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Rajneeti - External Reviews
Rajneeti
![[Poster for Rajneeti]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3403/4641546078_d957d4b4cd_m.jpg)
52 reviewers have given Rajneeti an average rating of 3.2/5.0 (?)
Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.
Thumbs down by Ramsu, 24 frames per second ...I was considering asking you to let that pass as well, but realized that your charity could be stretched only so far.... full review
So-So by Amodini, Amodini's Movie Reviews ...It is long, heavily drenched in political stratagem, and reeks of the staples of good drama – deception, betrayal and wily, capricious people.... full review
So-So by Lipika Varma, AOL INDIA ...It’s not new that Naseer and Nana are excellent performers. ... full review
So-So by Naresh Kumar Deoshi, Apun Ka Choice ...These and a few odd stitches apart (including a club song), Raajneeti remains mostly a riveting watch. ... full review
Thumbs up by Bobby Sing, Bobby Talks Cinema.com ...he movie straight away comes to the point and starts impressing the viewer from its first scene itself featuring Naseeruddin Shah... full review
Thumbs up by Roshni Mulchandani, Bolly Spice ...every socio-political movie fan's delight... full review
Thumbs up by Nauman, BollyPlus ...Manoj Bajpai’s career best performance in a main lead... full review
Thumbs up by Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama ...the story alters constantly, unravelling in a serpentine manner and speed... so much so that you don't know what's gonna happen next. ... full review
So-So by Daliya Ghose, Bollywood Mantra ...script is water-tight. You will take time to grasp it.... full review
Thumbs up by Aditya Mehta, BookmyShow ...shows political rallies in a mind-boggling way... full review
Thumbs up by james, Buzz Tab ...Katrina has proved yet again that she is the best actress, the way she balanced her acting and played the role, it’s really remarkable.... full review
So-So by BollyFan, Cinemaa Online ...Krishna is more of a Shakuni, Shakuni is more of a Shikhandi, Duryodhan is just a whiny baby and the list goes on. ... full review
So-So by Deepa Gahlot, cinemaah ...Even if such a story is told well, it is déjà vu for the audience... full review
Thumbs up by Sonali Singh, Daily Latest News ...Evidently, unpredictability is the largest power of this film.... full review
So-So by Deepa Garimella, fullhyd.com ...you quickly realize that you've seen it all before... full review
Thumbs up by Martin D' Souza, Glamsham.com ... The ambience is perfect. Body language of each and every performer is 'politically correct'. ... full review
So-So by Aakash, Gomolo.in ...Though the movie is so good but still there are many negative points also. ... full review
So-So by Mayank Shekhar, Hindustan Times ...the filmmaker smartly suggests here, to set the Mahabharat around India’s present democracy, given the business of competitive politics is just as dynastic. ... full review
Thumbs up by Lisa Tsering, Hollywood Reporter ...Production values are top-notch, including a Western-flavored score by frequent Jha collaborator Wayne Sharpe.... full review
Thumbs down by Mihir Fadnavis, india.com ...The numerous sex scenes, smooches and 'A' rating are absolutely unnecessary - they add nothing to the story or characters. ... full review
Thumbs up by Gaurav Malani, indiatimes ...While his Hindi heart-belt dialogues and political jargons add authenticity to the film, at times it may be difficult for the audience to appreciate the proceedings... full review
Thumbs down by Amrita Rajan, Indiequill ...As all these lovely people try to get the better of each other with increasing amounts of violence, truckloads of minor characters are steadily mowed down. ... full review
So-So by Saurabh Datar, J.A.M ...Raajneeti leaves a lot to be desired unfortunately. ... full review
Thumbs down by Komal Nahta, koimoi ...narration would appeal more to the audience in the Hindi-speaking belt and the older generation than the youth... full review
Thumbs up by Sanjukta Sharma, Live Mint ...At least two-thirds of this 2 hour-50 minute film are an exact equivalent of a page-turner—and you can’t wait to find out what happens next. ... full review
Thumbs up MH-31 Fun Unlimited ...Arjun Rampal manages to give a decent performance - talks like a rockstar during rallies. ... full review
