Sarkar Raj - My Review : NAACHGAANA

Sarkar Raj - My Review

July 31st, 2008

Wow…I haven’t seen a bollywood movie since like 2 months. I was really lucky to catch this one. When Ramu first announced that he was going to do a sequel to Sarkar…I was ok with that. Then when he announced that Ash was going to be part of it…I was like ok why not someone else, why her, just cause shes Abhi’s wife and Amitabh’s bahu. When the trailers came out…I wasn’t too excited…since it just reminded me of Sarkar. I even read the premises and everything looked very dull and boring in my view. Well, I gave it a chance even though I lost hope in Ramu. It actually turned out to be slightly better than the first. That’s what I feel. Many might disagree. The acting, the concept, the diaolgues, the editing and the cinematography all click. Just like Sarkar, Amitabh and Abhishek are both staring at the screen while Ramu is taking all these shots from close up range as the haunting background chants out “Govinda Govinda Govinda”. This sequel continues on from where it left off, so for people who didn’t view Sarkar, it would be kind of difficult to grasp right away. The film clearly belongs to Abhishek this time around. He carries the movie on his shoulders with the help from his father and wife until his character passes away…and from there the real Sarkar stands up and shows the world what he’s all about. Amitabh excells in his role as Subhash Nagre. Though his role really picks up towards the end that doesnt not mean he doesn’t shine. He shines in every scene he’s in. Ash’s character was kind of loose in my opinion. Don’t misinterpret me please lol. I thought her character wasn’t that well developed, as per her background, and the whole romantic angle with a married man kind of seems out of place. Though she does amaze you in a few sequences, for example the hospital scene. Overall, this isn’t her finest performance, this just a good performance. If her character was stronger, she’d do way better. As as I said before, I think Abhishek really shined in this film. Was a bit suprised to see Shankar’s character eliminated though. Ramu knows how to handle seriousness. He’s not playing around when it means time to get down to being serious and nothing else. All of his characters have this serious look on their faces throughout the film. A look that basically says…step to me and I’ll kill you or hurt you. Ramu is technically a brilliant director and he excells in this genre of polotics, crime, the underworld or whatever you wanna call it. The camera angles, cinematography and editing has Ramu’s stamp all over it. And as usual in Ramu films the supporting cast also deliver. Govind Namdeo was excellent. Sayaji in my opinion was hamming in every scene. Tanisha did very well in her small role. The rest of the cast added to the film in a positive way. The twists in the film are handled very well because Ramu makes them believable. You won’t be like hey wait…that doesn’t make sense at all…or hey how can that be…everything comes in place during the end. The film perfectly sets you up for a third Sarkar…maybe this time we will get to see a new lead as Chikku (Visnhu’s son). Another thing I really liked about the film was the way Vishnu’s character was still brought up in this part. Whenever father and son get together to talk about Vishnu…its really gripping. The hospital scene with Abhishek, Amitabh and Ash is the most brilliant scene in the film. Overall very good film…so far one the year’s finest alongside Jodha Akbhar. Though it has a few flaws here and there, Ramu still manages to grip the viewer with some real shining scenes…and the chemistry between father and son can never go wrong.

7.8/10

There Are 38 Responses So Far. »

Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

Shetty,
i feel amitabh shud have revealed the entire suspense after the murder of dilip prabhavalkar;it wud have been much more interesting…. but ramu killed the thrilling part by revealing everything before his murder.
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

“…so far one the year’s finest alongside Jodha Akbhar. ”

what about Aamir shetty?
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

sorry,this is posted by sheeru…lolz
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

sorry sheeru!
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

LOLz!
Comment by jayshah on 31 July 2008:

I agree that the twists in the movies were well handled…and I agree on the chemistry between Abhishek and Big B. Obviously being offscreen father-son helps a fair bit here, but they definitely work well together onscreen too - albeit far too frequently IMO.
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

jayshah,i dont agree that the twists were well-handled.The climax itself was too predictable.
Comment by akshay shah on 31 July 2008:

Awesome review of a awesome film…mine is still in the works….

