The last film of Ram Gopal Varma that I loved was Company (2002). The last film I liked was Naach (2004). Sarkar( 2005) I thought was an above average film. After Sarkar he has made only 4 films in 2 and a half years but one film that shook his factory was Aag. It shattered his reputation. He lost half of his faithful followers. Sarkar Raj is somewhere between Sarkar & Naach. It is a desperate attempt to earn back the respect that he commanded & he does earn his respect with this one because it’s not a bad film.
If only he would have added some fresh blood in the departments of cinematography, music, background music & editing Sarkar Raaj would have been a much better film. Sarkar was written by Manish Gupta who will soon make his debut as a director with Stoneman. Sarkar Raj is written by Prashant Pandey. In terms of writing, the screenplay follows the graph of the earlier film to the T. It does not bring anything new except Aishwarya & Rajesh Shringarpure in terms of characters but even after bringing in these characters the script does not do justice to both the characters. It has a bunch of comic villains which is like an antidote to the always serious characters of the Nagre family. Nevertheless it is an engaging screenplay which relies more on the actors than the written part. The dialogue writer must have been exhausted writing those pages of dialogues. Ram Gopal Varma does not go beyond what he did in Sarkar. He is just trying to recreate the Sarkar magic, His last big box-office hit. He lets the actors take over each and every scene. He still needs that one film to strike back & this is not that film.
Amitabh Bachchan is powerful as ever as Subhash Nagre but the power of his character comes across only in the last few reels of the film. Otherwise he lets Abhishek’s steal the lime light. I felt that the film was designed for Abhishek. The chemistry between both of them is magical. Abhishek plays his part well but that powerful persona that Amitabh projects is somehow missing. He delivers a respectable performance though. The surprise package of the film for me was Aishwarya. Never ever has Ash exuded so much power & charisma? She looked smashing in the corporate avatar. Another fine debut is by Rajesh Shringarpure but his character was butchered half way into the film. Amit Roy tries to place his camera in all possible abnormal places. I think he sees the world a little differently. Amar Mohile brings nothing new to the film. His saving grace is two tracks Govinda & sam daam. Kahin bhi daal do,scene hit ho jayega.
Final Few Words: The film leaves room for another sequel. I am hoping Ramu brings in Jaya Bachchan in a negative role and pits her against Aishwarya. If that happens I will be waiting for Sarkar 3 otherwise I am not interested in this enterprise. For all those who loved Sarkar, this film will not be a disappointment. For those hungry for more go watch Aamir instead.
**½ (Above Average)
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