Sarkar's Raj


RGV thank god you’re back. After Satya and Company, the man had lost his way. He’s back now and Sarkar Raj is better than the prequel. It’s a gripper on screen, keeps you in the zone, living breathing and dying with the characters. The camera angles are unique, side shots, up close and personal, Abhishek’s beard, Ash’s lips, The Big Bs wrinkles. The shadows are omnipresent, the darkness being part of both the plot and the screen. In the background, the chants of Govinda don’t seem force fit, and the score blends tightly to fasten you to your seat even more. There is an abrupt reset to silent mode right from when you enter the theatre. Most dialogues are in expression and what’s unsaid is what is beautifully said. Speech is a luxury, scarce but scathing. The delivery is even better. There are no breathers on this treadmill; the run is slow poison, thank god for the interval.
Ramu’s magic is best visible on Abhishek, Shankar fills the screen up making props and people pale. He plays the modern messiah to a prospective power plant that Ash is leading. His conviction shows and powers its way into you and you root for his success, as the rest of the audience around you also does so, in silence. Ash finds a role fit to her persona and she emotes with endurance. Her shrill voice is absent, only a subtle whisper at various points to deliver the right dialogues. She cries well too, a natural act, is an understatement. The Big B is smaller this time, leaving the plot and the heroics to his protégé. When he has the screen to himself, he showcases the miles that still separate him from the others, in this film or otherwise. The plot has a dash of mafia killing and the machinations of a complex political drama. There is enough blood, but it’s the anticipation of blood that creates drama. The murders are silent, the musings too. In the end after many are killed, you’re still in the zone anticipating more. Ramu, calls for an abrupt cut in the end, saving the rest for hopefully part three.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I once read somewhere - 'consistency is the hallmark of the unimaginative'. And Ramu proves it right....cant believe the same guy made - 'Ramgopal Varma ki vaasna...err..I mean 'Ramgopal Varma ki Aag':) Pardon me for the freudian slip:)...cant believe the guy is hell bent on making it again! Are there para-psychological prowess that he possesses, or is he a man of multiple personalities! But all said and done, he created a masterpiece in Sarkaar, while world may think that masterpiece can be created only once, he proved us all wrong by re-creating another one in the form of - 'Sarkar Raj'. But this guy never fails to amaze me...at the end of the day, all said and done and when the dust finally settles down, i am going to go and watch any of his works again...i guess at the end of it...that is what matters:)
June 20, 2008 4:45 pm
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