Best Bollywood cop drama – stellar acting by Manoj Bajpayee & cast

[Murali]

Don't you feel the last 30 minutes are a bit weak? Ardh Satya will always be the GOAT of cop dramas; nothing really matches it. Still, Shool is the kind of film that makes you go "Damn, what a movie", and then you realise the powerful performances saved it – without them it would have been just average.

The dialogues are top‑notch; I later found out Anurag Kashyap wrote them, no surprise they're that good. The theme is quite ideological, but honestly the weak ending dropped my rating from 8/10 to 7/10. It also over‑explains itself, unlike Ardh Satya. Apart from that, it's engaging from start to finish, never a bore, though the final 30 minutes feel flimsy and there are a few plot holes. Manoj Bajpayee is a phenomenal actor, truly one of the finest in Indian cinema. Huge shout‑out to the villain, Sayaji Shinde (Bachhu Yadav). I actually teared up when the girl died. Back then RGV was delivering tight screenplays; I'm not sure what he's up to these days.

[Divya]

The ending felt pretty embarrassing. It comes across as if Manoj Bajpayee is saying Sayaji Shinde is corrupt while the other ministers are spotless – which isn't realistic for Bihar.

[Ehsan]

So true, it's also the saddest film I've connected with – the ending was gut‑wrenching for me.

[Akshara]

I watched this back in 7th‑8th standard on DVD. It traumatised me big time.

[Chetan]

Absolute stunner of a film – I think Manoj was only 28‑29 years old and delivered such a performance. It even outshines the honest cop movies of Nana Patekar. That line, "Agar aap nahi hote, aaj Bachchu Yadav zameen ke chhe foot neeche hota," still gives me chills.

[Mohit]

It got completely overshadowed, and rightly so, by Satya.