SHOR is slice of life cinema and every incident in the movie is inspired from a real life incident found in the newspaper. So, there is an NRI with a shrouded past, trying to open a business in the city. Then, there is a group of 3 lafangaas trying to make money through their racket of pirated books and there is one aspiring cricketer struggling to ensure that the love of his life is not torn apart from him. While the first 2 storylines work well, the last one keeps interfering with the pace of the film.
The movie spans across 11 days of Ganesh Chaturthi in the mad city of Mumbai. Tusshar Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi and Pitobash Tripathy are 3 small time goons who aspire to be more. While Kapoor is the leader of the pack, his character is subdued and he carries it off well. Nikhil Dwivedi is bearable but the show stealer is Pitobash Tripathy as Mandook. Pitobash plays the small sized lunatic with aplomb. He's got the best lines and delivers them with precision. Sundeep Kishan as the struggling cricketer is decent while the suave NRI Sendhil Ramamurthy (of HEROES fame) does a stellar job. His angst of being helpless is believable and though you do not know his past, you sympathise with him. Overall, the performance of everyone in this ensemble cast is more than decent.
The real hero of the film is the script and the direction. A couple of scenes are so brilliant, that they keep you on the edge of your seat and make you laugh nervously, at the same time. The background score is apt and the songs are surprisingly good. In some places, there is no background score, which makes the proceedings a little monotonous, but overall the movie and its dialogues keep you engaged. The movie is not too long either.
So, I would say, this is probably the best Hindi bet in the cinema for the weekend. Infact, its a movie that you must not miss. It's sensitive, has sense and showcases that you could do great things in a low budget film. Cheers to the new wave.
Rating: 7 / 10