Friday, June 4, 2010

Raajneeti or "Out Damn Spot! No? Ok, What's the Big Deal About a Little Blood on my Hands Anyway?



SPOILERS! Sorry but there is no way to review this movie without some spoilers (though I've tried to steer clear of specific plot points) so read at our own risk.

I really enjoyed Raajneeti. Yes, it was long. Yes, it was fairly violent. Yes, it's a film about politics. It's also an engaging, absorbing tale of filial duty, the sins of one generation punishing the next, the love of power for power's sake and good old-fashioned vengeance. It is truly Shakespearean storytelling and to try to talk about it or see it through any other lens would make it seem over the top and I believe it deserves better than that. So, if you're in the mood for Machiavellian political machinations and high drama in a morality play with a resolution as murky and gray as the characters and their motivations, Raajneeti is a must-see film.

The film started out with a lot of information about the characters and their relation to each other and the same with political parties. I was a bit overwhelmed and wondered if I would be able to make sense of it all. Eventually, I realized that those things were really just distractions from the real story of people and the corrupting influence of power. You have 3 hours of political families and parties vying to win the upcoming elections and not once does anyone discuss the issues, what it is the voters want or why it is they want to win other than they believe they are entitled to win. The candidates feed the populace empty rhetoric that has nothing to do with actually governing the people and the people are easily influenced by such rhetoric, not questioning any of what happens. This is why I say Raajneeti is simply an examination of power. It's about how obtaining a little bit of power causes an insatiable thirst for more power, how having power creates a hunger to maintain that power at any cost, how power blinds those who have it to the reasons they wanted it in the first place and how it brings out the worst in them.

I find I don't really want to talk about the specific plot points of Raajneeti. I found all of it interesting and it all served to illustrate what I saw as the overall theme. What I do want to talk about are the performances and chemistry between characters.

Hallelujah! Finally, Arjun Rampal has an outstanding performance. He was truly good in this role. He was perfect as the charismatic but less calculating and more passion-driven scion of a ruling political family. He got everything about the character right from the coldness of the manipulating politician to the vulnerability of the brother, son and husband motivated by his love of his family, to bloodthirsty and slightly mad man in the throes of revenge. His chemistry with Ranbir was fantastic! He plays the protective, older brother with so much affection that you believe that, as bad as he is, if he can love his brother that much, he must not be totally irredeemable. I have always wanted Arjun to be a good actor and he has far exceeded my hopes in Raajneeti. I hope he can be consistent in the future.

Speaking of consistency....Katrina Kaif needs to try it sometime. She wasn't awful but she wasn't very good either. She had some of her trademark wooden moments when you wondered if, like a claymation figure, they were posing her, taking a shot, moving her, taking the next shot and thus animating her. She had some moments that were pretty well acted too but her problem seems to be that you can see her thinking about her acting all the time. She tries too hard and you can see the thought process as plain as day on-screen. Her character was a pivotal one which could have resulted in a very moving and powerful performance had it been given to a better actress. It's a shame it was wasted on someone not ready for it, someone who may never be ready for it.

Ranbir Kapoor was fantastic as usual. He is an actor that, I believe, has enough stand out performances under his belt now to be counted on to deliver every time. I've said it before and I will say it again, he's got the "it" factor and is Bollywood's newest generation's brightest star. He has joined the very exclusive ranks of stars who will get me to the theater no mater what, Shahrukh, Hrithik, and Ranbir. That being said, I have been eagerly awaiting him in a negative or gray role and he delivers in Raajneeti and how! I actually think it's genius casting because he has that vulnerability and aura of niceness that he brings to all of his roles so that you are all the more shocked to see what he does and becomes over the course of the film. He plays cold and calculating brilliantly and makes it sexy! His performance was fantastic and compelling. An interesting point about his character...he may seem to be one of the worst people in a film full of really bad people but his character actually has the purest motivation of all. He is ready to leave all the politics to his family and return to his studies in the U.S. until something happens that causes him to seek vengeance for the sake of a loved one. He is the character most suited to the mantle of power and yet he is the only character that I believe doesn't do what he does for power.

Ajay Devgan...another good character played by a mediocre actor. He's better than Katrina but he needs to have more than one facial expression. Is the man capable of smiling? Has anyone ever seen it? And the way he carries himself...classic "smell the fart acting." Also, whose idea was it for him to play a 27 year old character? Ridiculous! Still, his performance was passable. I just, again, think another actor could have done more with it.