AAMIR=overrated(the movie that is):)
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

Aamir …overrated???….wow!!
Comment by akshay shah on 31 July 2008:

Yeah..Wow! Im one of the few who found AAMIR to be a tad overrated given all the publicity and attention it’s been getting. No doubt a cut above the rest, but still not a masterpiece or a classic in my books.

A.Shah
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

Akshay shah,i really like reading ur reviews but i DONT AGREE with u on Aamir bro,
u can check my views on Aamir in short(i m not as talented as u in writing…):see my comments…

http://www.naachgaana.com/2008/06/11/aamir-go-and-treat-yourself-to-a-great-movie-for-a-change/
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

the review is not mine..its kunals…i have just commented.
Comment by manoj16_391 on 31 July 2008:

Akshay shah,
btw,i m very eagerly awaiting ur reviews especially on Aamir,Sarkar raj,LS2050 and JTYJN…
Comment by shaktikapoorfan on 31 July 2008:

Hi Akshay
I too found Aamir overrated. First of all I do not like theme related to suicide bombers and terrorism. Aamir was a good attempt but somewhere I found it dissatisfying.
BTW still waiting for your review of SR. I guess the fake Akshay Shah review has spoiled your interest. I watched it twice and found it lot better than original.
Comment by Ravi on 31 July 2008:

Nice review Sheeru, agree with most of your thoughts.
Comment by ILG on 31 July 2008:

Aamir themovie is definitely over rated. It got a lot of plugs from interested parties to counter SR. Even its success was overplayed! Hasnt been able to crack 3 crores. Was a decent effort but all too predictably interested parties and media tried to make it out to be a classic of sorts and a runaway success and was neither.
Well, thats the way cookie crumbles and SR has made it to 34 crores even on Box Office for Idiots.
Comment by SHETTY on 31 July 2008:

Nice review Sheeru….Agree with your views.

Manoj 16_391 :

BTW Sheeru Catch Anil kapoor in Sajid’s Superstarts this saturday
Comment by ILG on 31 July 2008:

Great review Sheeru and agree almost entirely.
Overall a very strong film in every department. Even the Govinda chant, I didnt mind as much as some.
Abhi has performed excellently.As has Amitabh. Just juxtapose this to a recent Bhootnath and one would ( at least, if sane ) see why he is better than anything Bollywood has seen before or is likely to see in future.
Some of the criticism of the movie made me wonder if they were watching the same movie or were under the influence.
My only criticism would be that Abhi’s character seemed a little naive in not seeing thru the bad guys and not expecting to be killed. Thats nitpicking but it bothered me.
Ramu’s direction is ace. There is no one to beat him in this genre. Gets everything right. Ash does reasonably well in a role that doesnt give her great scope but strikes all hte right notes in whatever she was given and proves she is a very competent performer. Father-son relationship is portrayed brilliatly in a very subtle sort of way. And the chemistry is undeniable. These are some the best moements in the film. The script is tight and the pace is just right. Dialogue could have been crisper. Unfortunately Bollywood seems to be undergoing a lull on this front.
Overall quite a dark but a brilliant film. Given the treatment of the subject, BO performance is credible.
Anyway, a movie of this genre and calibre is beyond BO.
We should just be thankful that movies like these get made
and perfrom atleast enough for it not to be a deterrent to future such attempts. From mainstream Bollywood, I do not expect anything better this year.
Comment by Qalandar on 31 July 2008:

Thanks sheeru, very good set of thoughts here…
Comment by ILG on 31 July 2008:

Re:Thanks sheeru, very good set of thoughts here…

Come on, Q. Is that all you can say for this effort by Sheeru.
BTW, the line that you used is reserved on NG for Akshay’s response to Satyam’s comments/posts.
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

Good stuff here Sheeru..

ILG: Nice set of views.

