In Maliabad, a small town in Uttar Pradesh, Chaudhary is a local Jat politician. He is loved and respected by everyone for fighting for their cause. While on the opposite side Ranjit Om is a new-generation MLA who wants to win the upcoming election at any cost. He is joined by an orthodox Maulana, who is banging doors to collect funds for a madrassa. Chaudhary's son Raghu falls in love with a Muslim girl named Zainab in college. Both love each other although Zainab is engaged to Saleem, a boy from her community. After threats from Saleem, Raghu starts evading her. Zainab forcefully invites Raghu to talk to her and their situation quickly escalates. Raghu is murdered with the help of Saleem, an act that sparks communal riots. Ranjit and Maulana use the isolated incident to create havoc for their narrow gains and the escalating situation leads to Saleem also being killed. After a political deal with Ranjit, Maulana throws Zainab out of the community. It is followed with the murder of Chaudhary by the henchmen of Ranjit, who shield Zainab till his last breath. Ranjit wins the elections after the heavy bloodshed but his bonhomie with Maulana will cost his life. Political powerplays once again leads the way, as Zainab will get her share of revenge by eliminating Ranjit.
The shooting of the film started on 16 May 2015. Many scenes were shot in Lucknow. The film has been slated to release on 24 June 2016. The scenes of Godhra and cow references have been muted in Shorgul by CBFC. Shorgul got U/A certificate from the censor Board. A scene of the film was leaked online before the release in which actor Narendra Jha is giving hate speech similar to that of Hyderabad MIM Leader Akbaruddin Owaisi's December 2012Adilabad Speech. Former IT Minister Kapil Sibal has penned down the Lyrics of the songs "Tere bina" and "Mast hawa" for this film. Hrishitaa Bhatt has done a special song Mast Hawa in the film.
Release controversy
The scenes of Godhra and cow references have been muted in Shorgul by CBFC. Shorgul got U/A certificate from the censor Board. A PIL was filed by a VHP Leader in Allahabad High Court bench in Lucknow demanding to ban the release the film as many characters in the film are inspired from real politicians like character Ranjeet Som played by Jimmi Shergil in the movie is inspired by Sangeet Singh Som, Sanjay Suri's role of Mithilesh Yadav is based on Akhilesh Yadav, Narendra Jha's portrayal of Alim Khan is based on Azam Khan. CBFC snipped the words Godhra and Gau Ganga from the film. High Court rejected the PIL. Another PIL for copyright violation was filed by Chandigarh-based author Vijay Soudai against the makers of the film. The makers claimed that Shorgul has been banned in Muzaffarnagar. A fatwa was issued by Khamman Peer Baba Committee against Jimmy Shergill and the makers. Sangeet Singh Som demanded a ban on the film.
Critical reception
Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in praised the individual performance in Shorgul. Mohar Basu of Times of India gave the film 2 out of 5 stars. Nabilah Hussain of Rediff.com gave the film 2 stars and stated that it failed to become a great film. Mid- Day gave the film 2 stars.
