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Sarkar Raj - Notepad
Sarkar Raj
quick review:
A treat for Bachchan fans and an intense story for the non-believers. If you are mentally prepared for that noise the background music creates and the camera being held in the weirdest possible positions and angles, you can actually enjoy the drama despite all its flaws.
This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Plot Summary
Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan), the local, self-appointed caretaker of the masses, is not ready to retire. And his son (Abhishek Bachchan) is ready to take over his responsibilities. Though their ideologies differ, they have a strong bond. Together they want to see a power plant built for the development of their state.
What Worked
- Interestingly, Abhishek Bachchan was welcomed with more and louder whistles than Amitabh Bacchan or Aishwarya Rai. Aishwarya in fact received the coldest treatment from the audience.
- It was interesting how Sarkar's birthday was given an Ambedkar Jayanti (birthday) feel.
- Shankar sipping tea being used as a motif across movies.
- The way Sarkar is shown being influenced and dominated by his son. Adds to the power the son exudes despite having minimal lines.
What did not
Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here
- Thousands of crores profit in the first year - really!? For a plant that they don't even have the land for!?
- I can understand a top-bottom camera angle for Sarkar, Shankar, and even the villains. But, for Avantika (Shankar's wife)? That's what makes me feel that these camera decisions are random and without specific purpose.
- The way "BAD MAN" is written all over the villain's characters. Their demeanor, their makeup, reminded me of the one episode that I watched of a saas-bahu Ekta Kapoor soap, where the vamp is given a specific vicious grin.
- What is it that convinces Sarkar that the power project is actually good?
- What exactly was Shankar's problem with Chandar?
- How could Shankar be so lax about his own security?!
- The scenes of father-son bonding felt extremely cold and weird. There was so much potential for warmth and affection.
Nitty-Gritty
This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.
- Geez, why have them say the token "marathi" lines if they can't get the diction right!?
- How come Sarkar's wife doesn’t visit Rao saaheb?
- How come Sarkar's wife is serving tea and snacks to the guests when there are so many servants around. I understand it is possible, but it is also very unlikely.
Sarkar Raj - Movie Details
- Producer: Praveen Nischol, Ram Gopal Varma
![[Has twitter account]](/site_media/images/icons/twitter_small.png)
- Director: Ram Gopal Varma
- Lead Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai
- Story: Prashant Pandey
- Cinematography: Amit Roy
- Editor: Amit Parmar, Nipun Ashok Gupta
- Background Score: Amar Mohile
- Action Choreography: Allan Ameen
- Music Director: Tutul, Bapi
- Running time: 125 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Politics
Sarkar Raj - Trailer
Sarkar Raj - All reviews summary
External Reviews
33 reviewers have given Sarkar Raj an average rating of 3.6/5.0. 22 yays, 8 nays, 3 so-so. See all external reviews »
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Comments (32)
RGV has a blog
And yes, I am as excited to see more of the same.
PS:No preview for comments. :(
even i am looking forward to the movie.. because the Sarkar was one the best performances by Abhishek Bachchan. KK Menon was totally brilliant in the movie and i think his brief was to be like Sunny, the character in Godfather. I thing that i would miss is KK Menon in Sarkar Raaj!!
@Shashi thanks for the link. and thanks for the feedback that you'd like preview of comments. I'll get that on as soon as i can.
@Moksh infact in RGV's blog, he mentions that he was not satisfied with the way Sunny was portrayed in the movie in comparison with Sunny's character in the book. So, he tried making Vishnu's character as close to the book Sunny. I haven't read the book, so don't know. But, interesting take, I thought.
Well, Sarkar Raj has opened to very good reviews by the critics. I am sure you are going to love this sequel of Sarkar!
heyy...how u digest all those bolliwood Cliché movies...
but like ur other blog
[...] Rotten Tomatoes Recent CommentsSarkar Raj [...]
this review SUCKS bigtime. throw the writer out.
i very much agree with the review(written above) .i feel ramu has particular style of direction,he do lots of experiment with camera..loud music,and close-ups are his trade-marks....
it seems 100% bolly flick but takes turn around [comment edited because it included major spoiler which goes against the spirit of this site] ..and i congo RAMU ..for taking brave decision ..because its smthng different than that of bolly tradition..
i was very very impressed with the end..and twist in the tale..and for me it took movie to the different level..
i would have loved to see this movie with less DHISHUM-DHISHUM (where shankar gives his solo-fighting performance),less gooooudy charactrz (D SHOOTER with woolen golvz was worst ),better dialogues..("plant ko paise nahi ...and all)..sarkar-1 had better dialogue...& [comment edited because it included major spoiler which goes against the spirit of this site] they could have given THAT charactr lil more expozr at the end ..