So-So by Sarita Tanwar, MiD DAY ...in his attempt to succumb to commercial parameters, Jha somewhat loses out on his unique ability to merge reality into the mainstream format of cinema... full review
Thumbs up by Partha Pratim, Mixed Bag ...While the movie gracefully and tactfully reminded us of the agelessness of Mahabharata in many of the scenes, it made a dead bomb of the famous scene where Kunti meets Karna... full review
Thumbs up Movie Talkies ...There is no hero in this film in the true sense of the term, only characters donning different shades of grey... full review
Thumbs down by Mr. Inketi, Mr. Inketis Weblog ...The first 20 minutes our entire group of 6 were looking at each other and discussing who is related to whom, why, and why are they so pissed of at each other? ... full review
Thumbs up by Minty Tejpal, Mumbai Mirror ...the relentless screenplay which moves swiftly, while the dialogue remains sharp,... full review
So-So by Anupama Chopra, NDTV ... The performances are strong—especially Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Nana Patekar—but the characters are largely one-note.... full review
So-So by kaushik chatterjee, No Quarters ...You can talk about cinematic and creative liberties all you want, but you cannot possibly justify such glaring inaccuracies... full review
So-So by Ashok Nayak, Now Running.com ...The other problem with the movie was its runtime which is around 175 min. However, the intact and dexterous direction wins back your attention... full review
Thumbs up by Subhash K Jha, Now Running.com ...A taut, clenched drama of devastating nemesis, "Raajneeti" moves across its epic-inspired canvas with a vigour and velocity that sweep audiences off their feet.... full review
Thumbs down by Namrata Joshi, Outlook India ...My misgivings about Raajneeti started with the cringeworthy “Roop tera mastana” scene right at the start.... full review
Thumbs down by Khalid Mohamed, Passion for Cinema ...Nana Patekar as the dynasty advisor, keeps smiling as if were competing with Mona Lisa. ... full review
Thumbs down by Great Bong, Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind ...But truth be told, Mahabharat and Godfather had never been done together. Before Rajneeti that is. Wow. Kya idea sirjee.... full review
Thumbs up by Sampurn, real bollywoood ...Camerawork by Sachin Kumar Krishnan is simply superb. The way he has captured those vast mass shots deserves a bow... full review
Thumbs down by Raja Sen, Rediff ...a chess game played by kids intent on killing bishops before thinking ahead... full review
Thumbs up by Vipul Tripathi, Reuters ...This film is a costume drama with white kurtas and cotton saris replacing wooden swords and bling bling battle dresses.... full review
So-So by Sonia Chopra, Sify Movies ...Conversely then, his cold-bloodedness comes across as a cinematic licence - a ploy to make his character more intriguing.... full review
Thumbs up by K N Gupta, SmasHits.com ...The director deserves kudos for the right selection of his cast and also for providing them with suitable roles. ... full review
Thumbs up by Janhvi Patel, StarBoxOffice ... Ranbir Kapoor is flawless and restrained as the cool, calm, classy and calculative younger brother. ... full review
Thumbs up by K K Rai, STARDUST ... Ajay Devgn, who plays the character of Sooraj, is good in the first half. In the second hour of the film, Ajay’s character seems to have been forced to go on the backburner by the director Prakash Jha despite of their excellent working relationship.... full review
Thumbs up by Vox Media, Sulekha ...a master peice out of a classic epic.... full review
Thumbs down by , The Friday Freak ...It’s too many characters, too much happening together, and important plot points just divested from the main sequence. ... full review
Thumbs up by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India ...Interestingly, Katrina Kaif seems to slip into the high-powered shoes easily with her awkward accent and climax speech ... full review
Thumbs up by Fakir Hassen, TONIGHT ...Together, the loves and lives of all these characters, as they get entangled in the power struggles, dirt and gore of politics, makes for a compelling movie for those who love serious cinema.... full review
