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| Sarkar Raj Movie
Review |
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Music :
Bapi - Tutul |
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Lyrics :
Prashant Pandey, Sandeep Nath |
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Direction : Ram Gopal Varma |
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Producer :
Pravin
Nischol, Z Picture Company, Ram Gopal Varma |
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Leading Cast :
Aishwarya
Rai, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Govind Namdeo, |
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Tanisha
Mukerji |
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Barring a few glitches, Ram Gopal Varma pretty much
gets it right in his latest film Sarkar Raj.
After being pummeled by one and all for his
disastrous and tortuous Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag , the
director redeems himself with a fairly engrossing
tale of political intrigue, deception and betrayal
in ‘Sarkar Raj’.
Two things that strike you the most in the film are
the performances by the cast and Varma’s unique
direction. One thing that stands out like a sore
thumb is the blaring background score. Varma, who
shows remarkable ingenuity in shot-composition,
falters big time in stressing too much on background
music. Had the filmmaker shown some subtlety here,
‘Sarkar Raj’ could have been a celluloid
masterpiece. |
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With its overwhelming visuals ‘Sarkar Raj’
transports you into a dark, grim world of the Nagare
family where light and shade flit across the faces
of the characters like thoughts in their mind, and
where the dimly-lit interiors of the Nagare
household are slashed by beams of light from windows
and doors. In this setting a dirty game of politics
is played , a game in which blood is spilled and the
main players are themselves controlled like
marionettes by someone higher above. |
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If you thought politics was all about semantics,
‘Sarkar Raj’ might prove you wrong.
The movie draws the fault line of political minefield at the
very outset, where a conspiracy to assassinate Shankar (
Abhishek Bachchan ) – the scion of Sarkar clan – is exposed
and the would-be assassin conveniently bumped off. Their
plan failed, the conspirators decide that if they cannot
hunt their prey in his den, they would lure him out into a
chakravyuh. And that’s what the whole plot of the film is –
a chakravyuh that entangles the entire Sarkar household. |
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Shankar of
‘Sarkar Raj’ is different from the reluctant son in Sarkar
who took over his powerful father’s legacy. Shankar in
‘Sarkar Raj’ knows his mind, knows the nitty-gritty of
politics, knows the manipulations of the power game, and he
doesn’t mind disagreeing with his experienced father or even
speaking on his behalf. Shankar truly personifies a son
taking over his father’s political empire.
The story is set into motion with the coming of Anita Rajan
( Aishwarya Rai ), a CEO of a power company planning to set
up a power plant in the heart of Maharashtra. When the
proposal is first brought before Sarkar ( Amitabh Bachchan
), he rejects it outright because it would mean displacement
of thousands of people from villages. |
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But Shankar is convinced that the project will bring
benefits to the people. And being a son who has
learnt to speak his mind, he convinces Sarkar and
begins organizing rallies to villages to convince
the villagers of the same.
The opposition comes in the form of a firebrand
social activist Sanjay Somji (Rajesh Shringarpure)
who – not so coincidentally – happens to be the
doted grandson |
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of none other than Sarkar’s mentor, Rao saab (Dilip
Prabhawalkar).
Others wishing the doom of Sarkar clan include a middleman (Govind
Namdev), the deputy CM (Sayaji Shinde) and a Gujarati
businessman.
Determined to make the project a reality, Shankar steps into
the political minefield and thereby puts the entire Sarkar
family in the line of fire.
The first half of ‘Sarkar Raj’ essentially belongs to
Abhishek Bachchan, who delivers a restrained and intense
performance, looking glum for the most part. Aishwarya Rai
stays on the sidelines throughout the film and gets a few
challenging scenes. And yes, there is no mushy romance
between the two except for a tender moment that ends
abruptly. |
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Amitabh
Bachchan, the true boss of the film, steps out from the
shadows in the second half when he literally rolls up his
sleeves and keeps you riveted to the screen with his
remarkably expressive performance.
The most captivating is the chemistry between Mr. Bachchan
and Abhishek. There is a palpable distance between them and
yet there are moments when their stern façade falls apart
and what remains is the innocent, tender love between a
father and a son. |
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Varma has tried to add a third dimension to this
chemistry by the symbolic placing of the characters
in the movie’s frames. For instance, when the son
speaks to the silhouette of his father in one scene,
you know who is calling the shots.
Speaking of technicalities, Varma is at his best in
‘Sarkar Raj’. The imagery and the ambience of the
film are laden with a sense of impending doom. With
a |
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remarkable flair, Varma composes his shots from
every conceivable angle and even squeezes in some
out-of-focus shots that seem to reflect the haziness of a
character’s mind.
However, ‘Sarkar Raj’ falters on two grounds – first, its
loud background score, second, the inclination of the
characters to say something heavy or deep in every dialogue
they speak. After a while, the highly innuendo-ed dialogues
cease to have an impact, unless they come from Big B, of
course.
The supertalented actor takes the center-stage in the last
hour of the film and sweeps you off your feet.
Watch this film for him and Abhishek. |
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Rating: 3/5 |
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