Sunday, June 8, 2008
SARKAR RAJ - A Movie Review
Sarkar Raj! Just hearing the name was enough to generate something much greater than anticipation, it bordered between excitement and thrill. Now I consider myself a product and part of this generation addicted to cinema, so this isn't weird, especially having watched Sarkar, arguably one of the best movies made in modern Indian cinema. What transpired on this rainy Sunday however was neither justification nor cause for either emotion.We catch up with the Nagre family a couple of years after the culmination of the first film, and it's the birthday of Subhash Nagre or Sarkar, the patriarch. It is also the day the Nagres are pitched the idea of a power plant in rural Maharashtra, which is worth 200,000 crores, a figure repeated often, surprisingly enough without ever mentioning the capacity of said plant. Anyhoo, this is poised to be the life boat to save Maharashtra and propel it to unforeseen heights. The events that follow form the crux of this flimsy screenplay.
The immediate sense that one got from the very first scene was of the director's utmost comfort and complacence derived from previous success. RGV, once an auteur has resigned himself to repetition and cliches, even self constructed ones. For instance, his angles on camera work, sepia tones, and extreme close-ups induce a deja vu almost instantly. However, given that the film is a sequel, this is perhaps understandable, albeit a tad bit annoying in its saturation. What really gets to you is the fact that the entire script is a hashed mix of one liners and borrowed concepts mixed with political perception. Everything that worked for Sarkar is messed up in its sequel. Even the sense of power that the house of Sarkar exuded is replaced by vulnerability and a little implausibility. It would be difficult to detail more without major spoilers.
Plenty has been said about Amitabh Bachchan's acting prowess. A lot more needs to be said. The ONLY justification for Ramu to have marred the perfection of his best work with this film is that he gave us all a chance to watch Amitabh reprise his role. The man is dynamite, and is so refined in his acting, that as unoriginal as it sounds, every inch of his body emotes. The same however, can hardly be said about his son. Abhishek Bachchan did a half decent role in Sarkar, but given an almost-protagonist in this film simply isn't enough to make this giant stone perform. Not only does he refuse to change his one expression, he does not inspire even a quarter of the fear that Sarkar did, being his successor and all that. Complete blame cannot be placed on the very fat shoulders of Junior Bachchan though. Ramu couldn't possibly have spent more than three and a half minutes writing the character sketch of Shankar, and unfortunately, Abhishek does not have the caliber to create a role from the brief given to him. Moving over to his wife is now a requirement, though in all honesty, I'd rather not. There was a time when Aishwarya Rai could not act, but was earth shatteringly beautiful. It's been almost a decade since, and age has caught up with her, but acting capability unfortunately has not. She is neither convincing nor enjoyable as Anita, the executive-cum-owner of the Shepherd Power project, and thankfully was restricted to a mostly muted cameo. Sayyaji Shinde, surprisingly lauded by the media, to my mind, also only bugged in a MAJORLY over-acted part. There were a few sparklers though. Ravi Kale reprises the role of Chander and plays a convincing Sarkar loyalist. Tanishha Mukherji, in a very well clad role, smiles throughout and is astoundingly winning, even in her brief role. Supriya Pathak, though not given much to do, similarly stands her own, as does Govind Namdeo, who is very menacing. Dilip Prabhavalkar carries forward his act from Munnabhai 2 and is both good and annoying. Another SUPERB quality of the film, which must be highlighted, is it's background score. Kudos for Amar Mohile, for going one step further than Sarkar, with this apt score. Perhaps also mentionable is the adequate editing, keeping the film briskly moving and just a little over two hours.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
I think it's important to mention the few points at which Sarkar Raj failed completely.
1) The lack of a sense of purpose to the family that rules the city. Neither do they manage to complete their dream project, nor do they manage to protect their own "close-knit family".
2) The implausibility of the Sarkar supporters. After both the deaths of Avantika and Shankar, there is NOTHING done by any of the Sarkar fans who throng his house on his birthday. This is a completely unimaginable situation with the Thakerays, who apparently inspired the Nagres (note the similarity in surname sound even.)
3) The perfectly disturbing romantic angle given to the characters of Rai and Bachchan Jr. For chrissakes, the man had just lost his wife and unborn child before he busied himself fondling Rai's hand.
4) The VERY BORING death scene of Abhishek. Given the build up in the media, this was one cold turkey.
5) This one is small, but somehow I am a little confused at how, being such a powerful, presumably rich family, it is always up to Supriya Pathak, the matriarch to have to serve tea to the visitors. Servants, maybe?
SPOILERS OVER!!!
Overall I'd say Sarkar Raj is watchable for Amitabh Bachchan, but thoroughly disappointing if you go there expecting to see the desi counterpart of Godfather II. Luckily, there is a window for a third part, and hopefully Ram Gopal Verma will be able to redeem himself. God knows he's missed his chances already. If he does choose to give Aishwarya a new mantle, I hope he writes the film to perfection before filming. To cap it, I' rate the film on a scale of 1-10, a 6.5, out of which 5 points are for Amitabh, and 1.5 for making me want to watch Sarkar again.
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