So-So by filmbear, Upper Stall ...here is hardly any time for the audience to register these moments and for the movie to garner sympathy of its protagonists. ... full review
Thumbs up by SpiceZee Bureau, ZEENEWS.COM ... The film has excellent background score, music, cinematography and direction.... full review
Rajneeti - Movie Details
- Official Sites: Website
- Banner: UTV Motion Pictures
![[Has twitter account]](/site_media/images/icons/twitter_small.png)
, Prakash Jha Productions, Walkwater Media - Producer: Prakash Jha
- Director: Prakash Jha
- Lead Cast: Ajay Devgan, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai, Arjun Rampal, Nana Patekar
- Supporting Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Sarah Thompson, Darshan Jariwala, Shruti Seth, Nikhila Tirkha, Chetan Pandit, Vinay Apte, Kiran Karmarkar, Jahangir Khan, Ravi Khemu
- Screenplay: Anjum Rajbali, Prakash Jha
- Cinematography: Sachin Krishn
- Editor: Santosh Mandal
- Action Choreography: Sham Kaushal
- Music Director: Wayne Sharpe
- Running time: 165 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Family, Politics, Thriller
Rajneeti - Trailer
Rajneeti - All reviews summary
External Reviews
52 reviewers have given Rajneeti an average rating of 3.2/5.0. 25 yays, 10 nays, 17 so-so. See all external reviews »
Comments (50)
Rajneeti looks promising as good cinema as it definitely has a story to tell. Unlike Kites, which relied much more on the gloss and glam, Rajneeti is dwelving into some good storytelling. And the hype behind this movie has more to do with Prakash Jha, the director, which I again think the audience deserves to expect.
Add to that, a film being claimed to be based on Mahabharata definitely acts as a crowd-puller for Indians (irrespective of the geographhy). Maybe, that's the reason I can't agree on the fact that the subject will be too complex for the current urban youth and therefore, the movie will fizz out of multiplexes.
Btw, I would recommend everyone to definitely watch Shyam Benegal's Kalyug which is a brilliant modern day adaptation of Mahabharata.
@moviebhakt yeah...the problem is expecting too much. And yeah, Kalyug is one of my all-time favorites. Something along the same lines, I loved New Delhi Times too...
Hearing about this movie for the first time. Will definitely watch it.
Meetu,
I am excited about this film too, but wary about the three hours duration.
This whole modern day Mahabharata also freaks me out...our guys are not capable of such adaptation. Sorry.
Also, i fear it may be only about angry and serious faces, expressions, and lines...will it have a deadly plot?
Lets see...
@moviebhakt do that and let us know what you think.
@Mr.Inketi well, i watched it just a little while ago. review coming up soon ;)
timesofindia has given it 5 stars!
@meetu.. Eagerly waiting for the review. Will I get to read it tonight or need to wait till morning ;)?
@meetu: thanx for the alert, but I'd like to say something. Please don't take it in a bad way (it's just something that I've observed as a *somewhat* regular reader of your reviews & would like to share), but *almost* whenever it comes to movies with high expectations, & which get reviewed & rated fairly high on other sites are often reviewed in a relatively bad light here.
Talking about wait for a high-octane, all-engrossing drama, since Mahabharata's modern take didn't quite work out for you, I hope it ends for you with Raavan.
@lost in confusion, thanks for the feedback. Maybe, i haven't mapped my tastes in films against those parameters. Would be a very interesting study though. :)
Re: Raavan - i hope so too :)
Meetu,
If you have been following the decline of Times of India (quality-wise, not quantity - I know its the largest selling English daily in the world blah blah), I feel that your reviews too are undergoing a similar pattern:
Rajneeti: less chess more monopoly
Kites: Plummets into an abyss
Paathshaala: I don't want to go to school
Prince: citizens take cover, hide, quick!
Blue: In Deep Water
I hope you get what I am trying to say here. Aren't some of the movies cheesy enough without the titles you put on your reviews?
One more important thing: The first thing that got me hooked to your reviews was 'wogma'. I hope you remember what it stands for. Just go through some of your earlier reviews, and you'll know what I mean.
Oh yes, and it is Corleones!