On Abhishek being bumped off I think that’s the single biggest reason why the film didn’t do the way it was expected to at the box office. I myself think that while this is not a problem with the narrative it certainly is a problem given the iconic value of the stars RGV was using in the franchise and additionally counters the logic of the first film. It would be for example odd to see Michael bumped off in Godfather!

But to get to ILG’s point it’s true that given Bachchan’s statement at the beginning of the film about his son achieving in two years what had taken him a lifetime one wonders as to how the son achieved all of this if he couldn’t see this coming. Now having said that the son is never shown as naive about this stuff. he does not trust Rao Saab as is made clear right away. He thinks he will be able to handle all his enemies and so on. The assassination is made possible by a chain of events that includes an inside job (Chandu) as well. Still ILG is on the money here. And again in a box office sense this is the single biggest point that cost the film. People were there to see the younger Sarkar take over as RGV promised and as the first film did. And this happened too, until that death scene. It provides a big twist in the film but also seems a bit pointless in another sense.

But I do prefer this film vastly to the first one. And I should also say that the film was perhaps too ambiguous at many levels as well. One admires RGV’s ability to remain true to his vision even when one disagrees. I don’t believe Bollywood these days makes too many films better than this one.
Comment by ILG on 31 July 2008:

Satyam,
Agree about RGV staying true to his vision.
I think, at some level it is OK to stay true to vision and atleast cover costs. Films like No Smoking, however good and zany the movies might be, I just consider irresponsible movie making. And feel secure saying it as Abzee is not around.
Comment by Qalandar on 31 July 2008:

I had issues with Sarkar Raj, as my review indicates, but unquestionably I consider it a superior film to its predecessor. I especially like the “dark” and foreboding feel of this film…
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

Also agree on the box office bit which is why you see as many articles calling the film a hit as the ones calling it a failure. There is a prestige aspect to these things that can sometimes makes up the difference. But also (and unlike the partisan politics of NG) those in the industry and the trade do not expect OSO like numbers from films like Sarkar! Admittedly they must have expected more than what they got but the film (contrary to the propaganda being peddled around) was safe for just about every distributor. The 25 crore initial ensured it. By the way this number itself is nothing to be sneezed at with this film given that very few films even today open to this amount. Of course it’s interesting to see how with certain films some here even include the price of the popcorn sold to make it ‘profitable’ and with other films it suddenly has to be profitable for even the theater owner in Ranchi! Either way this is George Bush economics. LOL!

One other point on the film. I think that people wanted a proper romantic Abhi-Ash track.

But again I’ll agree with you ILG, I was satisfied enough with this film that the box office picture disappoints me far less. Ultimately non-formula filmmaking always runs a higher risk. And Abhishek has decided which way he’s going long ago. Whether it’s Rathnam’s next or D6 or some of the other stuff he’s doing nothing’s completely safe. Barring Dostana perhaps!

Incidentally the outlets that have called the film a success once or more include HT, TOI, Indian Express, NDTV, Mumbai Mirror, Mumbai Midday, CNN-IBN, Rediff (the last called it one of Bollywood’s big hits this year, all these pieces are available on NG). Sure there are as many saying the reverse, sometimes from the same outlets! But no one was conflicted over JBJ! There is some plausibility to each side of the debate. Jay said long ago that a 37 crore film cannot simply be called a flop. That there is some truth in that claim can be evidenced by the reporting on it! A Bachchan starrer is the last film that would ever be given the benefit of the doubt by the media!
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

And the other thing is that as we were imagining box office totals for the film we also thought (reasonably so) that the film would be ‘like’ Sarkar. But it wasn’t. it doesn’t have a linear plotline with a universal set of themes like the earlier one. Also RGV’s takes his aesthetic choices further along in terms of lighting and camerawork and so on and therefore the film becomes even less accessible than the earlier film. And of course this wasn’t a big screen epic kind of film to begin with. Accounting for all these factors it’s not the worst gross in the world though with a little bit of tinkering I think it could have done far more. For example I think that Abhi not dying and perhaps taking revenge at the end would have easily taken this film to 45 crores if not more (and truthfully I think anything less than 45-50 is disappointing from my own perspective). But then this film will have a shelf-life beyond the numbers. Take a BM. Didn’t work everywhere. But it’s remembered more than many bigger hits.
Comment by Qalandar on 31 July 2008:

Re: “Whether it’s Rathnam’s next or D6 or some of the other stuff he’s doing nothing’s completely safe. Barring Dostana perhaps!”

