Rajneeti

Prakash Jha the director of Rajneeti, is a multi faceted person. From his first documentary made in 1974, his body of work spans more than 25 documentaries, nine feature films, two television features and three television series.  My favorite would have to be Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne, a popular Hindi TV comedy serial based on James Thurber's novel The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In 1989, he took a sabbatical from films, and moved to Bihar for four years, during period he formed two organizations, Anubhooti, which trains young people from region, in film making, and Samvedan, in Champaran, to promote small and micro industries. The National Award winning film Gangaajal (trans: Water of the Ganges) made in 2003 based on the infamous incident in 1980 in Bhagalpur, Bihar when 31 undertrials were blinded by cops pouring acid in their eyes. Prakash Jha is no stranger to storytelling.  Rajneeti (Trans: Politics) is a blend of the great Indian epic Mahabharat, some elements of dynastic politics of India's ruling party and generous "tributes" to The Godfather.This is not the first time that someone has been inspired by the rich and complex plotline of Mahabharat. In 1981, Shyam Benegal made the film Kalyug. A beautifully crafted film that had Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Raj Babbar, Supriya Pathak, Anant Nag, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sushma Seth, Akash Khurana, Victor Bannerjee, Reema Lagoo, A.K.Hangal playing major roles. The later day glam gal Urmila Matondkar had appeared as a child artiste in the film. If you have not seen Kalyug, you must. The progeny of the Sun God and an unwed mother being named Karan has long since become a cliche in Bollywood. In Rajneeti too the illegitimate son is called ummm... Sooraj (meaning Sun). He has been fathered by Bhaskar (meaning Sun) Sanyal.  OOOH what a coincidence.  Let us watch the trailer...The storyline of Rajneeti has its twists and turns and does avoid being predictable even while it keeps reminding you of the obvious lifts from The Godfather. For instance the car explosion scene or bleeding horse head scene of Godfather show up in Rajneeti either in toto or with an adaptation. So that hurt.The actors' performances are strong in the film. Well mostly. Ajay Devgan gives a lukewarm performance. Katrina Kaif and Manoj Bajpai get a B- while Naseeruddin Shah and Nana Patekar dazzle. Arjun Rampal once again stakes his claim as an actor and not just pretty boy. And ... the surprise of the movie is Ranbir Kapoor. He rises beyond the capabilities that his gene pool have given him (Think Rishi Kapoor's forever LOUD and cliched acting. Neetu Singh was never really India's answer to Jodie Foster. See what I mean?). Ranbir evolves in Rajneeti from being a star to an actor in this film. Not sure who should get the credit for this transformation - Ranbir or Prakash Jha. Good news is that we have another actor from the new crop. There is the much talked about character of a political wannabe played by Shruti Seth which is a much viewed scene on youtube. The film ends on a note that clearly leaves the path wide open for a sequel. Quite like the way Sarkar was followed by Sarkar RajTake the rich complexity of the storyline from Mahabharat, blend in the heady mixture of violence, manipulation, death and erotica, get a strong set of actors to play the roles. Get Prakash Jha to be the bartender who will serve you this heady combo. That is Rajneeti for you.Final verdict:  Go watch it. I will give it a 3.5 out of 5 or a B+ depending on which grading system you understand :)