Rajneeti

Ola! The good weather is back to Delhi and we are back to Dhai Kilo! I don’t understand politics really well but I find Mahabharata quite interesting from what I remember of the TV serial. I loved the politics between Pandavas and Kauravs, Lord Krishna’s tactics and the grand canvas the epic has. This Sunday was a lot of araam and there was a lot of excitement to see the last show of Prakash Jha’s much awaited Rajneeti which is analogous to Mahabharata!

Umm, at the end of the show I felt more positive about the film but actually there were a lot of mixed reactions going inside my head. Some parts were outstanding and some were ridiculous to say the least! There were a lot of oooohhs and some oouchs too!

OOOOOOH!!!!!

The super large Canvas of the film creates an excitement and initially the film engages you and a thrilling foundation is set. The first one hour has some parallels drawn from ‘The Godfather’. The story is full of surprises and serpentines constantly. It creates such an intrigue that at one point of time you start expecting something to shock you next. It is not a typical masala film and but the masalas are somewhat different in this case. It relies on thrill and unpredictability. This is what keeps you glued to the movie.

Ranbir Kapoor is superb and so is Arjun Rampal. Arjun gets an amazing scope to perform well and get noticed as an actor, which he did. Manoj Bajpai and Nana (‘MAMA’ in the film ;) ) Patekar are terrific. Stand out performer for me is Ranbir Kapoor considering that he is almost a new comer. He gave a truly matured and confident performance.

Mind you the movie does not preach you and it doesn’t even explain what happens in politics like a Madhur Bhandarkar film. It is just a fiction for entertainment. Entertainment in this film does not come with songs and slapdash comedy. I loved the fact that there were no unnecessary comic scenes. There is no Rajpal Yadav or Johny lever for the heck of entertainment and making the audience loose the track. I loved the fact that almost all characters in the film are either grey or black! There is no hero who would beat the shit out of these dirty politicians and corrupt officers and say “heeyyyyyy……. Mai hun na!”

OOOUCH!!!!

OK!! So here are the flipsides!

There is a ridiculous love-making scene in the beginning of the film, a complete misfit. It is triggered because the couple get’s wet in the rain. In Bollywood, if u get wet 10 times, you will make love 10 times and every time you make love, you will make children.

Katrina is a misfit. She just can’t act. If it was Sonia Gandhi to be paralleled, then Prakash Jha would have had no choice but to cast her, but here she was supposed to be an Indian. There were brilliant actors in the film but Jha messed it up at places because of two really bad actors (Katrina and Ranbir’s mother). Ajay Devgan had some amazing initial scenes and then was wasted. Naseeruddin Shah’s character is not well fleshed out at all and ends abruptly.

When have you seen or heard leading politicians on a killing spree? Arjun Rampal becomes vindictive and brutally kills a cop with his own hands. Now we know all these people are cruel and criminals but they would never do it themselves. Even if the film is a fiction the bloody shootouts in the film between top politicians in broad daylight appears ridiculous and don’t make any sense at all. After killing Ajay Devgan, Ranbir says Sorry to his ‘papa’ and is excused by him too. Quite stupid!

For it’s 3 hrs running time, "Raajneeti" demands patience at some parts when it stretches. There are scenes which grip your attention but then there are scenes that drive you up the wall. The poorest scene in the film is when Kunti reveals to Karna that he is her son and therefore he should stop warring with his own brothers. Kunti (or Ranbir’s mom) acts terrible and the scene lacked any punch whatsoever. The sequence didn’t seem to be directed by Jha at all and you suddenly feel as if you are watching a ‘c’ grade film.

Upshot – ***

I feel Rajneeti still delivers in spite of being flabby at parts. For awesome performances and for the enthralling twists and turns it is a film which is surely a must watch!

_________Ashim__________