Film: Rajneeti
Director: Prakash Jha
Cast: Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai, Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Katrina Kaif
Rating:***
The
Pratap family, sitting on a political throne in Central India, is on
the verge of a thumping victory when its veteran leader collapses with
a paralytic stroke. As he battles for life in the hospital, his two
heirs, his sonVeerendra Pratap (Manoj Bajpayee) and his nephew Prithvi Pratap (Arjun Rampal) vie to take his place.
WhenPrithvi is appointed leader and chief ministerial candidate, a bitterVeerendra finds an ally in backward class leaderSooraj (Ajay Devgan), who wants a place for his people on the political map. Together, they attack the backbone ofPrithvi’s family, and as assassins’ bullets fly, they plot to putPrithvi behind bars and out of the political game.
Prithvi’s foreign-returned younger brother,Samar(Ranbir Kapoor),
must leave behind an American girlfriend and his phd in European
poetry, to take control of his family. Under the mentorship of his
father’s closest confidante,Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar), Samar takes charge of affairs and with a cold bloodied calm, fights this battle to its finish.
Like
a frenetic game of chess, the power balance shifts with every move in
this political saga. Even though it takes obvious inspiration from theMahabharata and Francis Ford Copolla’sThe Godfather, Rajneeti comes through as an original piece of writing. Though, not without its flaws.
The canvas is gigantic and the pictures thatPrakash Jha
paint are jaw dropping. His images are stark and bear resemblance to
dramatic poltical news-reels from India's modern history. Het puts into
perpective the use of the media to stage out unparliamentry games, and
the abuse of backward classes for votes. And somewhat likeGulzar did inAandhi (1975), Jha dares to take us into the homes of dynastic politics. CameramanSachin Kumar Krishnanspectacularly lenses the political rallies thronged by thousands of poor voters.
Yet,Anjum Rajabali
& Prakash Jha’s screenplay has several peculiarities that might not
be palatable, especially in its second half. There are too many
assassinations where all the victims are lured to their death in the
same way. Also, the battle between the split family becomes one sided,
leaving the opposition with no trump cards to unfold. There is even an
incomplete item song, that makes you wonder if the projectionist made a
mistake and put on a reel from some silly Bollywood film.
While
‘Rajneeti’ gets its politics spot on, it gets its emotions a little
messed up. It is hard to feel for most of the characters as they all
seem uni-dimensional. Yes, we understand that absolute power corrupts,
but how can an audience feel for characters that themselves don’t feel
at all?
Arjun Rampal, whose character seems inspired by the hot-headedSonny Corleone fromGodfather,
shouts to portray his hot headedness. His craft is exposed by weak body
language. His hands are mostly in his pocket and some powerful dialogue
is wasted on his poor oration.
Ajay Devgan playsSooraj, who bears a strong resemblance toKarna fromMahabharata
and must make the ultimate sacrifice for his family. Devgan plays the
character effectively, but doesnt go beyond what he has already played.
Katrina
Kaif’s beautiful face appears frozen in crucial scenes. She doesn’t
rise up to a well-mounted character that must sacrifice true love for
the sake of ambition. She looks stunning when she dons the richkhadi
sari and is compelled to take the podium at a rally. The drama
beautifully builds when she waves to the crowds, dwarfed by massive cut
outs of herself. Sadly, her speech is not awe-inspiring.
Ranbir Kapoor, with a character modeled onMicheal Corleone,
puts in a sharp and restrained performance, but suffers from flaws in
his written character. Even though he says at some point that he was
forced to enter politics, no-where in his set-up does that come across.
In fact, he offers cold bloodied suggestions to his family even before
the shit hits the fan. His love story withSarah (Sarah Thomson Kane), his American girlfriend and his relationship withIndu (Katrina Kaif)
the girl that loves him, evoke no feeling. Yet, aided with effective
dialogue delivery and good body language, Kapoor’s performance as the
manupilative young ‘king-maker’ is noteworthy.
Thank god for
actors like Nana Patekar& Manoj Bajpai. These are performers who
know their craft and don’t allow the directors vision to crumble. Nana
Patekar, likeKrishna fromMahabharata, silently
watches from the wings and gives calculated cues to his warriors. His
reactions are superb, and without much dialogue, he conveys more than
his many of his younger counterparts do.
Manoj Bajpai is
sharp. This film offers him another chance to perform to his awesome
potential, and he holds it perfectly right to the end. Even though his
character is similar to Rampal’s angry& brattyPrithvi, Bajpai is extremely convincing and breathes life into Veerendra Pratap.
Prakash Jha deftly handles his technical crew. The cinematography is superlative as isShyam Kaushal’s nail biting action sequences.Wayne Sharpe’s
background score is excellent and the Rajneeti theme is haunting and
dramatic. Rajneeti packs in some racy drama and keeps you glued to your
seat right to the end.
Watch the film as a definitive reflection
of our times and forgive its casting director for not choosing more
experienced actors.