Long before Anurag Kashyap started directing masterpieces like Gangs Of Wasseypur or Ugly, he wrote dialogues for many great films like Shool. The screenplay of Shool was written by Ram Gopal Verma, the pioneer of the mix genre of realism and commercial cinema.
‘Shool’ had its theatrical release on the 5th November of 1999. The film got many awards including the National award and Filmfare awards of the year. The film is available to watch on Jio Cinema.
Shool stars actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Sayaji Shinde and Raveena Tandon in the lead roles. The film was directed by Eeshwar Nivas. The film tells the story of how a police officer struggles to survive after he goes against corruption and how his career is demolished. Manoj Bajpayee plays the role of Inspector Samar Pratap Singh. Sayaji Shinde plays the role of a politician indulged in crime named Bachchu Yadav. Samar is transferred to Motihari in Bihar due to his excessive adherence to honesty and there he suffers the wrath of Yadav. Yadav targets inspector Samar’s family and is determined to destroy him.
The film is extremely realistic and there are chances that the story is inspired by some real events. There is no ‘herogiri’ of the Bollywood mainstream hero and Manoj Bajpayee portrays the suffering of the protagonist very impressively. There is no doubt on the acting capabilities of Bajpayee, here you can witness one more example of that. The music is given by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy and it has some very catchy songs like ‘Aayi Hoon U.P Bihar Lootne’.
You can give it a go and watch Shool on Jio Cinema with your friends and family. It is a very underrated movie and audiences need to discover such hidden gems and appreciate them.