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FILM REVIEW
BY: SHAHEEN RAAJ
SARKAR RAJ – Realistic! Magnificent! Terrific! Fantastic! Marvelous!
Film: Sarkar Raj
Director: Ram Gopal Verma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Tanisha Mukherjee, Govind Namdeo, Victor Banerjee, Supriya Pathak, Sayaji Shinde, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Upyendra Limaye, Rajesh Shringarpure, Shishir Sharma, Ravi Kale, Sumeet Nijhawan & Javed Ansari
Was ‘Sarkar’ outstanding or ‘Sarkar Raj?’ Well! Wait till you see one more sequel to the prequel that could be ‘Sarkar Raj Ka Raj!’ Whatever! But finally its time now to welcome back the ‘Aag’ extinguisher or rather the ‘Aag’ creator, the ‘fire(y)’ director Ram Gopal Verma! The return of RGV! Its high time everyone gives him a royal and a princely welcome back. And what a comeback boss after having burnt his fingers et al in his last released venture ‘Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag’ which tanked without a trace at the box office turnstiles. In fact it was his vengeance that he has risen from the dust and the ashes. Yet beware Mr. Ramu the classes and the critics galore may be raving your efforts but what about the masses who have been left out in the cold in tow with a feeling, a sense of Déjà vu. Perhaps your technical brilliance did not impress them or else they could not fathom the dull, the dry and the entertainment less package in lieu with the intriguing mystery of the plot, which ends abruptly.
No doubt the film’s tagline ‘Power cannot be given…..it has to be taken’ explains it all but ‘Sarkar Raj’ is just not about only politics. To say so would be politically incorrect as it is also about emotions, love, relations, jealousy, possessiveness, plotting, animosity, betrayal, back stabbing & murder mayhem of course all in the name of power grabbing game not necessarily a politically oriented one.
Scenario 1: Just picture the ending of the prequel ‘Sarkar’ where Subhash Nagre aka Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan) allegedly impersonating a certain Saffron Brigade leader is devastated because his younger son Shankar Nagre (Abhishek Bachchan) has cold bloodedly murdered his elder brother Vishnu Nagre (Kay Kay Menon) with no qualms whatsoever. So is Subhash’s reign (Sarkar) over?
Scenario 2: Once again imagine the current movie ‘Sarkar Raj’. Yes of course Subhash’s reign is over as his younger son Shankar Nagre has totally taken over. Now he rules. At this juncture a foreigner Anita Rajan (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) enters the Nagre household with Shepard power plant proposal to be set up in Maharashtra. Subhash rejects the proposal, his wife Pushpa (Supriya Pathak) nods her head like a silent spectator that to throughout the movie, while Shankar’s wife Avantika (Tanisha Mukherjee) is lost in her own world until she drops dead in a bomb explosion with a pregnancy pause (Pun intended) that takes place right under his nose, in the verandah of the Nagre residence. The chess like game of the power plant gains momentum with all the pawns trying to pull the carpet from under their rival’s feet. Sample the names of the pawns: Hassan Qazi (Govind Namdeo), Mike Rajan (Victor Banerjee), Karunesh Kaanga (Sayaji Shinde), Kantilal Vora (Upyendra Limaye), Sunil Shinde (Shishir Sharma), the silent man (Ravi Kale), the mystery man (Javed Ansari), Bala (Sumeet Nijhawan), Rao Saheb (Dilip Prabhawalkar) and last but not the least Sanjay Somji (Rajesh Shringarpure).
Scenerio 3: To picture this you will have to travel in time in a time machine. As I said earlier it could be the hat trick movie and hopefully the final sequel probably titled “Sarkar Raj Ka Raj†in which Shankar and Avantika’s earlier son will return from US to settle the grand finale revenge score. He has to come because Shankar has been eliminated. Subhash the weakling by now has given up all the fight. He is frantically ordering everyone around to summon his grandson. Pronto.
No more brickbats for you Ramuji. You deserve all the bouquets for your perfect directorial brilliance. I found all the scenes like a painter’s colorful palate. Hats off also for your technical team comprising of Prasad Pandey (Scriptwriter), Amar Mohile (Background Score), Amit Roy (Cinematography), Allan Amin (Action), Debashish Misra (Sound), Sunil Nigvekar (Art) and Praveen Nischol (RGV’s co-producer).
Performance wise all the actors and I mean all the actors have surpassed their own prowess with an excellent display of their par excellence histrionics in alphabetical, chronological or in order of appearance, take it the way you want, starting of course from Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachan, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Govind Namdeo, Javed Ansari, Ravi Kale, Rajesh Shringarpure, Supriya Pathak, Sayaji Shinde, Shishir Sharma, Summet Nijhawan, Tanisha Mukherjee, Upyendra Limaye & Victor Banerjee. So in spite of being a hardcore critic I salute them all.