Nana Patekar...wow! He was outstanding as the patriarch/puppet master/kingmaker of all the political maneuvering in the film. His character will go to any lengths to protect the family's political position and power all seemingly with a chilling lack of conscience. He smiles and plays the caring chacha while peoples' lives are bought and sold and ended to serve his whims. His chemistry with Ranbir was terrific! They have some stand out scenes together that are great fun to watch.

The other actors and actresses are fine. Again, they could have found a better American actress to play Ranbir's girlfriend but she wasn't awful in the KJo tradition of white actors. Although, if I had to hear her say "summer" instead of pronouning Samar properly one more time...I would have gladly killed her.

Manoj Bajpai as Veerendra was a little too "filmi villain" for me. It was mostly his look that was a bit ridiculous and he had a few OTT moments. I think a better actor could have won the audience's sympathy more at the end when I think we were meant to feel something for him. I was too distracted by his filmi moochie and straight from the 70s wardrobe to feel anything for him at that point.

Nikhila Trikha is the debutante actress who plays the mother of the family. She was much better in the scenes where she was a young woman opposing her father's political party than she was as the present day 50-60ish mother of Ajay, Arjun and Ranbir. She just didn't have the skill to play the emotional depth needed and her scenes that should have evoked some emotion left me feeling cold. Maybe it was because I couldn't find anything sympathetic about her character at that point in the film. Any woman who allows herself to be controlled and then allows the same thing to happen to her children and lets them be raised to be what they become gets nothing but contempt from me.

Finally, Nasserudin Shah. He has a very small role in the film but he made the most of it. He was wonderful for the few minutes he was onscreen and I wish he was in more films.

So, Raajneeti is definitely worth seeing in my opinion. Even if you don't like the story I think you'll find the performances worth your time and money. I, however, think that you'll find this case study of the human hunger and quest for power compelling in and of itself. There is a lot packed into the last half of the film and I've already heard some people say it gets too filmi but when you play as deep a game as these characters do, consequences are to be expected. What goes around comes around. This is why I call it Shakespearean in scale. It is a heightened version of life...an absolute version, if you will. After all, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

16 comments:

Pitu said...

Sounds like Prakash Jha is back in form. He's made some fab films and some okay type films but this one seems decent. Nana can never be anything but excellent just as I think Katrina can't be anything but meh-inducing :P I shall catch it on dvd!

cmleigh said...

Ooooh thanks for the wonderful review. Is is only recently that I became interested in seeing this. I love Ranbir and Naseer. I might try to go see it soon.

cmleigh said...

I forgot to mention that I totally love Nana Paketar ever since I saw him is Khamoshi the musical. He was so believable that I had to stop the movie to find out if he was a deaf actor or and actor playing a deaf person.

From reading your review I know know how the character are all connected as I hadn't read any thing about the movie. So thanks again for the review.

Nicki said...

Awesome review! Thanks for narrowing each character! I love it. Definitely an all-star cast! I'm more excited to watch for Ranbir. Tthat reminds me, I have to finish my post on him :)

Ness said...

Despite the amazing cast (minus Katrina, sigh) this hasn't really been on my OOOH EXCITED ABOUT radar - and I have no idea why. This sounds fantastic! Great write up, I can't wait to see it now!

Unknown said...

You make everything in my brain make sense on paper (so to say). Ah, you're the analytical part to my shallow, surface only thought process.

I agree agree, and am glad I waited to read!

:)

Anishok said...

Love the review....and phew....am so glad Arjun was good! BTW the girl who plays Ranbir's US girlfriend was on the 5th season of Angel as Eve ;-) (I love it when my fandoms interlap).

MsBlogger said...

I skipped to the comments bit ecause I didn't want to read any of the spoilers.

Raajneeti seems to be getting mixed but mainly good reviews and seen as I like politics, I think I'll like this.

However, I get this feeling that it'll be really predictable so could I have a go at vaguely guessing the plotline and can you tell me if I'm correct?

Lots of people want to get to power, there's one family that's in power or is trying to get into power together. Some people have gotten power without trying to (Katrina) and others want to take advantage (Ranbir). Some of the 'family' get a lot of of power and then they start fighting amongst themselves until they are all reduced to nothing.

That'd be my guess, how close am I to the truth?

Rae said...

