Shagird is a hard-hitting film that reflects the true nature of Indians in power. It keeps you on your toes all through. Unpredictability is the USP of the film. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia has proved that he is an efficient storyteller. He has handled the plots beautifully. Nana Patekar is a gem as always. He fits perfectly into the character. Other cast of the film includes Zakir Hussain, director Anurag Kashyap, Mohit Ahlawat, Rimmi Sen, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Khan Jahangir and Virendra Saxena.
Hanumant Singh (Nana Patekar) is a corrupt police officer, Rajmani Singh (Zakir Hussain) into giving him Rs. 15 crore. He uses underworld don Bunty Bhaiya (Anurag Kashyap) to reach his goal. Mohit (Mohit Ahlawat) is Hanumant Singh’s protégé.
This film is about Hanumant Singh (Nana Patekar) who is a corrupt police officer trying to fool corrupt minister Rajmani Singh (Zakir Hussain) to be close to him. For this he is paid wholesomely a loot he shares with the rest of his core team. He takes new recruit ‘Shagird’ Mohit (Mohit Ahlawat) under his wings and tries to induct him into the world of corruption but Mohit is principled and does not want to partake in Hanumant Singh’s corrupt activities. Mohit is in love with Varsha Mathur (Rimi Sen) who is a television journalist working for a channel. Meanwhile, a dangerous Lashkar-e-Haq group agrees to meet three journalists including Varsha, for an interview. The three journalists are thrilled that they are going to get a scoop of a story and head to the pre-decided destination. Instead of an interview, they are held captive there and in return for their freedom, the terrorist demands that Bunty Bhaiya (Anurag Kashyap) who is a don, close to Rajmani Singh , pleads with him to get him set free and two other terrorists be released from jail.
Anyway, Hanumant Singh immediately takes Bunty Bhaiya into captivity to blackmail Rajmani Singh to give Rs.15 crore. Although it appears that Rs. 15 crore is the price for keeping Bunty Bhaiya’s mouth shut about Rajmani Singh’s nefarious activities, it is actually Hanumant Singh who wants the money so that he can send the same to New Zealand where he has already sent his wife (Kishori Shahane-Vij) and their little son and where he, too, wants to settle shortly, after quitting his job. Hanumant Singh secures the freedom of Varsha and a foreign journalist in return for setting Bunty Bhaiya and the two terrorists free. The third journalist (Murali Sharma) gets killed at the hands of the terrorist. Then begins a game of double-crossing. What is Mohit’s role in this drama?
Dialogues by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Kamal Pandey are extraordinary and full of punch-lines. Nana Patekar fans will enjoy his purposefully eccentric, casually ruthless cop. Music by Abhishek Ray is functional. Watch it for the performances and the fun-filled dialogues but don’t expect anything more.
