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RAJNEETI
We have seen movies made out of the unique epic, 'The Mahabharata'. The creator of this epic poses a straight challenge in its introduction...'What is in this...', he says,'...is alone present everywhere and what appears to be not in this is not present anywhere else!'
Quite right. If one has to identify a single character who carries the epic, it would seem to be impossible. That's the most appealing part of the epic. However, we have seen some movies attempting a considerable canvas from the story. 'Kalyug' directed by Shyam Benegal sought to establish a canvas with corporate business in the background. The performances of Shashi Kapur, Rekha etc. were exemplary. The Telugu director Bapu drew a parallel with 'Mana Vuri Pandavulu' where village politics and feudalism came into focus. Alternately, a couple of characters were chosen by directors like Maniratnam and movies like 'Dalapati' showed Karna in different locations and portrayals as a forbidden child growing into a hero of a different kind.
Well. Choosing a story and bringing a character or two from the epic and creating the conditions is one approach. Attempting to bring the massive network into a similar social story and making the artistes portray a contemporary role is another. The latter is a stupendous task since given some mishandling, the show turns out to be a puppet show!
Let's take Prakash Jha's 'Rajneeti'. The movie attempts to fix today's hereditary politics-inheritance as the rivalry of Mahabharata. Chandra Pratap takes over a party from an ailing brother Bhanu Pratap while Bhanu Pratap's son Virendra is a front runner and nurses his wounds just as Chandra Pratap's elder son Prithvi continues the inheritance. Virendra picks up Suraj (played by Ajay Devgan) who is actually the abandoned child of Bharati (by an old comrade played only briefly by Nasiruddin Shah) who later marries Chandra Pratap. A business man who later finances the break party of Prithvi (aided by uncle Brij played by Nana Patekar) has a daughter Indu who, though in love with Prithvi's brother Samar who has a girl friend in the U.S, gets married to Prithvi for political reasons. Samar takes front stage just as his father is assassinated by Suraj. A game of love and hatred goes on just as Prithvi and Samar's U.S mate Sara are killed in a car bomb blast. Indu (Katrina Kaif) contests the elections. Virendra and Suraj are drawn to an abandoned factory where both are killed-Suraj is killed while he is unarmed. Indu wins the elections for the party and reveals to Samar that Prithvi's heir is expected from her womb...
The screenplay has been excellent (jointly done by Prakash Jha and Anjum Rajabali). The narration is gripping and the scene depicting Prithvi's assassination is quite absorbing. Background score is interesting while a couple of good, timely songs might have contributed positively. They are simply not there or just appear to be introduced rather half heartedly.
The movie has some problems. It's true that the background need not be introduced to today's viewers but the take off point has to be established quite clearly on the screen. This did not happen. Political ambience and individual conspiracies do not mix straight away into a narration. A distinction has to be shown to the viewer and manouvred to theatrical advantage. The director should have done more homework here. Suraj's character did not build itself properly. Karna is actually befriended by Duryodhana in the epic only after he accomplishes himself as a formidable rival of Arjuna. Suraj, as a parallel does not totally come out with those attributes. Nana Patekar does a good job and excels especially where he smiles and laughs in a mischievous way. His control is exemplary. Since the director failed to understand the phenomenal nature of Krishna's character in the epic, we have a rather ridiculous scene where Nana Patekar enters all alone into the house of Suraj to finish him off with a gun!
Media has not been properly fit into its role play. Basically, corner stones have to be determined for narrating a story like this. The director should be advised to view films of the neo-realism genre of 1930s and 1940s made in Italy and depict irony in a contemporary imagery.
This movie can be viewed for Nana Patekar's portrayal.
(Review by Vedantam Sripatisarma)
Quite right. If one has to identify a single character who carries the epic, it would seem to be impossible. That's the most appealing part of the epic. However, we have seen some movies attempting a considerable canvas from the story. 'Kalyug' directed by Shyam Benegal sought to establish a canvas with corporate business in the background. The performances of Shashi Kapur, Rekha etc. were exemplary. The Telugu director Bapu drew a parallel with 'Mana Vuri Pandavulu' where village politics and feudalism came into focus. Alternately, a couple of characters were chosen by directors like Maniratnam and movies like 'Dalapati' showed Karna in different locations and portrayals as a forbidden child growing into a hero of a different kind.
Well. Choosing a story and bringing a character or two from the epic and creating the conditions is one approach. Attempting to bring the massive network into a similar social story and making the artistes portray a contemporary role is another. The latter is a stupendous task since given some mishandling, the show turns out to be a puppet show!
Let's take Prakash Jha's 'Rajneeti'. The movie attempts to fix today's hereditary politics-inheritance as the rivalry of Mahabharata. Chandra Pratap takes over a party from an ailing brother Bhanu Pratap while Bhanu Pratap's son Virendra is a front runner and nurses his wounds just as Chandra Pratap's elder son Prithvi continues the inheritance. Virendra picks up Suraj (played by Ajay Devgan) who is actually the abandoned child of Bharati (by an old comrade played only briefly by Nasiruddin Shah) who later marries Chandra Pratap. A business man who later finances the break party of Prithvi (aided by uncle Brij played by Nana Patekar) has a daughter Indu who, though in love with Prithvi's brother Samar who has a girl friend in the U.S, gets married to Prithvi for political reasons. Samar takes front stage just as his father is assassinated by Suraj. A game of love and hatred goes on just as Prithvi and Samar's U.S mate Sara are killed in a car bomb blast. Indu (Katrina Kaif) contests the elections. Virendra and Suraj are drawn to an abandoned factory where both are killed-Suraj is killed while he is unarmed. Indu wins the elections for the party and reveals to Samar that Prithvi's heir is expected from her womb...
The screenplay has been excellent (jointly done by Prakash Jha and Anjum Rajabali). The narration is gripping and the scene depicting Prithvi's assassination is quite absorbing. Background score is interesting while a couple of good, timely songs might have contributed positively. They are simply not there or just appear to be introduced rather half heartedly.
The movie has some problems. It's true that the background need not be introduced to today's viewers but the take off point has to be established quite clearly on the screen. This did not happen. Political ambience and individual conspiracies do not mix straight away into a narration. A distinction has to be shown to the viewer and manouvred to theatrical advantage. The director should have done more homework here. Suraj's character did not build itself properly. Karna is actually befriended by Duryodhana in the epic only after he accomplishes himself as a formidable rival of Arjuna. Suraj, as a parallel does not totally come out with those attributes. Nana Patekar does a good job and excels especially where he smiles and laughs in a mischievous way. His control is exemplary. Since the director failed to understand the phenomenal nature of Krishna's character in the epic, we have a rather ridiculous scene where Nana Patekar enters all alone into the house of Suraj to finish him off with a gun!
Media has not been properly fit into its role play. Basically, corner stones have to be determined for narrating a story like this. The director should be advised to view films of the neo-realism genre of 1930s and 1940s made in Italy and depict irony in a contemporary imagery.
This movie can be viewed for Nana Patekar's portrayal.
(Review by Vedantam Sripatisarma)
