Rajneeti is one of the few movies that I recall getting almost all round positive reviews and that was one of the reasons why I chose to see it too. The film is racy and riveting for most parts and Prakash Jha does a good job in converting the Mahabharat thread into contemporary Indian politics (barring that Kunti-Karan meeting that, in the film’s context, is completely pointless).
For a large part, the story is predictable, but what I think is responsible for such overwhelmingly positve reviews is the depiction of political moves, that is both nuanced and simplistic at the same time. Take for instance the strategy that Ranbir and Ajay Devgn concoct, against each other’s party. Some of these are pretty smart – like the decision to gate crash Manoj Bajpai’s stage and revealing the banner in the backdrop featuring Arjun Rampal, as they hold hands together. Or, even the cunning decision to talk to Manoj Bajpai about leaving the country if all charges are dropped.
The sheer cunningness of such strategies are obvious but they go without a mention in our newspapers, given political and financial concerns. But, in a film, they look great.
Some of the other strategies are plain dumb, however. Like kidnapping Manoj’s left hand man (Ajay would be the right hand man, no?) under the pretext of a blackmail and killing him after the job is over. Such scenes are straight out of a B-grade potboiler.
The sheer speed of the screenplay makes the film a thoroughly engaging watch and given the number of characters that walk in and out of the screen make it a great spectacle. Unlike most reviews, I found Ranbir mighty wooden. He had a great role, but that’s about it. In comparison, Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpai had fabulous roles and also performed well. Ranbir sure has screen presence but he perhaps extended the initial ‘lost in Indian politics’ look throughout the film, even at points where he should be on top of the game. Katrina is in a similar position – looking lost right after she enters the family as the bahu, while her initial portions allowed her some modern leeway that she’s comfortable with. Strangely, even in a minuscule role as a political aspirant, Shruti Seth was pretty good!
The film does degenerate into a shoddy final shoot out that is preposterous to say the least. If I have a problem with the film, it is beyond Prakash Jha’s scope – it is about the blatant depiction of complete anarchy over all the happenings in the film. Crowds and masses are swayed (seemingly) over a few speeches and sops, and people are killed quite easily with no media fallout or even an investigation. I agree that it is indeed the sorry state of affairs in our country, but the few redeeming features we see amidst these, in real life (media taking up cudgels against some atrocities/murders or even the few honest politicians that exist) has been completely hidden for a massy, commercial appeal.
And commercial appeal is something the film has in generous dose – the frenetic pace with enough interesting twists ensures that!
