Dibakar Banerjee's 'Shanghai' earned critical acclaim and mixed response from the audiences. Made on a budget Rs 19 crore, including marketing and promotion, ‘Shanghai’ broke even before its release, thanks to the sale of its satellite and music rights.

‘Shanghai’ which was released on June 8, 2012, had a slow start, but it picked up during the weekend. 'Shanghai' turned out be more of a multiplex film. Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, “ #Shanghai collected Rs 17.5 cr nett in Week 1. Breakup for Week 1:- Weekend: 12 cr, Weekdays: 5.5 cr. #Shanghai is way below the mark. Witnessed some growth at hi-end multiplexes of metros, but slided downwards as days progressed.”

Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi and Kalki Koechlin played the lead roles in the film. Despite an impressive star cast and performances, ‘Shanghai’ didn’t do well at the box office.

‘Shanghai’ had to face tough competition from Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha starrer ‘Rowdy Rathore’. The film has already entered Bollywood’s Rs 100 crore club. Probably audiences preferred watching a fun film like ‘Rowdy Rathore’ over serious ‘Shanghai’.  Director Dibakar Banerjee’s is happy with the performance of ‘Shanghai’. During a recent interview he said, "'Shanghai' was never made to be the blockbuster of the year.”