I had read a wonderful novel by Sidney Sheldon I presume where a character Damien gets rid of all his enemies by his brilliant arguement and wins legal cases with aplomb. Once he even consumes poison in front of the judge which is potent and one can be killed with 30 minutes and proves that his client is innocent. Such are the maverick characters in the Prakash Jha film Rajneeti.
The movie is well packaged with shades of the current political scenario and where sleaze, betrayal, booze and money power play an important role in deciding the destiny of the leaders. However at the national level the cleansing to a large extent has taken place, the state politics is murky and dirty. Leg pulling is order of the day. Horse trading is surprising not dealt with in greater detail in the movie.
Two families decide the destiny of a political state, I can definitely relate the storyline to Bihar, wherein the film has been extensively shot. Some of the scenes wherein the crowd assembly for the election rally is the main highlight of the movie making. The characters of Manoj Bajpai gives a real feel of the villanious politician, who would go to any extent to achieve their goals. Ultimately the political leadership is about the number game, one strives to achieve it either through bullet or ballot.
Ranbir Kapoor’s role has shades of Al Pacino in Godfather. Nana Patekar plays the role of Shakuni mama in a sober style. Arjun Rampal is seen as the incumbent to head the CM’s post how circumstances change is really interesting twist in the movie. How shameless are some of our leaders despite being bed ridden would like to call a shot in the party decision making is highlighted in the movie. Katrina Kaif and Sarah Johnson add glamour and glitz to political drama. I felt Katrina’s style was slightly resembling SONIA, but her character has been etched with great care. For the first time we can get to see her really acting and living the role instead of being a cosmetic part of the movie.
Length of the movie adds to movie goers interest, I am sure Jha would make at least one sequel if not two of the movie. Some of the dialouges of the movie are quite profound. Never betray one’s you love, Promises are meant to be broken in Politics, Trapping personalities on sleaze and lust is order of the day even though it being consensual.
The movie is a good lesson for those who don t understand politics. Even if one is not interested in politics one should be aware of the means employed by politicians to eliminate oppositon. How politicians make money to fund their campaign is very well potrayed in the movie. Rajneethi is all about ultimately grabbing the seat of power. Some may say it has shades of Godfather or even Mahabharat, but what difference does it make as long as one gets to enjoy the magic of movie........