@pondy thanks for the feedback, man! So far, I've received only positive feedback for the titles. Will try hard to be better at them. The idea is to tell readers quickly what I think of the film, for those who are not interested in knowing the why and what.
I take the name of the site very, very seriously. I know I've started giving a bit of the ambience and sometimes describe a scene or two, to justify a particular observation, but that has also been based on feedback i've received. Also having seen the movie, I'm choose to describe only those parts that are not central to the plot.
Nevertheless, I'd really appreciate it, if you could point out exactly where you thought there was a lapse.
Typo corrected - thanks for pointing it out.
So what abt ajay devgan?...read somewhere else tht he has been sidelined in the process...tht is sad because he has always done well with jha...
@Jitaditya well, I won't say he's sidelined because the role he was playing wast that of a sidelined character. So we can say, "it was what the script demanded" In fact, that's true of all characters, that balance has been managed pretty well.
And we agree...after a long time. :-)
e.g. in the above review, you give away too much information on the characters that the actors are portraying:
Nana: Manipulative, krishna-esque (i for one did not know that it was based on chars from Mahabharata.)
Ranbir: chameleon-skinned
These things may take out the impact of certain events in the story, making it a less enjoyable experience.
as an example (just an example): If I am writing a review of the Sixth Sense, and I say Bruce Willis has given a convincing performance as the ghost who doesn't know he's dead (extreme, i know), I may not be surprised at the climax of the movie, right?
Leave Rajneeti, tell me whr did you watch New Delhi Times and is it available any whr right now.. M dying to watch it..
@pondy : Huge difference between the two examples you mention. Talking about the character arc doesn't really give away a film unless its part of some suspense. It was so in the sixth Sense example you mention...but raajneeti hardly had any such suspense. And if you were oblivious to the mahabharat connection, this review seems to be the first thing you read about the film.
Dear Meetu, Just as some of the folks here, I also became a fan of your reviews until recently. When ever popular sites such as TOI and Taran Adarsh etc give a good rating to a movie, you make sure that you trash it. I know you are trying to drive traffic such as the Bollyfans to your site by being different. You try to dissect a movie like you are even better than an Oscar judge. I m pretty sure that you don't even like 'No country for Old men', 'Avatar', 'Departed' etc (all oscar nominated) A reputed film maker as Prakash Jha definitely knows what he's doing. There were many critics like you (Khalid Mohammed) who tried their hand in movie making and fell on their face. Lets face it, keep thrashing good movies and you will soon have only your regular patrons (Bollyfans etc). Good Luck!!
@meetu: Opinions differ, & ours often differ by & large. But that hasn't made me stop checking out your point of view as yet.
Just a suggestion: Why not change "meetu, a part of the audience" to "meetu, apart from the audience in general"??? ;)
I'd also like to add that I hope you'll continue sharing with us your actual thoughts about the movies, & not make them up to go with what others in general think of them. Hope you won't let any naysayer (for a lack of better word entering my mind this very moment. And yeah, that may even include me at times, so bear with me) cloud your opinion & hence the review of the movie here.
plz get back to smaller font size meetu.. the new look of da site is too flashy.. the old one was classy!
Haaaa..
@lost in confustion, pondy,aam janta
have you even seen the film? why are all of you crying over meetu's review and change in style?
first things first, TOI, Taran Adarsh, Meetu are all individuals, just like us, and they too have their tastes [which can change!]. they are not algorithms or machines to be the same forever.
Now, Rajneeti is a genuinely badly made film with a senseless storyline. Please, let us not insult the Mahabharata. As for Ravan, haa...thats another flop in the coming.
there are better Telugu movies which depict family feuds against a political backdrop.
Rajneeti is a flop and there is doubt about it. Hits are not measured by the yuppy crowd that digs into their popcors in Mumbai paying Rs 250 for tickets...TOI and Taran can say what they please.
"Given that the characters are based on Mahabharat, it would take real skill to make them uninteresting."
