Prakash Jha is a director I like, and amongst all his films, my favourite is Mrityudand, not least for the many themes it so successfully tackled. His later films have tended to be narrower in scope. With Rajneeti, though, he’s taken a very large canvas, and you can see that he’s had trouble keeping all the elements in place. It’s a messy story to begin with, and Jha screws up with the addition of some needless complications. For instance, why is Manoj Bajpai sidelined by his father in the first place? Very unconvincing. As far as a modern-day remake of the Mahabharat goes, I would still rate Benegal’s Kalyug as better than this. Having said that, I am grateful to Jha for at least having the courage to make a somewhat intelligent film. Everytime a movie like Housefull or Wanted works, I feel we have hit rock-bottom, but along comes a movie like Rajneeti that lifts us a few precious inches above cinematic rock-bottom. I suppose we should count our blessings.
Enough has been written about Rajneeti being a sort of shabby cross between the Mahabharat and Godfather. It is. So I shall not touch upon that angle here. Instead, here are the top three reasons to watch Rajneeti:
1. Rajneeti is a ‘must watch’ film if only for the distinction of having the Most Awful Sex Scene Ever. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, ever. There’s an actress called Shruti Seth – she’s really funny, especially when she tries to be sexy – who tries to seduce Arjun Rampal’s character. The scene is hilarious. Even before Arjun touches her, Shruti’s breasts are heaving mightily and she’s biting her lower lip, and grimacing in a manner that she probably thinks is seductive. And then we have what can only be called a WhamMa’am (Arjun dispenses with the Thank You, and was there ever a Bam?), and the brief encounter is over. Shruti’s still heaving and trying to look scowlingly seductive. Hysterical. Well done, Jha.
2. Things get better when Katrina and Arjun consummate their marriage. (The lead-up to that is quite funny too.) Instead of the staple Indian euphemisms for sex (a bright fire, birds pecking, bees on a flower) we have the radically aesthetic shot of fingers clawing their way across the sheets. Hot stuff.
3. Oh yes, there is this scene where a car blows up, killing Arjun Rampal. As Katrina cradles his body in her arms, “Mora piya mohse bolat naahi’, sounding even more mournful than usual, starts blaring…quite loudly too. I remember muttering to myself “That’s ’cause he’s dead, biatch.” Yeah, I know. I am a callous bastard.
I really don’t know why Ranbir has been praised for his acting. What acting? He’s just had to keep one blank expression all through the movie. Katrina Kaif, on the other hand, had a role that required her to be more than Ikea- type furniture. Needless to say, she blew it. Arjun Rampal, surprisingly, was the revelation. For once, he managed to make the transition from Furnitureworld to the Land of the Facially Mobile. As for the woman who plays the Kunti-equivalent – I think her name is Nikhila Trikha – she’s hilarious. In the tearful scene where she tells Ajay Devgan that she’s his mother, that he’s a bastard, and other such mother-son stuff, many people in the audience cracked up. Not quite the reaction Jha was looking for.
And what is with all the women getting pregnant? Three of the characters in the film get pregnant, just like that. On a whim, almost. Tazeen has touched upon this in her non-review. Whatever happened to safe sex?
Now for the positive bit. Note the use of the singular. The film is accurate in its representation of Indian electoral politics. For example, time and again, we are shown how the electorate falls for the most ridiculous speeches about parivaar, balidan, qurbani, suhaag, and other such shit. And perhaps the most telling moment – and one of the film’s inadvertently-authentic scenes – comes towards the end, where the faithful family chauffeur, the historically maginalised, has to take refuge again at the feet of the dynasty, the very dynasty that put paid to all his dreams and that can still maintain the status quo because his son is now dead. Rubs home the fact that minions like us can rave, rant, blog, tweet and light all the candles we want, it don’t count for nothing in the end. So there is still that touch of authenticity, albeit a very fleeting one, that we expect from Jha.
Finally, while still on the question of authenticity, there’s been a lot of speculation in the media about whether this film is, in parts, a thinly disguised representation of India’s first dynasty. I can confirm to you that all such speculation is unfounded. How do I know? Well, in all the scenes of the party core committee, right from the beginning of the film, there’s this quiet, unremarkable and presumably loyal Sardar present. But finally Katrina Kaif is made the CM. Not the quiet, unremarkable and loyal Sardar. So how’s that real life, huh?
June 12, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Ab toh movie dekhni padegi! Seems like every one has something to say for it
June 12, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Grin! Btw, I loved watching Wanted.. I hadn’t expected to watch a tamil movie with Salman in it! 🙂
June 12, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Quirky, you are so hard to please!
I havent seen the movie yet, but have heard some good reviews.
Your review was gripping, as always 😉
June 12, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I have to see this movie before I read this post… Just read the para in Bold about the sex scene. Can’t wait to see it 😉 How can sex be bad 😛 he he…
June 13, 2010 at 3:19 am
Ha! This, is awesome. Way better than the movie.
Sharing it pronto.
