Generating a lot of excitement

Film buffs were excited enough when Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi were revealed as the male leads of Banerjee’s new political thriller. But now, with the announcement that Kalki Koechlin has been cast as the female lead, there is an added layer of excitement about the project. Farook Shaikh essays a character far from his usually positive on-screen persona.

In Shanghai, Shaikh plays a very polished senior civil servant who decides the fate of millions of people. Prosenjit plays Ahmadi, the charismatic scholar, political and social activist who becomes the centre of intrigues, in this political thriller.

Dibakar also wanted someone who was a little unknown to the Hindi film audience and finally settled down for National award-winning Bengali megastar Prosenjit who has also been exploring interesting roles.