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Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Dilip Prabhawalkar
Rating: ****
With 'Sarkar Raj', Ram Gopal Varma is back and how! As compared to its predecessor, 'Sarkar', this one's more layered, more dramatic and a lot more intense. The first installment, a clear adaptation of 'The Godfather', stood out for Varma's unique handling of a story told before. This one needs to be applauded for the sheer complexities of the drama and its original approach.
The narrative hooks you from the word go. As the lights dim, you are immediately transported to the world of Subhash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan) and his family. The setting is grim. Nagre, referred to as Sarkar by the world at large, has turned 60, now leading a life of retirement. He's still the messiah of the common man in Maharashtra. Taking over the business is son Shankar (Abhishek), who with his sharp acumen, understanding of the masses and perseverance in his goals has done more work for the aam janata than Sarkar himself. Together, the duo is unstoppable.
Enter Anita Rajan (Aishwarya) and her proposal for a power plant project that would solve all energy problems in Maharashtra. Shankar sees this as an opportunity to uplift the masses. But there are forces at play that are trying to sabotage the project for ulterior motives. It's all about power and politics. And it's dirty.
In many ways, 'Sarkar Raj' is similar to the first part in terms of how the story progresses. Once again, there is an evil force working overtime to bring down the Nagre family, the real mastermind is someone else, they are all gunned down eventually and revenge forms the core towards the end. This one, too, ends on the promise of a sequel. Having said that, 'Sarkar Raj' goes one up on Sarkar when it comes to pure entertainment.
In 'Sarkar Raj', there is something happening all the time - you are always hooked. However, Varma has his hold over the multiple tracks and does well to tie all the links together - Shankar's rise, the politics related to the power plant, the relationship between Shankar and Anita, death in the family, the Nagres mourning the loss of their son Vishnu (played by Kay Kay in the first part) - all of them are woven together in a screenplay which is riveting, to say the least
But what does it for the film is the last 20 minutes. A scene in the last half an hour of the film - it could be termed as a turning point - throws everything out of gear. What follows is absolutely mind-numbing and hair-raising and Varma deserves full marks for culminating the film with a bang.
The performances have to be seen to be believed. Abhishek Bachchan, take a bow. The guy is simply awesome. Junior Bachchan, it has been seen, needs strong roles and an intelligent director to extract the best out of him. Mani Ratnam did that in 'Yuva' and 'Guru' and Varma did it in 'Sarkar'. Here, he delivers the best performance of his career. Aishwarya does well in a role that is well-written and gives her ample scope to perform.
Amitabh Bachchan needs no critic to be declared the best there is. But a mention has to be made of the way Varma has handled the legend. After facing rebuke for casting him in 'Nishabd' and 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag', Varma proves why the senior Bachchan has implicit faith in the maker. The film belongs to him in the last few reels and his transformation from a happily retired 'don' to a man possessed with revenge chills your spine.
Govind Namdeo and Upendra Limaye have been cast in roles tailor-made for them, though Sayaji Shinde as the wannabe CM hams like there is no tomorrow. However, the best casting of the film is undoubtedly Dilip Prabhawalkar, who audiences remember as Gandhi in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', in the role of Sarkar's mentor.
The film is brilliant in all technical aspects. Amar Mohile shows what a good background score can do to a movie and Amit Roy's cinematography gives the film just the right mood. The dialogues, jointly written by Prashant Pandey and Varma, though lengthy at places, fit into the entire scheme of things perfectly. But in the end, it's a Ram Gopal Varma film. The director proves that a few bad films in no way diminish the magic of a maker who has given Indian cinema films like 'Shiva' and 'Satya'. With 'Sarkar Raj', the man is back in form. Welcome back, Mr Varma.
