Reviewing Rajneeti

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa.
In Ramayana the main protagonist Ram always follows the righteous path to vanquish evil. But in the Mahabharata, such rules were never followed…the end justified the means. Which is why people often relate more to the Mahabharata since it seems more realistic in present circumstances.
Why am I writing about the Mahabharata here? Well because its my favourite story + its the whole basis of the recently released hindi movie ‘Rajneeti’ !

I dont usually see hindi movies in the theatre much….but I saw it since I had a lot of expectations for this movie since it had so many top notch actors in it + it was made by Prakash Jha who has made some hard hitting movies like Gangaajal.
Frankly speaking – The movie could have been better BUT it did not disappoint. Some of the performances were so good that you are left asking for more.
Media reports stated that the movie was a mix of the Mahabharata & the Godfather. I agree with the Mahabharata comparison. While the story revolves around the Mahabharata , the fight between the 2 sides is shown right there…with bombs & guns & even a baseball bat !
The Godfather (or even our own Sarkaar) had such well edited subtle scenes that were well missed in Rajneeti.

Pros :

• Nana Patekar – He plays the role of Krishna the strategist of Mahabharata perfectly…the most distinguished & traditional clothing….sly smiles…subtle dialogues…..an all knowing look…..hes the best here !
• Ranbir (ya he plays Arjun)gets the most footage & he does justice to it.
• Manoj Bajpayee (Duryodhan) & Arjun Rampal are great here ….with their emotional outbursts & gibes at each other.
• Intelligent depiction of Katrina Kaif (Sonia Gandhi like role) towards the end….not too many scenes with her here since she obviously isnt of the same calibre of Naseeruddin Shah or Nana Patekar as far as acting goes.

Cons :

• Some parts of the story doesnt make sense…..like Katrina’s dad wanting to marry her off only to a future chief minister 😐 .
• The intensity & pace of the movie lessens whenever the story shifts to the weaker actors (like Sarah Thompson).
• Story loses track of reality at some times…Instead of showing the public figures of the movie (the main politicians) shooting each other in broad daylight, it could have involved more subtlety.

Suggestions :

• Wish Naseeruddin Shah(Sun God in the Mahabharata) had more footage…he gave a great start to the movie….wish he could have returned to talk to his son(like in the original story.)
• Reduce the length of the movie….remove the item number totally….but wish the foreign girlfriend angle didn’t exist altogether….it doesn’t contribute much to the main story.

Overall a good movie. Its 1 which I would want to remember years down the line. Thats why its in my blog ^_^.