Raajneeti is Prakash Jha's take on the politics and the epic Mahabharata in the contemporary world.
It starts off well in the first half where we are introduced to the various characters in the film and one can easily relate them to the characters of Mahabharata, but the difference here is that except Katrina Kaif (as Indu Pratap), all the other main characters have grey shades.
All the actors have performed their characters superbly well, especially Ajay Devgn (as Sooraj Kumar), Ranbir Kapoor (as Samar Pratap) and Nana Patekar (as Brij Gopal). Though there are very few dialogues for Nana Patekar in the film, he makes his presence felt and proves that a good actor doesn't always require great dialogues to perform well. Manoj Bajpai (as Veerendra Pratap) is over the top at times but does a good job; Arjun Rampal (as Prithviraj Pratap) is improving with every film and gives his best; Katrina Kaif tries very hard to ape Sonia Gandhi and disappoints; Even the supporting cast chips in with good performances, especially Dayashankar Pandey (of Lagaan and Swades) as Sooraj Kumar's father.
The first half is good but the second half is a bumpy ride, with many ups and downs and not to forget the ridiculous ending. The other disappointment in the movie is the very short role of Naseeruddin Shah (as Bhaskar Sanyal), for an actor of his calibre, wished he had a greater part in the movie.
All in all, Raajneeti is a gripping tale and is a film not to be missed.