Nana Patekar has been there, done that but it is still fun to watch him with his dead pan expressions. The director has shown a bit of flair for telling these kinds of stories but you wish he would have done it with a bit more panache.

There isn’t much going for the film apart from Patekar’s wit and Kashyap’s acting talent. Without them, this film would probably have not got a single star.

On the whole, Shagird may be a well-made film but it has several things going against it – lack of face value (Nana Patekar alone doesn’t sell), dated look, lack of promotion, dull title and horrifyingly poor initial. It will, therefore, sink at the box-office without a trace.

SHAGIRD fails in its attempt to be a taut thriller and overstays its welcome.

Shagird is not devoid of merit. The Patekar characters affinity to vintage film songs gives a centre to an otherwise-doddering tale of desperate corruption.

On the whole, SHAGIRD is a powerful film with an equally power-packed screenplay. Though a well-made film, the awareness levels have been pretty low and the hype, therefore, is missing. But here’s a film that deserves to be watched for its captivating screenplay and striking performances.

Lines soaked with gallows-humour are all well and good, but a cat and mouse game can never work as well if the mouse isn’t any fun at all.

Punctuated with thrilling chases and shoot-outs in the crowded by-lanes of Delhi, Shagird is another interesting film from maverick director Tigmanshu Dhulia who made an impression with Haasil, his very first film.

Nana Patekar fans will enjoy his purposefully eccentric, casually ruthless cop but honestly, it felt like déjà vu to me.

The trouble with ‘Shagird’, despite its sharp, often funny exchanges, and a few spanking scenes, is that it is not new enough.