Sarkar Raj

Sequels are dicey business. No matter how much you improvise on your new script, you cannot escape comparisons. And when you attempt a sequel of a critically acclaimed film that's a huge box-office grosser as well, it's akin to walking on a tight rope. Most importantly, post Ramgopal Varma Ki Aag, Ramgopal Varma was everyone's favorite punching bag [till Tashan dethroned Rgv Ki Aag]. "Finished", "spent force", "has-been", "Pack up" were commonly used terms for RGV. Now here's great news! Sarkar Raj supersedes the prequel and most importantly, RGV bounces back like never before. If you felt Shiva and later Satya were his finest efforts, you've got to watch Sarkar Raj. An outstanding film in all respects, this film has all it takes to emerge a major success story at the box-office.

Some reviewers gave it four stars ands some gave it one.
And how does yours truly rate it ? Well I think one star is a little harsh, I will be generous enough to give two.

The Good ?

Abhishek and Amitabh Bachhan are good in their roles.
Aishwarya does a fair job too.
The photography is interesting but after a point these shots from behind people's elbows and ears seems overdone.


The Bad ?

Inspite of an interesting plot in the backdrop the execution makes the movie seem predictable. The suspense is not taut enough to make you spill your popcorn while you inch to the edge of your seat. Oh no...but some of the jarring bursts of background music might do the trick. The twists and turns are reminiscent of Sarkar.

Tanisha's acting is labored in the few scenes that she has. Well one could not expect much after her horribly timed proposal to Shankar in the original.
The bad boys are oh so cliched in their plots and their mannerisms. The lesser said the better.
Shankar's right hand man Bala or is it Billo has just one dialog in the entire movie 'Shankar ko sab pata chal gaya'. (Now thats an ominous dialog, go on Bala you have the baddies quaking in their boots.) No wonder then that the poor fellow looks so angry all through the movie.

And the murderer...well it seems a little tacky to show just the boots and the gloved hands, a tribute to the villains of the 70's perhaps. And who, ladies and gentlemen, would be able to walk around in Bombay wearing such hideous golves in the middle of summer and not raise any suspicion?

The Ugly ?

Well ugly would be an overstatement but to do justice to the format I must write something under this heading too. The movie drags on towards the ending and the sitar strings harping on sadness do not help the case.


My take-- its a good thing that the office sponsored this one and I did not spend my money on it or I might have come out with a more scathing review.
I thought it would have been a much better twist in the tale if the pretty maiden had been the mastermind behind the mayhem...heck I kept expecting that to happen till the end and all I got was a sad sitar score!