The other day , I viewed Rajneeti a Hindi movie directed by Prakash Jha .Some how the movie got me hooked lock ,stock and barrel for the two and half hours I viewed it. After a long time , I felt so totally engrossed by a hindi movie.
The film is a telling story on the politics and the director has taken Mahabharatha’s characters and woven a modern political drama with full of intrigue , deceit , cunningness, machinations and opportunism.
A major political party’s president dies of a heart attack after a shootout and because of a shadayantar and before he dies appoints his brother as the president of the party. The fight starts for gaining the power and the upper hand in the party by the sons of the two brothers ( The deceased and the present president ) The cousin brothers play all the tricks in the political trade to gain the edge and finish off the other. It is a total free for all and the only justification is everything is okay in the political war .
The movie editing is slick and the movie moves at a fast pace giving no time for the cinegoer to speculate what is in store next. In a see – saw battle , we see the power shifting to and fro from the cousin brothers. For getting the power, everyone is used as a pawn and the entire police system and the official machinery is hand in glove with whatever happens , so that they can share the spoils.
The performance of Arjun Ramphal and Manoj Bajpai as the two warring cousin brothers is riveting.
Ajay Devgan is the equivalent of Karna and he stands by his friend till the end. As usual Devgan brings an undercurrent of burning emotions to ensure justice is done to the dalits.
Nana Patekar as the Mama of one of the brother has given a subdued performance and is the one able to bring a sense of direction and ensure the right decision is taken to achieve the political end. He is emotionless while taking decision (A La Chanakya).
As the movie progresses , Ranbir kapoor as the younger brother of Arjun Ramphal slowly gets on us. He is a research scholar who comes to meet his parents , but while about to leave India , his father gets shot and killed . Ranbir gets dragged into the politics and his aim is to help his elder brother take revenge on the cousin brother for getting his father killed.
Ranbir looks totally convincing in his role. The movie depicts very clearly that a good natured person can totally change and become ruthless and opportunistic if the goal is to take revenge and gain political power.
The film is a telling story on the politics and the director has taken Mahabharatha’s characters and woven a modern political drama with full of intrigue , deceit , cunningness, machinations and opportunism.
A major political party’s president dies of a heart attack after a shootout and because of a shadayantar and before he dies appoints his brother as the president of the party. The fight starts for gaining the power and the upper hand in the party by the sons of the two brothers ( The deceased and the present president ) The cousin brothers play all the tricks in the political trade to gain the edge and finish off the other. It is a total free for all and the only justification is everything is okay in the political war .
The movie editing is slick and the movie moves at a fast pace giving no time for the cinegoer to speculate what is in store next. In a see – saw battle , we see the power shifting to and fro from the cousin brothers. For getting the power, everyone is used as a pawn and the entire police system and the official machinery is hand in glove with whatever happens , so that they can share the spoils.
The performance of Arjun Ramphal and Manoj Bajpai as the two warring cousin brothers is riveting.
Ajay Devgan is the equivalent of Karna and he stands by his friend till the end. As usual Devgan brings an undercurrent of burning emotions to ensure justice is done to the dalits.
Nana Patekar as the Mama of one of the brother has given a subdued performance and is the one able to bring a sense of direction and ensure the right decision is taken to achieve the political end. He is emotionless while taking decision (A La Chanakya).
As the movie progresses , Ranbir kapoor as the younger brother of Arjun Ramphal slowly gets on us. He is a research scholar who comes to meet his parents , but while about to leave India , his father gets shot and killed . Ranbir gets dragged into the politics and his aim is to help his elder brother take revenge on the cousin brother for getting his father killed.
Ranbir looks totally convincing in his role. The movie depicts very clearly that a good natured person can totally change and become ruthless and opportunistic if the goal is to take revenge and gain political power.
Katrina’s character becomes important towards the end as she is forced into the Gaddi of chief Minister to keep the seat hot for her yet to be born son ( a la Sonia Gandhi ). For most of the time , she is a silent spectator and is unable to prevent herself from being used as a pawn by the political family.
I feel it is worth watching the movie as it unfolds in front of our eyes , the sordid happenings in our present political system.
The movie leaves us with numb feeling and reminds us that we are unable to do anything inspite of knowing what is right or wrong in the present system. We are confused whether politics is a means to an end or an end in itself. What is to be done to cleanse our political system ?
