Raajneeti - Review

RAAJNEETI - Action Packed Drama that loses itself along the way

Politics and Way beyond! This Prakash Jha movie tries to show the political system at it's worst with the corruption, violence, back stabbing and scheming associated with the political system. It's mixed with solid Indian movie masala in an attempt to make a blockbuster.

The movie is about politics in Madhya Pradesh, and about a political family. The family has held the state for decades.The movie starts of slow, introducing all the characters and trying to set the scene. But after the first 15 minutes the movie picks the pace and pulls you in. Right at the start you feel, oh man these guys are going to mess it up. With a filmy scene where Nana Patekar puts a baby in a basket in the river. Why did the upcoming Dalit have to be related to the biggest political family. Anyway, after a while you tend to forget that detail as the story pulls you in. Almost all the actors in this movie do their roles justice and you are at the edge of your seat.

The story of this political family of Bhanu Pratap & Chandra Pratap, is helped by a brilliant cast of actors, Arjun Rampal (Prithvi Pratap) & Manoj Bajpai (Veerendra Pratap) who play their sons vying for their father's crowns. You feel from the get go that this is a fireball waiting to explode. It would take just a spark. That spark was Bhanu Pratap getting a stroke. From there the party gets factionalized by the cousins as the story builds.

The illicit son Sooraj Kumar, played by Ajay Devgan is a youth Dalit leader who wants the best for his village and will stand up to any leader in his way.The final twist is added by the entry of the US return Samar Pratap (Ranbir Kapoor), you really don't know what he's doing in the movie at first, but as the story builds you realize that this is one of the best performances by this young actor.

All the actors are supported brilliantly by Nana Patekar, who plays the king maker and advisor of the family, Brij Gopal. The cunning and danger of this character is evident through out the movie.

When the movie started, my wife and I were trying to figure out which political party they are trying to depict. It took us 20 minutes to realize, all they had done was take the worst each of them had to offer and make this story. I guess the problem with the movie is that it tends to get very filmy every 20 mins or so. Brilliant potential. Horribly ended.

So, let me rate this movie this way. Except for the last 20 minutes, the movie is 3.5/5.

But for the slow drawn out ending & unnecessary plot twists I'm going to say the movie is just below average. But definitely worth a watch. All in all. 2.9/5

Rahul