June 14, 2010 at 3:40 am
And to think that I’ve heard such great reviews of the movie so far, so planned to watch this movie as a ‘weekend treat’ 🙂
Well, one thing’s for sure.
‘Crappy movies produce fantastic reviews :-)’
So yeah, all set to see RajNeeti now 🙂
June 15, 2010 at 12:13 pm
The shruti seth scene with Arjun is simply howlarious.
and ya, what about people sleeping just once with each other and getting pregnant? Hasnt Jha heard of people trying for years for kids?
June 15, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Well I did see it finally… It’s actually amazing, a Political thriller with 4 lovemaking (or should I say sex) scenes…
And add to that 2 bomb blasts…
And a number of other high profile assasinations, and that too in between elections and even on the election day itself. The writer seemed to be on hormones, seriously.
Everything shaped up so well up untill Ranbir Kapoor got slapped… And then the movie just falls horrendously apart. Everything after that is just Over the Top.
Did you see Kareena’s odd stance at the podium at the end delivering that speech??? She seemed to be such a bad duplicate of the Madam, it was actually funny.
Again it is funny how in every Hindi movie, there has to be 1 Hero and 1 Heroine at the end. Everyone else has to get killed. This is done so that the jury clearly knows who should they consider for ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’. The one who is alive at the end is the Hero – plain and simple logic. This was the very same logic that we understood when we saw Sholay, no? 🙂
Wow, I guess, i’ve written my own mini review above. But with a bad movie, writing reviews is such fun.
Unfortunately, this one had promised so much more. And of the 3 events that you mentioned, I’ve to single out the first:
I didn’t realise this Shruti Sheth was the same girl from a children tv serial, I don’t remember the name now – amazing how she thinks she’s grown by putting some Kajal;
At the end, or rather all through the movie, the thing that struck me was how all the other members of the party just sat as mute spectators on all issues. Seemed like exactly how politics is run in the Big C. The parallel drawn between politics and Mahabharat (democracy and dynasty) emphasizes yet again such an obvious fault with Indians and their mentality. We look for a leader – a saviour – an image of someone who we want to make God. And that’s what the last scene was also all about. This was definitely the most important angle which I think Jha set out to elaborate upon but got lost in a sea of big actors and a writer on artificial hormones who had tasted blood.
June 15, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Haha! I haven’t seen the movie but your sex scene descriptions are hilarious. If I was the editor of a newspaper, I’d fire my film reviewer and employ you.
June 16, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Quirky Indian,
Great review!
Your review makes me curious to watch the movie.
But someone said, curiosity kills the cat!
So, although am not a cat, not taking chances, ‘cuz nobody said that that maxim does not apply to other species!
June 17, 2010 at 10:39 am
….i had deliberately avoided reading your review till i watched it…so i finally watched it last evening…n then i read your bang-on review….the shruti seth scene was truly lmao material…
n though this is hardly a movie to be taken seriously but i couldnt help feeling a lil repulsed at the way women have been potrayed…really when can we have a good movie??ravaana??…the promos have kind of dimmed my hopes :((
June 17, 2010 at 9:19 pm
I saw the movie with friends and family, and found the resemblance to characters from Mahabharat interesting 🙂
I agree about Ranbeer taking on the role of a Ikea from Katrina … Arjuna Rampal was good though. I hated the violence and the scene where blood splatters on his face 😐
I agree about the mother son scene – pathetic.
I think the reason why this guy didn’t support his own son as the next leader was he knew he would be rejected by the people and also his brother was not going to allow that, so might rebel (and he was in no position to do anything about it).
June 18, 2010 at 4:00 pm
dude, ur reviews are anytime better than the damn movies …i wish these directors had a twitter and they could be fowlmouthed live while i m in the movie hall grinding my teeth for being fooled into watching loads of crap !!
June 21, 2010 at 3:09 pm
I may have to watch it. If only for the hilarious quasi-sex scenes. 😆
June 23, 2010 at 2:04 am
im not watching it
June 23, 2010 at 2:20 pm
What about Ravana???
June 25, 2010 at 12:40 am
Well Summed up. U r right about Mrityudand but I would also rate his Gangajal equally good.
July 1, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Tagged!
July 16, 2010 at 7:05 am
You’ve put Rajneeti on my “must watch” list:)
July 16, 2010 at 11:00 pm
‘“That’s ’cause he’s dead, biatch.” Yeah, I know. I am a callous bastard.’
Will you marry me, Quirky One?
August 2, 2010 at 8:05 pm
enjoyed reading your stuff. you’re mostly right about rajneeti. ranbir kapoor has given up a bigger role and half a lung to play that role, and for what? katrina was hilarious…she hugs different people from different angles at different times. i disagree with you about Nikhila Trikha though…i thought she and Nana Patekar were the only watchable ones. jeeps, guns and broken condoms are gonna share the Filmfare award for Best Supporting obeject. nice post.
November 8, 2010 at 10:48 pm
~ This space is dedicated to the super fertile women of Rajneeti ~