The Affairs of the State - My Thoughts on Raajneeti (2010)

Mahabharata is among one of our most loved stories and the echo of the great epic has been seen in many of our movies since we started making movies in India – especially the characters of Karna and Arjuna that have been a staple point in many movies but surprisingly, depictions of the film on celluloid have always failed the epic … here I do not speak of such fabulous versions such as Daanveer Karna, which was a landmark in both Telugu and Tamil Cinema, but of Hindi versions that either very melodramatic or just listless. The best Mahabharat ever made in Hindi was the serial that was aired on DD and which to date remains a benchmark for the present crop.


Adaptations have also not been very inspired and impressive, except a few like Hum Paanch (1980) and Kalyug (1980), which has been reviewed elsewhere on my blog. Hum Paanch was obviously from the Pandava point of view with Raj Babbar, Naseeruddin Shah, Mithun Chakraborty playing the contemporary Pandavas battling the evil feudal Duryodhan played by Amrish Puri, Kalyug was Mahabharat adapted brilliantly to a feud between two warring business families and told from the perspective from Karna (Shashi Kapoor)….. To this list, I would add Raajneeti, a brilliant movie with a strong binding script, adapting Mahabharat to the political circles and told from the perspective of Arjun.

Rajneeti boasts of one of the best ensemble cast gathered together in recent times for a film, where the cast has actually been able to perform and stand true to the roles offered to them. Considering the dearth of real, good talent in today’s world, that’s nothing short of a miracle and a miracle it is …

Ranbir Kapoor, as the modern-day Arjun, brings a sense of diabolical cool to the entire proceedings. His eyes do not let go of intensity nor does his face show chagrin or pain as he uses and abuses one and all; to pull strings, to maneuver his moves or to play the most outlandish of cards. The anger and the pain in the eyes are all evident as he moves from one move to another, not caring and definitely not sharing. The shades of grey go from a light shade of almost-white to the darkest strain of black as the character moves from being naïve to being almost ruthless.

Nana Patekar, as the modern-day Krishna, is all guile and canniness combined in one. A smart behind-the-curtains mover and shaker of all that’s transpiring, a perfect encyclopedia of the political world, a soft-spoken but dangerous, ruthless and manipulative man, he reminds me distinctly of Arya Chanakya. Nana, one of the best actors on the scene today, handles it all with élan and unchallengeable intensity. He is effortless and soft, still there is no mistaking the silences pregnant with meaning and the soft gestures laden with dire warnings.

Ajay Devgan, as the modern-day Karna, does not have an author-baked role, with the focus being on his adversary, Arjuna but he still manages to steal moments of glory from the very little amount of space that he has been given in the movie. The fury of a man deprived of his rightful place, the intensity of a man focused on proving his point, the anger of a man whose merit has been rejected, the hesitation of one who loves but is not loved in return; all these are emotions not easily captured but Ajay has to his credit one of the deepest smoldering eyes in the business and his eyes portray all of these with cool detachment and cold rage. His interaction with Nana and finally the scene where his hesitation changes the destiny of the climax, show an actor who has progressed much beyond his strengths.

Arjun Rampal, as the modern day Bheema is all brawn and no brain. The adage, Power corrupts, is the most-apt to draw for this model-turned-actor who is improving by leaps and bounds from ‘Rock On’ to ‘Rajneeti.’ He depicts a hard, flamboyant exterior with a soft vulnerable interior so well that although you start off by not liking him, by the time you end the movie, he grows on you to such an extent that you start loving him for what he is. You even forget his excesses, his transgressions, such is his transformation.

But the actor who rises heads and shoulders above all others, the actor who captures his role by the pulse and who is inevitably strong and weak, impregnable and vulnerable all at the same time, thus proving his versatility is Manoj Vajpayee as Duryodhana. You feel his sense of loss, his frustration, his pain, his anger, his fury and surpsisingly, though he’s supposed to be the bad guy, at times you actually identify with him! You forgive him his manipulations, turn a blind eye to his machinations and just focus on him …. This is a brilliant performance and the script writer has actually been able to portray the pathos of this character very well.

Katrina Kaif surprisingly reveals talent and actually performs; something I have seen for the first time in my life. Her speech is still jarring but it’s a marked improvement from the Gudiya dolls that she has been doing till now. Sarah Thompson has been under-utilized.

Sadly, Naseeruddin Shah is wasted. We wanted to see some more of his performance, not just his seduction of a party-worker! Darshan Jariwala is also wasted, an actor of his caliber should have got more than what he got.

Shruti Seth acts well, especially, the scene where she’s being ravished by Arjun and she’s consistently mouting a request. Her face is so expressive; would have loved to see more of her but then the script is really taut and I would not like to change anything, except the ‘Jyesth Putra’ dialogues mouthed by an ill-at-ease Kunti. Let’s face it, there are some dialogues in the film that make you cringe. It looks like we are back in the 1870s.

Prakash Jha has been one of our under-rated but brilliant directors for quite some time now. Right from Dhumal in 1984 to Raajneeti in 2010, every film of his has shown a different facet to the true connoisseurs of the art of Cinema and every facet is well-researched and well-directed.

An impressive film, still a film that will go above the heads of people who have grown used to watching paintings masquerading as films (read Raavan).

There have been quite a few posts degrading it as a B-copy of the Godfather. Well, it does have some inspirations from Godfather, you cannot call it a copy, as the director has not blatantly copied the movie but adapted it to a different scenario and has come out trumps while doing so.

And about people speaking about the violent nature of the film, it would do well for the same people to research elections in Kashmir and Coastal Andhra Pradesh in the 1990s, Bengal in the 1970s, and Assam in the 1980s. The level of violence may just shock you! And of course, the assassinations of Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi are there for all, who may want to dispute it.