"Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment" ... the famous dialogue of ’Dirty Picture’ has slowly become the bible verse for many filmmaker who got busy in the rut of churning out similar and safer films one after the other. I do not deny that Cinema is for entertainment but films are also ’mirror to the society’ and it has to reflect the true image in some or the other form.
Prakash Jha’s recent directorial film ’Chakravyuh’ falls in the category of the socially relevant films and successfully fulfils its purpose.
’Chakravyuh’ is a story about two friends Adil and Kabir (played by Arjun Rampal and Abhay Doel respectively) set against the backdrop of Naxalism in India. But It would be unfair to say its just about two friends .. It’s about several individual whose purpose in life became bigger than the life itself.
If you follow pattern of Prakash Jha film’s you would find that he has already set himself apart as a film-maker who has a definite purpose of telling any story through his films. He has always raised questions and presented viewpoints without being biased. Very good example is his last film "Aarakshan" which was on "Reservation system" in India. Prakash Jha has never hesitated in calling a spade a spade. Similarly ’Chakravyuh’ diligently does justice to the story as well as the issue raised in the film. Not only it brings forward all possible viewpoints by showing Naxals, Police force, Politicians and Society all in the same light but also helps the audience take their own stand on the issue.
The major reason why ’Chakravyuh’ works as a film and keeps you gripped throughout those 3 hour is because of its honest content and true-to-heart performances by our veteran actors Om puri, Manoj Bajpayi as well as the new gen actors like Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol. They make you believe the characters the moment they appear on screen. Anjali Patil who plays the character of Juhi (Naxalite) has been launched through this film and will remind you of Smita Patil at times. And every secondary cast has been picked so carefully, with perfect faces that they all look the part rather than standing out as a sore thumb.
The other reason that film doesn’t lag at any point is its gripping screenplay and dialogue by Anjum Rajabali and Prakash Jha. And also the flawless editing by Santosh Mandal. Majority of film is shot in jungle, which leaves very less scope for the cinematographer to experiment but Sachin Krishna has successfully converted the constraint into creativity.
Too sum up I would say that ’Chakravyuh’ is not one of your feel-good-film were you sit back and eat popcorn. It’s a film, not only to educate you about relevant yet ignored part of the society. But also to provoke many people among the audience who may be the part of system or can be the part of the system which directly/indirectly has the power to find a solution or a bridge between the government and naxalites in near future and can break this "Chankravyuh".
Sounds like a far-fetched thing ... so was "freedom" once upon a time.
Standing ovation of Prakash Jha for following his heart again and doing what he does best "showing mirror to the society".