Whoa.. I think you've have just taken one of the strongest points about the movie and shrugged it off. It takes skill to write those characters. And it would have been extremely easy to mess them up. And the actors playing them did a great job. You have dismissed them too easily.
@Mr. Inkenti: FYI, TOI is not an individual, Nikhat Kazmi is. BTW, I was just sharing my observations, not crying. But maybe that's what you're doing.
"Hits are not measured by the yuppy crowd that digs into their popcors in Mumbai paying Rs 250 for tickets"
Oh yeah. Hits are measured by you, alone by yourself or a few in a cinema hall, enjoying a movie that hardly anyone cares about.
Movies with hardly any audience in the cinema hall maybe your idea of a hit film (hit film may not always be good. Then again, the definition of a "good movie" too varies from person to person). But commercial movies are about the box office, & how big a crowd can it manage to pull counts by & large. If you didn't like the movie, it's okay, but speak for yourself. Don't pass the judgments, let the BO decide whether the movie is hit or not.
Finally, stop crying if possible, & take a chill pill ASAP.
@lost in confusion
you haven't answered the question: did you watch Rajneeti?
I know TOI is not an individual, but I meant the person who writes the reviews for TOI, ibnlive, bollywoodhungama are all individuals
Of course, I know what a hit is [to get more technical, a hit is when the distributor and further the exhibitor makes a profit--the ultimate net collections]; the reason why I mentioned about that is it is sites like bollywoodhungama, TOI etc [the reviews and views which you refer to] take the collections of the first three days at plexes and declare a film as hit or flop.
let me know how you liked Rajneeti.
@Mr. Inkenti: No, I haven't watched Raajneeti as yet. I'm not sure, but I guess I'll wait for the DVD release (as I've been doing for most of the movies since more than a couple of months). So, are you implying that I've no say here since I haven't watched it? I'd stop passing comments here if the admin or someone having an authority on this site would let me know so.
@bollyfan I have accepted while giving the example that it is an extreme one at that. I just wanted to point out that meetu in here earlier reviews took an extraordinary effort to NOT give away the small things in the movie. The ideal review for me is one which gives a qualitative, but objective assessment of the different aspects of the movie and as a whole too. I could easily connect with the earlier reviews in this sense.
@inketi Let me put the question back to you, have you read my comment? Where does my comment require viewing of the film?
@Mr. Inkenti: If you're saying that reviews on TOI & bollywoodhungama are based on the collections of the first three days at multiplexes, let me tell you that they generally post reviews on the day of the movie release, & sometimes even earlier. Now, they can't know the collections beforehand. And if you mean that they estimate the collections on the basis of advance bookings & thereby form their reviews, I think that the advance booking of Kites was as good as (if not better than) Raajneeti. Yet Kites did not receive as good a review on either of the sites as Raajneeti. Think about it.
@Bollyfan finally!! ;) bring the champagne out! And thanks for your interaction as always...
@pondy I used these analogies because Krishna-esque could mean so many things and so does being chameleon-skinned.
@mlost long-long time ago on a VHS tape :) should hunt it out now, no?
@aam janta this is not intentional, i promise. i just write what i feel like when i'm leaving the cinema hall and analyse why i felt what i felt.
@lost in confusion like i just told @aam junta above and no, i won't stop writing any time soon and will never change my opinion to conform to anyone :)
@Sumit suggestion taken, will reduce font-size soon.
@Mr. Inketi thanks ;)
@V R surely kudos to Maharshi Vyas!
@pondy, @lost in confusion, @mr. inketi thanks for the lively discussion!
Nice movie. only annoyed with the length of the movie, they could have shorten it. But nice movie to watch once.
http://chin512.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/raajneeti-is-powerful/
According to mid week box office reports, Rajneeti is the second biggest hit after
'3 idiots' this year. The few people who didn't like it are probably on this forum!!
