Monday, July 5, 2010
It's a little late in the day for a review.
I spent a lot of time trying to find people who held views similar to mine. Sadly, those who did, either didn't understand Bollywood or held childish views on politics.
Anyway, I share with you why Raajneeti was an absolute disappointment for me.
- Indian Politics and Mahabharat are both rich subjects, requiring deft treatment. Jha failed in this department. Why he mixed both, fails me.
- Life, including Politics, is mostly gray. Jha showcases Politics as uni-dimensional. "Everyone out there is a scoundrel" is what the message appeared to be. Really, it is a very damaging view to hold. Saner and more realistic movies to have come out on politics are Satta by Madhur Bhandarkar and Gulaal by Anurag Kashyap.
- The movie had awful character development. Katrina's new age woman, who is raring to go after the man of her dreams, giving in meekly to the demands of the men in her life, was such a no-brainer! Her character is treated like cattle - auctioned from one party to another. You may say that this is how it is for women from political families. Then, I say, don't show a street smart belle. Someone timid would seem more authentic. Or, at least show a decent fight being put up by the character. Pouts don't count! Similarly, Ranbir's "Arjun" was beyond me. I laughed out when, during the climax, he loathes politics, stating how it brings out the animal in him. Really?? No external force can ever bring out the animal in you, unless you already have one residing within. Ranbir's transformation from an international student of Victorian Poetry to a blood thirsty, scheming mastermind was an assault on my senses. For all the drama about his conscience, there was not a single scene depicting agony or internal debate within him. I hold similar views on all other characters in this opus. Bollywood movie makers really need to work on creating believable characters.
- At a subconscious level, the movie seemed to promote the idea that children of political families are born with political acumen. How else do you explain Ranbir's character? It seemed as if the guy had been writing poetry, always secretly wishing to manage a national election campaign. Duh !
- The quintessential rain sequence - The scene between Nikhila Trikha and Naseeruddin Shah gave the impression that all one requires to unleash stupidity in people is monsoon!
- The only good thing to have come out of the movie is the "Jesth Putra" scene between Trikha and Devgan. It is my official recommendation for the most hilarious scene of the year.
- It would be unfair to say that I found no good in the movie. Arjun Rampal was quite an unexpected delight. So was Shruti Sheth. But that's that.
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12 comments:
Regarding Katrina, it was not so unbelievable. And not because she was from a political family. There is no dearth of such girls who are not timid, are street smart, like/love someone enough to marry him but would in the end happily do what the family wants them to do.
@india unbound - True. But a small protest would make her case stronger.
An interesting take on the movie...but I would kind of disagree with you!
I loved the movie because of the way it was presented...yes there were flaws but the performances and direction were too good..!
somehow i knew that Ranbir's character would confuse you.. I would say thats the best character in the movie as described in the movie.. superbly handled well by him too.. as you say that the realities should be shown in the movie, this is one character which is actually the real one.. I believe it matches with my nature.. :-) would suggest to not to dissect movies while watching it, dissect it after watching it.. :P
I agree, movies was awful. Any movie which is of serious nature and doesn't have logic is complete No-No for me.
And ye.. I did notice that jhyesth putra thing and the way they bring out 30 year old stole from their kitchen when nana comes there to kill ajay devgan. It was stupid. Few dialogues where so kiddish as if they were written in 60s.
Jha disappointed me big time.
And ye for the first time I liked arjun rampal.
i disagree with you on sooooo many accounts, I think I am gonna have to write a post!!! :P
baaki comments kahan gaye?? :-(
I quite agree with you!
the violence was very unrealistic!
plz have a look at our post too-
http://cueforchange.blogspot.com/2010/07/small-tale-of-few-epics.html
interesting movie, i will visit ur blog very often, hope u go for this website to increase visitor.Happy Blogging!!!
It's true so many of our friends here didn't understand the word first person[All Talk and No Action] said.Our friend is trying to tell us how amateurishly the movie has been handled even it had big names. And u can't expect anything more than pseudo facts from Prakash Jha. I hope such regressive directors should stop making films.
@Soham - Thank you for stopping by. I read your post, quite informative.
@Maria - I hope you aren't a spammer?:)
@Ajitesh - Welcome to the blog. I have had endless discussions on this movie... some, broadened my horizon, others were convinced about my point of view. Overall, Jha could have done a lot better.
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