The irony is that Rathnam’s next and Dilli -6 might run, while Dostana might under-perform (think: Guru vs. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom) LOL!
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

“And feel secure saying it as Abzee is not around.”

LOL!
Comment by Qalandar on 31 July 2008:

Re: Aamir: my views are similar ILG: http://www.naachgaana.com/2008/07/08/thoughts-on-jtyjns-success-and-aamirs-latest-triumph/#comment-135469

On sheeru’s review, aaj deadline hai ek filing ki, is liye comments chote honge…
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

Qalandar: I also thought that once but I’ve now realized that Johar plays it far too safe for this to happen. The soundtrack is supposed to be the blockbuster kind. The Miami deal is a new one. It’s all about the beach! The gay humor works in multiplexes. You have Priyanka for the men and Abhi/John for the women. So on and so forth. Johar probably wouldn’t have produced a JBJ or a Tashan. The other thing is that these two films were zany ones. Dostana won’t be. And the audiences have shown a remarkable appetite for any kind of light film. Specially one backed up by a major star. Not my kind of film at all (Dostana) unless Mansukhani surprises me. But Abhishek has a packed schedule. Drona in Oct, Dostana in Nov, D6 in Jan. ‘3-D’ as Shetty said here! The man could really be top of the world if all three work in the right way. One the other hand he can’t have failures here. Drona’s promo seems to have done the trick at the moment. There have been 4-5 pieces about how it’s got a good reaction. I’ve never seen this sort of thing for any previous Abhishek starrer. The media is never this kind!
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

And yeah Aamir is quite overrated. of course the media exaggerated this aspect as well. On allbollywood this and SR have the same rating more or less! And it’s a good number but it’s no TZP!
Comment by ILG on 31 July 2008:

Wow, Qalandar. Just read your review.
Hadnt done so on Satyam’s admonishment that it contained spoilers.
What an awesome review. You always right well. That doesnt need to be said. But your analysis here is mind blowing to say the least. Even if I do not agree with everything, I was just taken aback by the force of your writing and sheer brilliance in analysis. Has to be one of your best IMHO.
I cannot agree that the narrative is turgid, characterisation basic and politics, stupid. Agree about dialogues. And made the same point myself.
I would call the narrative unyeilding, characterisation flawed and preidctable but still overpowering and politics simple. One thing I have come to realise that politics after all is always simple. In India as well as US. the desires that drive politics are basic, politicians on the whole rather unimaginative and their thinking similar. If one expects it to be otherwise, it is unfair.
As Satyam has said above RGV has made a film he wanted to make , the way he wanted to make it.
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

My two longer pieces on the film:

http://www.ibosnetwork.com/newsmanager/templates/template1.aspx?articleid=21394&zoneid=1

http://www.ibosnetwork.com/newsmanager/templates/template1.aspx?articleid=21410&zoneid=1
Comment by Qalandar on 31 July 2008:

Thanks ILG, much appreciated…
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

ILG: Yes Qalandar’s writing is always a delight, irrespective of the subject. Loved his most recent one on Rahman’s Sakkarakatti as well.
Comment by ILG on 31 July 2008:

Satayam,
Websense at work does not allow access to IBOS but will definitely have to check those out.
Comment by rks on 31 July 2008:

First one was superficial in dealing with politics. This one, it is ingrained in the theme.
Comment by rks on 31 July 2008:

BTW, I liked Aamir the movie more than you guys

Some discussion in this thread
Comment by satyam on 31 July 2008:

Thanks for that thread Rks…

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