MsBlogger- Well, you're correct in a very vague way of course. But, as they say, there are only about 6 stories in the world to tell anyway. It's all in how you tell it. I was constantly entertained throughout the film by the different twists and turns and how low the characters were willing to stoop to attain their goals. And, the film did all of this without becoming ridiculous.
I think it is a compelling portrait of how abuse of power can devour everything you always hoped you were until you don't recognize yourself anymore. The question is, was it the quest for power that created this new creature or was that person inside you all along and the need for power simply unmasked him?
As you see, a very thought-provoking film and I don't like or follow politics. I'd love to discuss it with you after you've seen it.

Amrita said...

If Arjun Rampal and Katrina Kaif had had the luxury of a couple more scenes to show what led up to that moment where she jumps him (although, let's be real, who wouldn't want to jump THAT?), I might have enjoyed this movie a whole lot more.

And I canNOT believe the stunt they pulled with Naseer! Why was he even in the promos and the poster? It immediately pissed me off.

Re: Bharati. Kunti in the Mahabharata is not the most sympathetic of characters either. But she's got a backbone and she's totally a player where her sons' best interests are concerned - whereas Bharati is a wet blanket. I think her entire function in the movie was to show up at pivotal moments and make the lamest speech possible that second.

MsBlogger said...

I see your point and you're right, it's the way it's told that's important. For example I saw Rangeela recently and will write that up and even though the plot it typical, it's shown in a captivating way.

That is a very good question, one that'll have me thinking for a while... I don't know when I'll be able to watch it but I'd definitely love to discuss it with you too once I have :)

Anonymous said...

Glad you liked it. I saw it Sunday and really enjoyed it. I'm so sick (I now realize) that my favorite of all scenes was Arjun's revenge, complete with baseball bat, the victim being taken off guard while drinking Johnnie Walker, black label, and his bloody hand caressing and leaving a stream of blood on the second victim's face. Glad to see Arjun in a negative role like the one in Om Shanti Om, he certainly shines as a villain. Unlike you, I adored Manoj Bajpi AND his fantastic wardrobe, the multitude of rings, the hands planted firmly on his hips, the glasses, the hair, the mustache, the jackets, the white pants! And I have been in LOVE with Nana Patekar , and he can do no wrong with me, so I'm not a good judge. Finally, Ranbir as an anti hero, what a delight! I had so much fun weighing who was the most evil throughout the film. Final villian analysis: Ranbir won! Arjun a close second, Manoj 3, and Nana 4. My only slight disappointment was that knowing enough of the Mahabharata basics allowed me to therefore know that Ranbir would fire that final shot. Now, Christy, I hope you learned the most important lesson of all that a gori can from this film: continue to shop for saris, and don't be concerned with the nonsense outside the shop. "Could I see another Benares silk, this time in a green? Thanks!"

All the best!
Sita-ji

Bombay Talkies said...

I simply cannot wait to see this. And I'm SO glad to see a review that doesn't fawn over Katrina. The girl simply can't act, and reading article after article that quoted Prakash Jha's pronouncement that Katrina would win a National Award for this was starting to get absurd. But I'm thrilled that Arjun has a great performance under his belt here. I tend to like him in everything but he doesn't always make the best choices in scripts. And of course I can't wait to see Ranbir, who I'm really starting to become a big fan of.

Great write up!

Natty said...

Love the review!
I couldn't decide who I loved best in Rajneeti: Ranbir, Arjun or Nana. Ranbir was a revelation and Arjun had this delirious quality about him which very appealing. I always have high expectations from Nana and he definitely delivered.
The movie had all the Mahabharata themes which is why I loved the movie even more.
Although I agree that Katrina needs to be more consistent, I was very impressed by her; maybe my expectations are lower or I am biased due to my love for her.

ThelondongirlUSA said...

ok someone needs to take the pole out of Katrina's ass seriously. u are so right about her being wooden, calling her claymation is an insult to the fine animators that work with clay and what not. tired of her, poof be gone. Nana patekar, i lurrrve because of Shakti the Power, where he was so evil and then so sweet at the end that you felt sorry for him. who would have done Katrina's part better hmmm Kareena Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Rani Murkerji, yup they would have done it justice. I sooo agree too about Ajay Devgan ever noticed when he does smile it seems like a grimace, he's got a face only a villains mother could love.

sonali kapoor said...

good movie