&&&& [comment edited because it included major spoiler which goes against the spirit of this site]
I love this site and the reviews not because it gives reviews(many do), but it does so WITHOUT GIVING IT AWAY...
Mr.Omkar Wagh, thats the point. You just revealed the plot. I've lost interest.
So from this the website has to learn of EDITING,BLOCKING AND SUSPENDING COMMENTS.
the whole point of the review is gone
[comment edited because it included major spoiler which goes against the spirit of this site] ...git!
For some reason, the trailers of the film failed to interest me so I gave it a miss. I watched Aamir instead and I hope you plan to review it.
@omkar wagh, hey! Thanks for stopping by and taking the trouble of jotting your thoughts down. But please, please refrain from giving away vital plot points. It is truly against the spirit of this site.
@XCCCX and all others who read the comment and the spoiler, I sincerely apologize. I was away and thus, couldn't check the comments on time.
@Raj, I just watched Aamir, review will be up soon.
Yeah, it wasn't bad after all Ravinder!
noni, I really don't know...I just love watching movies, I guess...
Thanks for stopping by guys!!
A strictly ok and a boring film, which might seem to be great after seeing Aag, but is definitely made as an Ultimate Cure for Insomniacs. The loo-oong speeches made by AB in the climax (??) made my school principal's speeches look like a work of art.
Good in parts, with a really good twist towards the end, but it's a perfect example of another good story botched by RGV.
Am waiting for ur take on Aamir :-)
Reallly boring movie... people dont even talk nomrally in this movie..they just lecture you, and say silly lines like "u cant make an omlet without crackign an egg" What is tat supposed to mean??
And as for this being Ash's best role, she doesn't even have a decent one, the only good thing is she doesn't talk much, so she's never annoying..
Watch it only if you're looking for ways to dole out your money
MINDBLOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the only word that comes to mind!!!
No matter what media says - in print or on tv, no matter what kind of reviews are written - in dailies, on the net or even in mags, no matter what kind of ‘people’s responses’ are shown on tv….. the movie is a hard-hitting slap on the face of people making ‘tamasha’ in the name of movies, on people seeing ‘nautanki’ in the name of films, on ‘reviewers’ writing craps in the disguise of writing reviews!
Fow quite some time now, I am seeing a totally partisan & biased approach against the Bachchans by those attached to media/news/papers/mags…. They think that they can impose their menial views on the broad mind of the public in general…. NO, FOOLS! YOU CANNOT!!! You cannot take one bit from the Bachchans! They are a breed totally different!
These reviewers/analysts/reporters can have the power of their medium with them, they can mis-use this platform to impose their two-bit minds on the general public, but they will NOT succeed!
Each of the three Bachchans, along with a host of other actors, have given a real stellar performance in SARKAR RAJ!
Hats off to all of you, guys!
This movie is what I call a movie with “substance”! It is not something with some oft-repeated naach-gana & some cheap nautanki…..
I think its high time Indian audience started appreciating CLASS and started rejecting CRASS…..
well...you have given 2.5 out of 5 for the story. If this is the standard then story doesn't exist in Bollywood!
in fact it was one of the most well told stories in Hindi cinema.
And the twists have to be accepted because there is no way of "verifying" the twists of a fictional plot. That's part of a story and there is no point of questioning that.
a saaaad movie. yeah, the direction is the filmmaker's style, but those unnatural angles and shaking-camera were overdone. Not a v. good storyline either, especially since you end up expecting a lot more after Sarkar part 1.
Hey mitu, ramu mentioned ur blog on his blog site.. here is the link..
http://rgvarma.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5187B91811914FB4!546.entry
he is definitely not very happy :)
People who love the triangel love story & fans of hrithik roshan! PLEASE DONT WATCH THIS MOVIE!! Sarkar Raj is for people with good taste! A great movie with a great cast & cant get better!
If you love triangel love story & hrithik roshan. Please dont watch Sarkar Raj & come back to write a stupid review about.
Sarkar Raj is a wonderful movie & its hard to find movies like this in Bollywood! A strong base story & a excellent cast! Must watch for people with good taste!
And who ever owns this web site, I think you need to fire you current writer & hire a good one!!
Thanks!
One more thing.. for people who talks about the bad noise in the background, get a good audio system plz!! And for people who think this movie is boreing, I KNOW YOU LOVVVEE "KAHO NA PYAR HA"!!!
@all, lovely mixed reactions, thank you for stopping by and dropping in your comments.
