Rajneeti. For once the very impressive trailer almost lived up to the film and the expectations it created. Prakash Jha is brilliant at unfolding his plot, characters and keeping you hooked.
Rajneeti is the tale of a political family told against the backdrop of elections. Trust, brotherhood, betrayal, love, lust, sex, wisdom, illegitimacy, money, fear, blackmail- all these and more are the key characters in Prakash Jha’s thrilling political drama. Largely incorrect to call it a political drama though since it is more focused on a family and the politics just forms the backdrop. What Prakash Jha does is put together an ensemble of some very good actors, takes parts of the Mahabharata, parts of the godfather, some resemblances to real life Indian politics, puts this all together in an almost seamless fashion and gives you about 3 hours of entertainment worth the price of a ticket.
Rajneeti is the tale of a political family told against the backdrop of elections. Trust, brotherhood, betrayal, love, lust, sex, wisdom, illegitimacy, money, fear, blackmail- all these and more are the key characters in Prakash Jha’s thrilling political drama. Largely incorrect to call it a political drama though since it is more focused on a family and the politics just forms the backdrop. What Prakash Jha does is put together an ensemble of some very good actors, takes parts of the Mahabharata, parts of the godfather, some resemblances to real life Indian politics, puts this all together in an almost seamless fashion and gives you about 3 hours of entertainment worth the price of a ticket.
(this review is also published on www.isitworthwatching.com)
The tale is of two parts of a family who are part of a popular party. When the elder brother is stuck with paralysis, Vir Pratap (Manoj Bajpayee) believes it is his birthright to lead the party. When the position of leading the party in the elections is given to Prithviraj (Arjun Rampal), Vir Pratap’s vengeful self comes to the fore and to gain support he brings into the party Suraj (Ajay Devgn), the illegitimate elder sibling of Prithviraj and Samar (Ranbir Kapoor). Yup, those of you familiar with the Mahabharata (and if you are an Indian you better be familiar with it. After all, it is the longest epic in the world and has everything to do with life and politics explained in it) will recognise Manoj Bajpayee’s character showing shades of Duryodhana, Suraj showing Karna, Arjun depicting Bheema (or Sonny Corleone in godfather) and Ranbir Kapoor depicting the crafty Arjuna (or Michael corleone from the godfather). Katrina Kaif as Indu displays shades of Draupadi who is sacrificed for power and yet is powerful enough to bring about destruction. There is the very impressive Nana Patekar as the wise, calm Brij Gopal (depicting lord Krishna- shrewd, powerful but who never took to arms in the war). A host of other characters remind of the greatest ever epic told in India. By now it must be obvious to you how much I admire the Mahabharata and therefore this movie.
The movie is well paced and unfolds well. There are a few loopholes in the plot and many sequences are bang on from The Godfather including an assassination, the character of Sarah (sarah Thomson Kane). Considering that the Godfather is among my all time favorites, and the way Prakash Jha has Indianised it, I could only admire it here. Some good performances from Nana Patekar, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Katrina Kaif. Manoj Bajpayee is pretty impressive in some scenes and you wonder at the industry’s loss in not grooming this fine actor. What finally bursts the bubble of this wonderful movie is the climax and prior to that an extremely pivotal scene between Suraj and his birth mother.
In spite of that, a movie worth watching and a must watch.
