Debutant director E Nivas bravely tells the story of a courageous police officer and his fight against the system for justice. Though the man-against-the-system story has been overused in Indian cinema, 'Shool' has a grittiness and honesty that makes that sets the tone apart. The movie doesn't merely show the battle but it delves into the psychology of the protagonist and his inner conflicts. The viewer can really connect to Samar Pratap Singh and his wife Manjiri.
Shot in washed out green-tinted colours and the use of the shaky camera and with the lack of overdone sets, 'Shool' looks very raw and authentic. The violence, though suggestive, implies very brutal and graphic mental images. The film starts with a telephone-call which is followed by a brutal murder and this already tells us what kind of a person Yadav (the antagonist played by Sayaji Shinde) is.
The performances are superb. Manoj Bajpai nails the part. The character seems to have been written for him and a lesser actor could have easily made a caricature out of this, but not Bajpai. He's simply excellent in displaying even the toughest expressions and this ranks among his best works. Sayaji Shinde is great. Even though his mannerisms are the same as other characters he's played, they perfectly suit Yadav's personality. Raveena Tandon takes the role of Manjiri after Juhi Chawla who had to walk out due to an accident which caused her to be hospitalized. 'Shool' couldn't have come at a better time for Ms. Tandon. After all the glamorous roles and comedies, the actress was looking for something different and in 'Shool' we see a deglamourized Raveena Tandon. Here she gives a very subtle, convincing and heartbreaking performance as Manjiri. The child actor is expressionless.
On the flip side, 'Shool' is quite predictable but one can't think of an alternative ending that would have made it better. Nonetheless, even though we know what will happen, the last scene is very effective, mostly due to Manoj Bajpai's performance and dialogue delivery. Anurag Kashyap's dialogues and E.Nivas's screenplay are good. Some scenes would have stood out more without the background score (which isn't that impressive). The songs are passable (and fit the situations) and of course there's the famous item number 'Main Aayi Hoon UP Bihar Lootney' filmed on a raunchy Shilpa Shetty. This is perhaps one of the few films where an item number actually works as it both fits the situation and tells more about the character of the actors (e.g. Sayaji acting all wild around Shilpa).
On the whole, 'Shool' is a great piece of Indian cinema. Although the story isn't new, it's presentation is and unlike others this one digs into both the protagonist's and antagonist's psychology.
