Sarkar Raj - The Review

Some crazy driving got me to Prasadz yesterday evening and we got into the theatre just as Victor Banerjee was discussing business with Aishwarya Rai. I should have guessed then, that this RGV flick was going to be studded with stars, some less brighter than the others.

For those of you who just want to know if you should watch this movie or not - yes, it's worth a once-watch. Hopefully, if you don't up-n-leave after the intermission, you'll be able to savor the storyline and some decent performances. You can skip the analysis and go buy a ticket, or you can read on..

The show stealer of the movie is definitely AB Senior. RGV has employed (what he calls his favourite) the art of close-ups and a combination of mounted & hand-held camerawork - presumably to make it grittier and all that (though my vote for best hand-held cinematography goes to Black Hawk Down). It does leave you feeling dizzy since the orientation keeps on changing all the time, though AB Sr's change in expressions is brought out well with the close-ups.

The rest of the star cast - with AB Jr., ARB, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Govind Namdeo, Upendra Limaye, Rajesh Shringapure and many more - do pull of a good job.

The movie itself is loosely based around an entire sequence of events revolving around a massive power project (Enron anyone?), the rise of a new politico (Raj saab?) and of course, the ensuing trials and tribulations of the Nagre family. Political manouevres, assassinations, executions and mob violence abound in the movie; juxtaposed with some unintentionally funny dialogues ("You can't make an omlette without breaking the egg") and the recurring cello-based 'Sarkar' themes. The 'Govinda Govindaa...' theme appears again and again. My favourite song though was 'Jalte Ravan' that is picturized on a rioting mob, protesting against the power project (Nandigram revisited?).

Thankfully, the movie does stick the plotline without deviating too much; the pieces of the puzzle fall together into the end to construct the 'chess board' as it were.

The movie ends with a threat of a sequel (or is it a threequel?). RGV manages to redeem himself with AB after the thundering disaster of RGV Ki Aag, though 'Sarkar Raj' is not a patch on the original.

I'd give it three stars out of five. Let me know what you thought about it :)

P.S. We're working today, on account of a 'forced' holiday last week. Working in office on Saturday sucks, but only lesser than working from home on Saturdays ;)