Sarkar Raj - Review

Caught the first-day-first-show of Sarkar Raj, with Rads. When we both first saw Sarkar (the 2005 prequel), there was this odd feeling when we walked out the theater. Like we weren't sure if we liked it or not. It definitely didn't meet our expectations , and it seemed good only in patches. But Rads' theory was that thats because we were comparing it to The Godfather. Also she said , because we couldn't see who our Indian Luca Brasi was :). But the interesting thing was that once we saw the movie again (and again and again) it seemed brilliant. Though patches of it were bit of a drag , but on whole the movie was quite good. Not as good as Satya and Company, but still quite good. Good enough for me to have watched it 17 times so far.

And now for Sarkar Raj, the simplest review will be that - for one of the very few times in movie history - the sequel by far surpasses the prequel. It is almost as if the great RGV asked everyone what we liked from the first film, and built every scene, every sequence like a larger version of the best of Sarkar 1. Even to the extent that the songs (the Govinda chant and Saam Daam Dand Bhed), that featured too few times in the first film, are used very well in this film. In Sarkar 1, the star of the movie, surprisingly was Abhishek, who really took control of the screen with his strong performance. In Sarkar Raj, Abhishek overdoes the whole very-silently-macho, less-angry-young-man, more-still-face act, which definitely becomes a bit mundane. Aishwarya Rai is excellent with a performance that even towers over the one in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Also, for observation's sake, according to Rads, her walk was horrible. Yes, her walk. Apparently she carried herself off very poorly. In my opinion, she did a good job of looking absolutely ravishing. Just saying.

The star of this film without any doubt, is Amitabh Bachchan who gives a versatile performance, from being the weak, father (always in the background) in the beginning of the film, then the tragic scene where his daughter-in-law is killed and rises like only he can during the climax. Watch out for the scenes between father and son - easily the best parts of the film.

The story is neatly written, and falls short of taking the cliche route, of repeating the storyline of the first film , nor does it bury itself in the Nandigram and Enron-Dabhol inspiration. It sketches out a smart story of politics and business, with a couple of very surprising twists. As has been the case with many of his previous films, the pace only picks up with the second half. But from then on, it just soars.

On the downside - just as was the case in Sarkar 1 , one of the most annoying aspects, on which RGV still needs to improve on - is the quality of actors chosen for the negative roles, or rather than the negative characters themselves. They seem pulled straight out of a B-grade film, with their annoying characteristics which seem completely out of place in this epic story. Govind Namdev and Upendra Limaye (really, whats with him singing old Hindi numbers?!) are the worst of the lot. Sayaji Shinde was a huge letdown. For someone who has given such stellar performances before, it was a huge disappointment.

And God, can they speak any slower??!! I know its supposed to be in the character and the look-n-feel of the film and all that, but seriously, at times you really feel like shaking someone up and asking them to Hurry Up... Stop speaking like Vajpayee, for God's sake.

There was a PJ that did the rounds with Sarkar 1 , since there were so many cars seen coming and going in the first film:
Knock, knock .
Who's there ?
Sarkar
Sarkar who ?
Saar, car aa gaya.

Anyways, this was another aspect which Sarkar Raj scores over the prequel - less number of cars. :)

But all jokes apart (bad ones at that) , this is easily one of the finest Bollywood films in recent times, and for many of us, it feels great to see the great man -RGV- is back in his prime form.