Ok, now having watched Rajneeti I felt cheated with my 200 bucks I spent on my ticket. The film didn't engage me one bit and there was nothing in terms of originality in the flick and the film borrows shamelessly from The Godfather and Mahabharata. But the real unforgivable flaw is that it makes a sad comment or should I say an embarrassing comment on the state of affairs of the political system of the World's largest democracy.
Prakach Jha has everything to do with a handsome budget, A-grade eye candy caste and good assisting caste but, what is missing is script so he decides to peek here and there and comes up with a script which is whole-heartedly copied and slimmer on logic than Katrina's waist. There have been key scenes and dialogues copied from Francis Ford Coppola's/Mario Puzo's classic The Godfather. But if you compare the film it doesn't even come close to matching the standards of it's parent film. If you see Ranbir Kapoor's as 'Samar' and Al Pacino's performance as 'Michael Corleone' you will see that Rajneeti's most impactful performance doesn't come close to even qualify to allow the comparisons to be drwan up. What makes the godfathers a classic is the fact it's characters are not over the top but believable. They are realistic and sensible. 'Sense' is what is missing here.
There is nothing to speak of in terms of plot if you have seen the godfathers and know about the mahabharata. Till the first half the film is still bearable but the second half then becomes more boring and tedious of sorts with the film pulling off more tricks than it can afford.
The film is about a powerful political family with more than one aspiring successor i.e Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpey in midst of these the head of the family and also the political head suffers heart attack and stroke of sorts and then it becomes an all out war between the family to grab the seat. It would a crime to reveal Ajay Devgan's presence in midst of all this you can make this out if you all well versed with even one of the daily soaps or even the film of the Seventies when mother's of the likes of Nirupa Roy used flow their their babies with the waves of the Ganges. If this wasn't enough of melodrama then Ranbir Kapoor's father who is made the new head of the party is shot by a conspiracy. So Ranbir decides to take control of things and begins to seek revenge.Then from this point onwards people die and die and die untill only Ranbir and Katrina are left standing.
For the performances, Nana Patekar pleases us as usual but he also fails trying desperately to save this movie he himself seems bored of acting his part. Arjun Rampal acts well against his standards. Katrina Kaif can't act and his speech at the end was just as forgetful as the film. How could she expect people to give her votes when she delivers a speech like that? The best among the worse was Ranbir Kapoor who somehow pulls off his role. Ajay Devgan seems lost and so is Manoj Bajpey.
But the most unforgivable sin that Rajneeti commits is that it makes an embarrassing comment on Indian citizens, it's voters. If some foreign student had to write a project on Indian Democracy and chooses to watch Rajneeti to give him a start they would certainly conclude that Indian citizens are more naive and gullible than sheep or other cavalary. I mean leaders are slaughtered in the movie but no police inquiry or not even a single complain is made agianst it. Ranbir Kapoor who kills Manoj Bajpey who was to be the leader of the opposition after having lost the election leaves the country with no questions asked or enquiry made.
I will have to go with 1 out of 5 Prakah Jha's Rajneeti it's long. illogical and offensive. Go for this if you have absoultely nothing to do and can't find anything to pass your time with.
