Movie review Rajneeti
Rajneeti – I had actually pegged rajneeti as a political megadrama, but was curious about Katrina’s role. This looked different. But as they say never judge a book by its cover. The movie was worth a watch. Prakash Jha has always made movies that make a point, but this time somehow that point got lost somewhere.
Rajneeti is loosely based on Mahabharata with the Kauravas played by Bhanu Pratap and his son and the Pandavas played by Chandra pratap and his 2 sons. Brij Gopal plays Krishna while Sooraj plays Kansa.
The plot is interesting. In the first hour the story grips you entirely and keeps you on the edge of your seat as you try to absorb the various characters and their doings. The turning point of the movie is when a seemingly harmless character turns out to be the most manipulative and conniving of all. Prakash Jha attempts to show modern day Mahabharata but somehow it fails to leave its mark. The ending seems forced and cruel.
Samar Pratap is the most interesting character of the movie. It is played by Ranbeer Kapoor. Ranbeer is a surprise with the sincerity and the integrity with which he displays while playing Samar Pratap. Initially a harmless fellow kept away from the family politics enters the arena of politics after the death of his father. I had never pegged Ranbeer as a serious actor not after watching his Wake up Sid and Sanwaria. He emotes with true sincerity and comes across as a truly manipulating and deceiving fellow. A good performance indeed. Prithvi Pratap is Samar’s elder brother. He is played by Arjun Rampal. Arjun looks cool in long flowing churidar kurtas. He is the aspiring politician and the youth image of the party. Arjun comes across as a hot headed young Politician though he falls short in terms of emotions.
Prithvi’s cousin Veerendra Pratap is played by Manoj Bajpai who believes that power is his birthright and is baffled when his own father does not consider him good enough to take charge. Manoj has portrayed the part so well that sometimes you believe that he is just fighting for what was rightfully his. Flawless.
Samar’s advisor is Brij mama played by Nana Patekar. When you say Nana Patekar there is nothing to say except look forward to a brilliant performance. Nana has not much to do and it feels that he has done this very thing many a times.
Sooraj the son of a dalit is played by Ajay Devgan. Ajay is known for his strong performances but here he is wasted. Nothing much to do.
And now Indu , daughter of a weathy businessman is played by Katrina Kaif. I was so surprised by Katrina’s deglamorised avatar that it took me some time to separate that from the recently released Sheila ki jawani. Is this the same woman. Indu loves Samar but gets married to his brother Prithvi as Samar loves Sarah, his girlfriend from New York. Apart from the hindi diction, Katrina looks properly heartbroken and is totally believable as being used as a mere pawn in this big political game. From being a carefree woman in love she turns into a young naïve politician after her husband’s death. She should work more on her diction though it is way better than that in Namaste London.
All in all an interesting movie. Despite being a multistarrer all the characters are finely etched and stand on their own. The climax is not so convincing but feels as a wrap to a flowing saga. The end is definitely filmy with Indu conveniently pregnant to continue this bloody game further. Some scenes are also inspired by Godfather. Though the actors don’t let their director down but it seems that the story does not do justice in the end.
This is all in all a lot better than some of Jha’s other films.
