Before Shorgul was released, it kicked up an interest. After all, it is centered on the communal riots that broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar in 2013, one of the worst episodes of violence in the state. Some political parties and individuals were unhappy as the movie makes indirect yet obvious references to names that made headlines during the time. However, despite an army of terrific actors, Shorgul comes off as a shallow attempt to dig deep into issues behind such uprisings. The narrative allows three parallel story arcs to unfold. But, many sub-plots barely give any of the characters a chance to build the momentum and establish a clear story graph. Predictable and one-liners – that have become signature of films based in UP – make for stale plot props. The treacherous politicians appear straight out of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones, and behave as if they never heard of subtlety, in acting and otherwise. While Jimmy, Hiten and Jha shine in patches, their roles are frivolous and crave substance, making Shorgul a lost opportunity. If you aren’t familiar with what happened in 2013, or were looking for a new perspective on the incident, Shorgul isn’t for you. The movie is a disappointment.

Explosive theme, damp-squib filmmaking: that, in a nutshell, is the story of Shorgul. The film has arrived accompanied by a great deal of surround sound. But neither as cinema nor as political drama does it cut the mustard. The only sequence in the 132-minute film that comes close to passing muster is the opening one. The hackneyed narrative is driven by characters who spew venom on both sides of the divide, while a handful of good souls fight a desperate battle to give sanity a chance. The sloppy, antiquated storytelling style robs the exercise of the prospect of landing a few effective blows on the forces that revel in dividing people for electoral gains. Shorgul is purportedly about the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots but, thanks to the censors, the UP town isn't mentioned even once. It is replaced by Malihabad. It is difficult to fathom how that makes any difference to the substance of the film - whatever there is of it. Directors Jitendra Tiwari and Pranav Kumar Singh make a great deal of noise about humanity being the biggest religion, but they show no mercy at all to the medium that they have chosen for the purpose of making the point. The quality of the acting is disorienting in its inconsistency. While Ashutosh Rana and Jimmy Shergill do their very best to inject some life into the film, the lead actress is a letdown, to say the least.  Shorgul is so horridly ham-handed that it merits no rating as a film. But for the statement that it strives to make, no matter how feebly and incoherently, it deserves one star. And that is all it's worth.

It says a great deal for the state of our nation that a film like Shorgul runs into trouble simply because it is set in a town that witnesses communal killings, and which dares to create characters with a resemblance to real-life ones. It is also the kind of film that sadly requires political intervention for it to release. There’s potential to begin with. A luckless Hindu-Muslim romance. Weapons changing hands. Leaders readying to grab power at any cost. A ‘ghar-waapsi’ situation. We even hear people mention such incendiary words as ‘gau mata’, so loaded that just their utterance can cause a fatal conflagration. But despite all this, and the fact that the film touches upon how tenuous life can be, Shorgul is reduced to a clichéd melodrama with its bloody clashes between the sword-wielding ‘Musalmaans’ and ‘trishul-dhaari’ Hindus. In all the noise, ‘Shorgul’s line – ‘Suresh marey ya Salim ise koi farak nahin padta’ – becomes more a populist stab rather than a powerful weapon.

It takes special kind of talent to make a film as contrived as Shorgul. Based loosely on 2013's Muzzafarnagar riots, the makers attempt to bring forth the psyche behind misguided divisional politics. But the writing trivialises its noble purpose. An entire town is reduced to rubble just because of one love story gone wrong, is stretching your imagination too far. We could've bought it had the director delved deeper into the scheme of things. The performances are earnest, especially Jimmy Sheirgill and Ashutosh Rana. You'll find yourself deeply engrossed in their war of words and clash of ideas. But the film doesn't deserve such heartfelt acting. Every time you try to invest in their characters, the director shifts your attention to a loud Hiten Tejwani (who looks every bit like his brooding character from the daily soap Kutumb). Actress Suha Gezen is a misfit and bites into more than she can chew. Given that she is the central character, her performance is the film's weakest link. In a pivotal scene, she stands surrounded by dead bodies, screaming for help in an overdramatic (read -laughable) manner. Expecting the film to paint a comprehensive picture of the communal feelings of common people or offering a solution to the general animosity that triggers tension every time there is a mishap, is clearly expecting too much. Is the film gritty? No. Is it emotional? No. Is the love story worth the bloodshed? No. Is it worth your money? You know the answer. Give this frivolous fare a miss!