Raajneeti

Summary: This is a political thriller and epic Bollywood movie that tried to draw from the politics of India. It follows a tale of Sooraj Kumar who is a Dalit and rises through to form an alliance with Veerendra (Manoj Bajpai). Veerendra Pratap is the son of Bhanu Pratap who has collapsed into a stroke resulting in the power struggle the film is about. Bhanu Pratap wants to hand over power to his brother Chandra and Chandra's older son, Prithviraj Pratap (Arjun Rampal). Chandra also has a younger son, Samar Pratap (Ranbir Pratap) who returns for holiday from studying in America. He has an American girlfriend named Sarah, but his childhood friend Indu is in love with him. The main powerbroker in the Pratap family though is Brij Gopal who is Bharti's brother. Bharti is the mother of the Pratap brothers and also Kumar who was her first born. Bharti recognized the dangers of the politcal situation in his day and by securing the marriage of his sister to Pratap, secured the future of his sister, gained money for his father's political coffers, and forged an alliance with the powerful Prataps. Bharti had an affair with the Leftist rival of her father before her marriage resulting in Sooraj setting up a future showdown between the brothers.

Review: Ranbir Kapoor played a difficult role in Samar because of his complexities. Ajay Devgan also plays a great role in another complex character. Even the hot headed Prithviraj Pratap was portrayed beautifully by Arjun Rampal as not just a monster. The plot was captivating and it had its normal Bollywood style musicals. There was a great deal of drama and it felt like an epic tale. Katrina Kaif was actually semi-convincing despite her weak acting skills. She was put in a role that was difficult to mess up too much and she is a beauty. The cinematography was exceptional and I can see how it brings out the raw emotions involved in politics.

Further Question/Philosophy/Theme: Equality of castes, nationalism, politics, power, human emotion and how the dark side can come out from various situations

Power Rating (Out of 5): 4 The movie was 167 minutes, but most of it was decent. Its plot got a bit absurd at times, but maybe life is that strange. I think the movie did a great job in developing the characters, and my only problem was with how absurd the premise of the plot was. It would have been a great movie even without all these incestuous relations that are hidden from the character because life isn't as small as when the Hindu gods presided. There are a lot more people in the world today, or maybe it is a small world.