@Mayur, wow!! You do read my reviews carefully. I follow both RGV's and AB's blogs regularly and both have the same post by RGV in which they have referred to my review, but unfortunately the URL is wrong :( I am surprised you caught that it was from wogma. I have requested them to change the URL, lets see...maybe they/their team doesn't have the time to attend to it.
Well, yeah, RGV is not very happy, but 2/5 of the comments, he misunderstood. The rest also I have tried to give my point of view in comments on both sites.
of course jitaditya, a fictional story can have verifiable twists built within the premises of the story itself. And many good writers leave hints for the readers/viewers to pick up the trail, if they are alert enough. Its called foreshadowing. The things that make the reader/viewer go, "oh, this is how it is in the end, that is why they showed that half an hour/50 pages into the movie/book.
@Shashi - To each his own...you, the people who love Kaho na pyar hai and me - there is enough room for us all and our opinions.
After reading RGV's blog first thing that comes to one's mind is that he needs to learn to accept criticism, the latest fad is to use blogs as a platform for personal vendetta :)
Films are a public medium, once a movie is out, anyone has the right to talk about it. The B family and RGV have completely forgotten that movies are supposedly for the public n not for the elite celebrity director gang
hey!!
i really like ur website and most of the reviews..But Sarkar Raj really dint deserve even the slightest of accolades. To think this is the same guy who gave us gems like Company and Satya in terms of characterizations makes me realy sad.
The entire story is jus so implausible, it makes one laugh!!! how can one eliminate political biggies and still not be brought under the scanner of anything???? the whole movies pointless. And Ramu seems to believe that the offscreen realationship between the centra characters will make us believe their on screen one too without investing the least bit of energy into their scenes together. Abhishek totally misunderstands the meaning of reserved and aloof and adopts 1 expression scowl for the entire length of the movie..so much so that even his portrait has him scowling!!!ans pray what is Aishwarya doing insode their house all the time..and the endin..my god!!!man the flaws are jus too many!!!! i love RAmu's earlier work but he really seems to have lost it...
And why doesnt he bring back sandeep chowta..or for that matter anyone but Amar mohile??
sarkar raj is watchable again and again,it is a memorable movie.no one can act like amitabh ,he is the king of acting in world.only those people criticise sarkar raj because they are paid money to criticise the movie.there is no single point in the movie to give abad review.all criticism for the movie must be rejected by the audience.
i think the website who are giving bad reviews,they should apologige to people of country.it is very sad to read these reviews,why a memarable movie like SARKAR RAJ is having enemies.because persons,giving bad reviews ,are only and only paid money todo this
[...] "...A treat for Bachchan fans and an intense story for the non-believers" [...]
[comment deleted due to use of abusive language]
this movie sucks. 'escapist filmmaking' .
i'm sure u thought the movie sucked too but are somehow apprehensive in critisizing it, dont know why
dont a question, just an observation
One of the best movies I have seen so far and believe me GodFather II comes a distant second compared. All you guys who havent liked the movie havent basiacally understood real politics and the politics in running a business. Amitabh's character is at its best believing in his son's thoughts but still doubting every word said and his intuition in understanding things wrong at every angle. The facial expressions are dynamite and RGV makes a mockery of The GodFather with this super hit combo of great story,direction,dialogues,acting and camera work.
I just watched the movie yesterday on DVD. I thought it was quite boring initially, but loved the second part of the movie. The plot was really good and I guess it truly reflects how politics is really played out.
RGV's direction was quite good. I really liked the way he's shot it. It's more of a Director's movie than an actor's.
Your review picked up on exactly the same problems that I had while watching the movie.
First endless exposition takes the place of organic plot development - as you mentioned, many of the key plot twists and turns (which so many other viewers appreciated) are simply because Sarkar (Amitabh) says so. It also seemed to me that the Anita (Aishwarya) character existed purely to gaze admiringly at Shankar/Abhishek and ask suitable questions to set up one of his soundbites or monologues. Which explains why she comes out of nowhere and the next instant is practically joined at the hip with Shankar. Most of the other supporting characters come across either as caricatures (fault the writing as well as performances) or forgettable.
Second, the camera and lighting choices seemed to have been made to impress in themselves rather than to further plot in any meaningful way. Again, disappointing given that I'd seen the cinematography specifically praised in a number of reviews. As for the background score (and songs), "less is more" is clearly not a philosophy favored by the film makers.
And really, was there any need to blatantly steal from a genre movie that's universally acknowledged as one of the best films ever? I considered if they were meant to be an homage but it didn't feel that way to me.
On the plus side, Amitabh was excellent and gets very good support from Abhishek. These two kept me watching till the end.
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