Within the Mumbaiyya film genre,I found it to be just about watchable, though after Benegal's Kalyug, Verma's Sarkar and of course Coppolla's Godfather, no new ground broken here. At times it seemed like a pastiche of scenes from all these films. Another Mahabharat allegory that was made by Mani Ratnam in Tamil(and released dubbed in Hindi later)was probably a better film, though for the life of me I can't recall its name. Example of why it is nothing more than a masala film:
Nana comes to shoot Devgn, closes the door from inside, ranting about what a snake his parents have sired. Devgn's mother steps away for less than half a minute and is back with the red piece of cloth that the baby Devgn was wrapped in when they found him. Used to happen in Manmohan Desai films.
@Aam Janta that sounds about right. It might as well be the first hit after '3 idiots', that still doesn't make it anywhere close to great.
@Samir ha ha...yeah Manmohan Desai...yeah...I guess they couldn't have had Ajay Devgn sport an earring, would have been too obvious, no? They could have had a locket or something :P
Just saw the movie yesterday, & I'd give it 3/5. And the scene Samir mentioned above annoyed me the most.
@Samir - Is "Dalapathy" the mani ratnam movie you are referriong to? That was definitely a better film.
The junta waited long and long and they got Kites.... Uffffff.... Rajneeti, at least, entertains in a much better fashion than the whole lot of trash that was thrown to us in this entire year. So, better go and have a shot at it and decide for yourself. This is a film which is & will have huge difference in opinions.
@Shilpa: Yes, Dalapati was the name. Thanks.
http://harmanjit.blogspot.com/2010/06/43-things-i-learned-from-rajneeti.html
nice one Harman...and all true ;)
@Samir: You're right.. It seems like a pastiche of scenes from all the films you've mentioned.
Particularly, two scenes that I can instantly recall were from Godfather.
1. The Vinay Apte scene where his boyfriend is murdered.
2. The car explosion scene.
Finally i found this place! I had lost all my bookmarks, and just could not recolelct the URL...and boy am i glad to be here. :D
Like the review...
Rajneeti, considering that it is made on the Indian political system, deserved to have more meat.
This was a half hearted attempt, to say the least.
Do also read my review of Rajneeti at www.ktens.com
Hey, Meetu, it's a pleasure to read your take on films, even though personal it is a fairly balanced pov you present, unlike the rants we get to read everywhere else :)
And oh yes, how I agree with you on Rajneeti. My thoughts - http://filmsandwords.blog.com/2010/06/15/drama-drama-only-drama/
i do like the preview, very detailed and clear to understand. thanks buddy hope u watched the movie it was gooood.
@Ketan welcome back! now please don't lose us :D
@Fatema thank you!
@Katrina Kaif game thanks, the review is now published, do take a look
Rajneeti was just a bullsh*t rehash of The Godfather. I mean, how much creativity should a director lack to just copy and paste scenes like the one where Sarah n Prithvi are killed or Babulal's good morning present or even The father's murder!...
This is the kind of stuff that makes me feel bad about being an Indian. Come on..make something original goddammit! The people who made this movie should be definitely sterilised!
And enough of the nonsense about the Mahabharata. The only factor alluding to it is the whole Karna/Kunti thing which doesn't even come into picture till the very end, where it's just too late..
Its just a plain, embarrasing patische of The Godfather I & II
And don't give a damn about the Aam Janta guy! People like him give me diarrhoea! Stay true to yourself!
@Aditya i can understand your angst. We have what we have and i appreciate your passion. But, this is still better compared to some of the copies i've seen. Anyway, hope you are better after your bout of diarrhoea :)
Mahabharata imitation is totally laughable... The lady (portrayin kunti-type role ) was not even able to enact her part properly...
All I could understand frm the movie was .. its a murder cycle. Its understandable if Prakash Jha wanted it tht way.. but atleast he could have introduced some sophistication in the characters avenging the killing of their loved ones. I mean.. what was the whole point of kidnapping tht sundry woman files a rape FIR??
After watchign such movies.. I want to cry out loud... grow up hindi cinema guys :(
Oh ya .. and its Godfather all the way!! urghhh...
I have seen the Rajneeti movie while beeing on a sprachreisen urlaub in India. It was very interessting to see the difference between european and indian movie style but I liked the movie a lot. Highly recommend from me.
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