...
) is a small time publisher of pirated books who along with his friends Mandook (Pitobash Tripathy
Pitobash Tripathy
http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/dna-daily-news-analysis-mumbai/mi_8111/is_20110719/working-relationship/ai_n57866073/Pitobash is a Hindi film actor, originally from the state of Orissa, India...
) and Ramesh (Nikhil Dwivedi
Nikhil Dwivedi
Nikhil Dwivedi is a Hindi film actor. He has till date three movie releases to his name, making his debut with My Name is Anthony Gonsalves in 2008 that also saw him being nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.-Early Life:...
) kidnaps a famous author and forces him to give the manuscript of his latest book to them so that they will be the first ones to publish it. Abhay (Sendhil Ramamurthy
Sendhil Ramamurthy
Sendhil Ramamurthy is an American actor. He is best known for the role as geneticist Mohinder Suresh in the NBC drama Heroes.-Personal life:...
) is a NRI who returns to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to start his own small business and meets Shalmili (Preeti Desai
Preeti Desai
Preeti Desai is a Indian Actress who was Miss Great Britain 2006. A British Indian, she made history by becoming the first British woman of Indian origin to ever win the title. She speaks English, Gujarati and Hindi and is based in London, England and Mumbai, India.-Early life and...
). Sawan (Sundeep Kishan
Sundeep Kishan
Sundeep Kishan is an Indian film actor, best known for his role in the film Prasthanam . Earlier he had assisted director Gautham Menon on Vaaranam Aayiram...
) is a young cricketer hoping to break into the under-22 Mumbai cricket team. The story focuses on their trials and tribulations as they battle life in the city of Mumbai during the chaotic period of the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi , also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha also called Vinayagar in Tamil Nadu, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival...
.
The film tries to deal with concepts of chance, the constant struggle between hope and despair and self actualization. The opening of the movie starts with the song "Karma is a bitch" which fits in with the central theme of the story where the characters of the film keep trying to come to terms with their own actions. Abhay has a dark past which is not revealed in the film but it can be speculated that he came to India to stay away from it. Tilak initially holds himself responsible for the tragic accident that happens in the movie which brings him closer to his wife and viewing life from a different perspective. The goons who traumatize Abhay eventually end up being shot by their own bullets on the day of Ganesha Visarjan indicating to an extent the influence of God in the movie. Tilak gets a new life and finds his treasure at home. Sawan who is financially pressed decides to keep the money he finds at the bank robbery and gives up on the cricket selections- a choice he could have well chosen not to take-Towards the end of the movie all characters move on different paths.
Cast
- Sendhil RamamurthySendhil RamamurthySendhil Ramamurthy is an American actor. He is best known for the role as geneticist Mohinder Suresh in the NBC drama Heroes.-Personal life:...
as Abhay - Tusshar KapoorTusshar KapoorTusshar Kapoor is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Tushar made his debut with Mujhe kuch kehna hai alongside...
as Tilak - Nikhil DwivediNikhil DwivediNikhil Dwivedi is a Hindi film actor. He has till date three movie releases to his name, making his debut with My Name is Anthony Gonsalves in 2008 that also saw him being nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.-Early Life:...
as Ramesh - Preeti DesaiPreeti DesaiPreeti Desai is a Indian Actress who was Miss Great Britain 2006. A British Indian, she made history by becoming the first British woman of Indian origin to ever win the title. She speaks English, Gujarati and Hindi and is based in London, England and Mumbai, India.-Early life and...
as Shalmili - Sundeep KishanSundeep KishanSundeep Kishan is an Indian film actor, best known for his role in the film Prasthanam . Earlier he had assisted director Gautham Menon on Vaaranam Aayiram...
as Sawan - Pitobash as Mandook
- Radhika ApteRadhika Apte-Early life:Apte was born on September 7, 1989 in Pune. She is an Economics graduate from Fergusson College, Pune. She is associated with Mohit Takalkar’s theatre troupe Aasakta in her hometown.-Career:...
as Sapna - Girija Oak as Sejal
- Amit Mistry as Tipu
- Zakir Hussain
Critical response
The film was well received by critics. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of IndiaThe Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
awarded it four stars out of five and stated "With a zany screenplay (Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK), excellent cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray and peppy music by Sachin-Jigar, Shor in the City is another breaking-norm film from Ekta Kapoor". Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....
of Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....
gave it three and a half stars and wrote "Shor in the City belongs to one of those rare categories of movies with sensibilities that would not only entice the festival crowd and the cinema literate, but also lure the ardent moviegoer." Aniruddha Guha of the Daily News and Analysis gave it three stars and said "Shor In The City is the kind of reassuring film you yearn to watch amid, well, what ‘Bollywood’ has to offer every week. Also, it articulates something you have only probably thought before – ‘Karma IS a bitch.'" Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and entertainment reporter for CNN-IBN. Masand started his career as an entertainment correspondent at the young age of 16...
of CNN-IBN awarded three and a half stars saying "A delicious mix of quirky humor, gruesome violence, and surprising sensitivity, 'Shor in the City' works on the strength of its smart script and consistent performances from its ensemble cast." Rediff awarded the film four stars and said "Raj-Krishna's Shor In The City robotically registers itself in Indian cinema's history." Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra is a noted author, journalist and film critic. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a movie reviewer with NDTV and India Today.-Career:...
of NDTV
NDTV
NDTV is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India...
gave the movie four stars and wrote "Shor in the City is a terrific film. It’s surprising and disturbing and has a vein of rich, dark humor coursing through it." Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express gave it a three star rating and commented "What makes 'Shor In The City' an instant clutter-breaker is its darkly comic treatment. It makes you smile because its humour comes from within. It’s not grafted. And it’s got heart : we feel for the characters."
Tushar Joshi of MiD DAY gave it a four star rating and wrote "Loaded with humor, sarcasm and wit. That truly is the beauty of the makers who succeed in arresting you with their tales. The spectacular climax is easily one of the best written in recent times."
Karan Anshuman of Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai Mirror
Mumbai Mirror is a largest compact newspaper in the city of Mumbai with a daily circulation of over 600,000 copies. Its first issue was published on May 30, 2005 by the Times Group, the publishers of The Times of India newspaper....
gave it a four star rating, saying "Three stories, eleven days, myriad layers, believable characters, fine performances, spirited direction, taut script, momentary explosions of originality."
Awards
Shor in the City was officially selected for the Pusan International Film FestivalPusan International Film Festival
Busan International Film Festival , held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan , South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia...
and the Dubai International Film Festival
Dubai International Film Festival
The Dubai International Film Festival is an international film festival based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched in 2004, it aims to foster the growth of filmmaking in the Arab world.-Overview:...
in 2010. The film won the Best Director Award for Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK at MIAAC in New York.