Sarkar Raj (2008)

Am I Missing Something?

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

What was RGV thinking when he released this movie? ...And what were the Bachchans thinking when they signed up for this piece of s**t? There are many things I hated about this movie...1. Where was the story? Why do these directors and writers take us for fools? Why would they sell us s**t wrapped in chocolate wrappers? You can't just put in smart one-liners in between the background music and serve it as a story. The Ekta Kapoor serials my mom watches are better.2. What's with the weird camera angles? ...If you have seen RGV's Raat, Bhoot or Kaun, you will know his penchant for using tilted and weird camera angles. But he is so over-done it in this movie that it begins to give you a head-ache after or a while... He's used it all over and in scenes where it doesn't make sense to use it.Ramu, If you are reading this...Please understand that when the Korean directors use it in their horror movies, it is for a particular impact and not because they don't know how to hold their camera straight.3. Why did the movie have to end the way it did? The ending was like an episode of CID where Sivaji Satham would tell the who dunnit story. When RGV stoops to Abbas Mastan's level, you know that the fate of Bollywood is downhill and it desperately needs new-age directors and writers with fresh, original and interesting scripts.4. What a waste of time... If you want to watch a movie on underworld, go watch Satya or Company. Even RGV's Jungle was better. His proteges like Vishram Sawant, Sriram Raghavan and E. Niwas have made way better movies than his current lot of over-ambitious flops.Go watch Vishram Sawant's Risk or Sriram's Ek Hasina Thi for a paisa wasool experience... Or better still, give up on Bollywood movies for a while.

Shiva, Kshana Kshanam, Satya, Company.... you might want to add Sarkar Raj which yells for top position in RGV's portfolio. Yep – he is indeed baptised by fire and attempts to silence his critics and biggest detractors in his latest bout.Big B:: After "Black", this is another wow performance. Pay attention for the subtle nuances.Jr B:: Extension of his character from Part-I and does it effortlessly. Silence and resilience suits him (akin to Big B from Deewar and Kaala Patthar).Ash:: There are no bad actors only bad directors.Dilip Prabhavalkar::: My dream of seeing Big B and Prabhavalkar Saaheb together was fulfilled. Amazing actor and fantastic performance. Anybody utters "Rao Saab" next time, your mind will instantly bring up his image.Supriya Pathak & Tanisha:: Pity they don't get much scope between the Bachchan's.Victor Banerjee:: RGV's favourite but didn't have much scope to exhibit his talent.Ravi Kale, Govind Namdeo, Sayaji Shine & Upendra Limaye:: Dependable as usual.Rajesh Shringarpore:: Promising.Cinematography:: Captivating. Critics complaining of close-up shots will probably crucify Kubrick, Scorsese, Kurosawa, Tarantino, Bergman. Maybe never heard of style.Music:: Ties in well with the screenplay.Pity the media is leaving no stone unturned to label this as a flop (happened to "Black" too!). Time will tell and results will speak for itself. Until then lets watch the barking dogs.

This movie brings RGV back on track after quite a few miserable movies. This is a sequel to a 2005 hit Sarkar and it fulfills all the requirement of a great sequel.Besides its strong content, SARKAR RAJ has been filmed exceptionally well too. In fact, SARKAR RAJ has the trademark RGV stamp in every sequence. The review would be incomplete without giving the due credit to writer Prashant Pandey's incredible and almost flawless script. Amar Mohile's background score is topnotch. The by-now-famous 'Govinda' chant in the background only enhances the impact. Amit Roy's cinematography is exceptional. The DoP succeeds in giving the film the raw-n-rustic look, which works very well. Action Allan Amin, in minimal doses, is perfect. SARKAR RAJ is embellished with superb performances! Amitabh Bachchan, expectedly, comes up with a terrific performance. He's as ferocious as a wounded tiger in the finale and takes the film to great heights.First YUVA, then GURU, now SARKAR RAJ. Abhishek Bachchan is cast opposite the finest actor of this country, yet he sparkles in every sequence. This time, the father and son go neck to neck as far as acting honors go. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is fabulous and delivers her career-best performance in SARKAR RAJ. Enough has been written about her looks, but not much space has been devoted to her performances. HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM, DEVDAS, PROVOKED, GURU, JODHAA AKBAR and now SARKAR RAJ - she's only got better with every film.Every supporting actor in SARKAR RAJ stands out - Dilip Prabhawalkar was superb, Govind Namdev was first-rate, Sayaji Shinde was perfect, Ravi Kale and Supriya Pathak were OK.Tanisha is alright. The actor enacting the role of Dilip Prabhawalkar's grandson makes a strong impact.

Not a bad movie at all. RGV had done a pretty decent job here. So did the Bachan's. The mood of the movie is pretty cool. The scrip had good intentions. Overall, a pretty decent watch. Now, to the negatives. Well, too much narrative!!!.. RGV and the script fails to give the pleasure of the plot discovery to the viewer. Must admit, it was a pretty admirable plot (not a classic though), but towards the climax, it had to spoon fed to the audience by the big Bachan with a 5 min or so monologue. The movie would have been a real good one if the viewer was let to discover the plot with some clues or finish the movie without the explanations, or even reveal it with a Shymalan style last second enlightenment.