(Film Review)
‘Rajneeti‘ is a political drama the story line of which has strong connections with those of the great epic, ‘Mahabaratha’ and the classic mafia movie ‘The God Father’ and with the dynasty politics prevalent in India. When each and every character in the film is modeled on mythological characters and certain key incidents in the film are exactly similar to happenings in ‘The God father’, you expect the story to not have a free flow because the script writer’s and the director’s freedom are curtailed and flexibility is limited. So you expect them to make compromises in order to conform to the model(s). I don’t know whether such compromises have been made, but none is obvious. Mahabaratha, The God Father and Dynasty politics blend together effortlessly and the result is an extra ordinary movie.
Rajneeti is a serious movie and believe me, you won’t really mind not having enough of Katrina Kaif. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t have a message for the audience and it does not try to glorify the hero. And does it even have one? Well, the answer depends on how you define a ‘hero’. If you think of a hero as the righteous, virtuous, selfless guy who will not even harm a mosquito or a guy who will always stand up against the evils in the society no matter how impractical it is, then Rajneeti doesn’t have a hero. The obvious choices, Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal play politicians who have shady characters. There is nothing much that differentiates their characters from the character played by Manoj Bajpai, the supposed villain and their murky deeds are atleast as bad as that of Bajpai’s character’s.
Now if you believe that ‘hero’ is that character who has the most prominent role in the story and whom the director of the movie attaches more importance to, then it has to be either Arjun Rampal or Ranbir Kapoor. But Arjun Rampal doesn’t survive till the end as most ‘heroes’ do. They are both good looking and Ranbir Kapoor registers a victory of sorts in the end, hence we may well consider their side the ‘good side’ and their opposition the ‘bad side’ and hence Ranbir Kapoor the hero and Manoj Bajpai the villain. Oh! What a silly argument has been put forward by me!
One might think that the cutie little Ranbir Kapoor doesn’t fit the role he played. A gun wielding Ranbir Kapoor doesn’t look convincing. No better praise for the director!!! Because that was the very idea. Because that was how it was supposed to be. Neither his family nor his girlfriend ever expected him to be active in politics, let alone kill political rivals. Even when Ajay Devgan tells Manoj Bajpai that “Samar is the real enemy”, the viewers are not convinced. Recall the expression on Marlon Brando’s face in The God Father, when he was told in sick bed that “It was Michael who killed Solazzo”. Was it disbelief? Or horror? Or Sadness? Or all combined?
Personally I liked Al Pacino’s performance much much more than that of Ranbir Kapoor’s although I have not been able to find out any compelling reasons for the same. In fact, it is such unexplainable nuances that make a performance remarkable, an actor a star and a star a legend.
Almost all the actors and actresses of Rajneeti have delivered what was expected of them. But if you ask my opinion, I will vote for Arjun Rampal. If I watch the movie again, it will be to watch him perform. I was really fascinated by his controlled acting in ‘Rock On’ too.
Katrina Kaif’s role in the film was a very short one contrary to what the film’s posters would make you believe. But she did extremely well, especially towards the end when she was asked to play a ‘more important’ role in life. Her public address after her husband’s death was brilliant. She looked very vulnerable at times as would a widow addressing a mass gathering after her husband’s death. Her voice choked in between, but at times we thought what we are seeing is not weakness but strength. Her demeanour defied qualification. But the speech was effective; it yielded the desired result. And that was what mattered. I have not had the opportunity to hear the speeches made by Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi after the deaths of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi respectively. But I always used to wonder how vast sections of the population sway their way after listening to them. But not anymore. I couldn’t believe it when my eyes became moist after listening to Katrina Kaif on the screen. After all it was only a movie and she was only acting. Such was the effect of her performance and such is the human nature which sympathises with the heart and not with the head.
The director did well to avoid some clichés. Going by the history of mainstream hindi cinema, a reunion of Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif was inevitable. Also, all the acts of Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor had to be explicitly justified, if they are to be portrayed as virtuous people. But he chose not to. And the makers of the movie had decided that all the questions that come up during the course of the film need not be answered. Who killed Arjun Rampal’s father is still debatable. Although Vinay Apte confesses to Ranbir Kapoor that Ajay Devgan was behind the crime, Ranbir Kapoor didn’t seem convinced. So do the viewers. And who pulled the trigger? Was that bulky man on the motor cycle someone from the police department? Or was it one of Manoj Bajpai’s or Ajay Devgan’s goons in police uniform? Or was it Ajay Devgan himself?
Another line of the story which was not pursued was that of Nasiruddeen Shah. What happened to him? Is he silently watching everything from a distance like the ‘Sun’ God? Pursuing his exploits would have made the film lose focus. If he had come back towards the end of the film to play an active role in the ‘war’, it would have been a cliché again. But he didn’t. Of course the script writer had little choice because he had to toe the line of the great sage Veda Vyasa. Talking about Veda Vyasa, he has to be complimented for the undisputably realistic portrayals of the characters of Mahabharata. Our film makers should learn a point or two from him or whoever was the author of Mahabharata. Even if there are doubts as to who the real author of Mahabharata is and even if we are not sure whether such a voluminous work can be attributed to a single author, there is no denying that a story cannot take shape from thin air. Somebody has to write it. And whoever has done it is the world’s greatest story teller (or historian if you please) Full marks for Rajneeti’s makers for paying rich tributes to Mahabharata.
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