Raajneeti

Film: Raajneeti
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Nana Patekar, Sarah Thompson
Genre: Drama
Direction: Prakash Jha
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes
Critic's Rating: 4 stars


Story: It's a bloody battle for political power between the rival claimants of the Pratap family. When the venerable elder suffers a paralytic stroke, the seat of power automatically shifts to his younger brother, much to the discomfiture of his son, Manoj Bajpayee who considers himself to be the rightful heir to his bed-ridden father's throne. He can't see his rival cousins, Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor, rising to power while he is left simmering in the shadows. He seeks the assistance of dalit leader, Ajay Devgn to play his political cards and clear the path for his ascent to the top job (party president/chief ministership), even if it means traversing a blood-strewn and violent road that leads through assassination and fratricide. Of course, he underestimates the power and political shrewdness of the supposedly apolitical youngest cousin, Samar Pratap Singh (Ranbir Kapoor) who ostensibly came to India from New York on a short vacation but ended up playing the role of Arjuna in a veritable political Mahabharata, with Krishna-like Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar) guiding him through the intrigue.

Movie Review: Welcome to the return of story and plot to popular cinema. Of late, Hindi cinema had been floundering in a plotless marshland, where you either had to merely laugh at madcap situational goof-ups, which were mostly unfunny, or gawk at action cuts, loosely strung by a paper-thin one-liner posing as the plot. By and large -- exceptions notwithstanding -- the good, old-fashioned `kahani' had gone missing in mainstream lore. Raajneeti marks the return of twist-and-turn drama to contemporary cinema, which indeed is a refreshing turn of events. The film basically anchors its plot in two classic tales -- The Mahabharata and The Godfather -- to create an engrossing diatribe on India's political system where democracy may prevail, but not in its purest form. Dynasty, lawlessness, violence and misuse of power are the ugly underbelly of India's not-so-clean political framework where the battle for the ballot is waged almost like war: unprincipled, belligerent and bloody.

Director Prakash Jha has always been a master story-teller (remember Gangajal, Apharan). This time, his political thriller unfolds as the quintessential Pandava-Kauravas conflict from the Mahabharata, with most of its characters tracing their antecedents to the epic. And that brings us to the second high point of Raajneeti: its fleshy and form-filled characterisations. If you go character-spotting, it won't take long before you discover a modern-day Yudhishthir in Arjun Rampal, an Arjuna in Ranbir Kapoor, a Krishna in Nana Patekar, a Duryodhana in Manoj Bajpayee and a Karna in Ajay Devgn. And as these half-brothers fight out their brutal war for the political domination of the state, spilling over with its dynastic and caste politics, you begin to see shades of The Godfather too in Ranbir Kapoor's interpretation of Arjuna. The young actor presents an engrossing desi portrait of Michael Corleone as Samar, the reluctant, albeit ruthless rookie who plays the political game with masterful strokes. Setting aside his academic ambitions to teach in NYU, he is thrown into the deadly vortex after an untimely assassination and learns the rules of the unethical political sport, faster than anybody else. Of course, he does have the experienced stalwart, Nana Patekar by his side, to guide him, his explosive, impulsive elder brother, Arjun Rampal to hug him, vivacious childhood buddy, Indu (Katrina Kaif) to adore him and American girlfriend Sara (Sara Thompson) to whisper sweet-nothings in broken Hindi to him....But by and large, he strategises alone, like Mikey in his high-backed chair, and unleashes one bloody ace -- from up his sleeve -- after the other. And, there is little the rival camp, headed by Manoj Bajpayee and Ajay Devgn, can do, other than hiss, rave and rant. Absolutely engrossing fare.

Add to this, a dash of topicality -- Ms G riding the sympathy wave factor -- and you have a compelling thriller on contemporary India's politicalscape. Interestingly, Katrina Kaif seems to slip into the high-powered shoes easily with her awkward accent and climax speech which emphasises her vulnerable status and evokes a mandate on the basis of public sympathy. She looks as uncomfortable as you-know-who does on public platforms. But back home, as the sparkling and seductive Indu who tries her best to transform her childhood buddy, Ranbir into her romantic lover, she is quite-quite irresistible and makes you wonder why Ranbir would choose the somewhat pheeka (jaded) firangi, Sara, over this spunky fireball.

Performance-wise, the film scores with its gritty ensemble cast that creates credible characters. Nana, Ajay, Manoj and Arjun grab eyeballs in almost all their scenes. If Nana holds the plot together, almost like a sutradhar, Ajay returns to his impeccable angry avatar as the Dalit leader, Manoj Bajpayee brings back memories of his mesmeric performances in films like Satya and Zubeida and Arjun Rampal once again transcends his eye-candy visage after Rock On. Even Naseeruddin Shah pulls you up with his miniscule cameo as the revolutionary leader who makes khicchdi -- and love -- when he's not delivering fiery speeches. But the film finally belongs to Ranbir Kapoor who perfects the art of minimalism -- and literally grows before your eyes -- as the simmering volcano that cannot be held back, once it erupts. He's as grey and soot-filled, as volcanoes go....Also, there's no forgetting the intelligent script by Prakash Jha and Anjum Rajabali and the thriller-like narration, which does begin on a confusing note, but soon settles down as a racy-pacy, action-packed political drama. The audio track too boasts of some compelling numbers (Bheegi si, Mora Piya, Dhan Dhan Dharti) but the film does not leave much space for them.

Take time out for a serious and compelling celluloid experience. Don't miss Raajneeti.