Raajneeti-Movie Review.Rating:3.5/5- Good +

Rating:3.5/5- Good+

Raajneeti is a political thriller set in Madhya Pradesh.The plot revolves around the game of one-upmanship between 2 rival camps each one desperate to go to any extent to win the respective elections.Prithviraj Pratap (Arjun Rampal) and Veerendra Pratap(Manoj Bajpai) are at loggerheads being the torchbearers of thier respective parties vying for the throne of the Chief Minister.

The film bears resemblance to the Godfather in some critical aspects like the horse killing scene( in the original) or how Samar Pratap (Ranbir Kapoor) evolves from a being a typical NRI averse to politics to the think tank of the ruthless machinations to avenge the death of his father( Chetan Pandit) ,the humiliation of his brother, Prithvi( Arjun Rampal) and to salvage the political pride of his family by winning the elections.

The movie does well in keeping the audience interested in the proceedings dispelling any preconcieved notions which you may carry of it being a dry political drama. The screenplay by Prakash Jha and Anjum Rajabali succeeds in keeping the audience hooked onto the story.Credit must go to the crisp editing which although amounts to almost 3 hours but only enhances the impact of the movie to a great extent.The scenes involving the showdowns of the rival camps with Ajay Devgan and Manoj Bajpai head to head with Arjun Rampal, Nana Patekar and Co. in the assembly meetings leave a strong impact.

One vital aspect where I felt that the movie lacks is that after a point of time the central theme of one-upmanship becomes one dimensional and hence doesnt add any more layers to the story.Also the character of Indu Pratap(Katrina Kaif) is of a very modern girl and how she meekly succumbs to the wishes of her mercenary father to marry her off to anyone against her choice, her subsequent love for Prithvi and the unnecessary pregnancies act as weak links to the central plot.Whats commendable is the transformation of Katrina ala Sonia Gandhi is brilliantly shot and manifested in her body language.Also the scene wherein the biological mother( Nikhila Trikha) of Sooraj Kumar( Ajay Devgan) confronts him with the truth is shoddily enacted by Nikhila which comes off as a ludicrous scene.

Coming to the performances, Arjun Rampal is finally coming of age after almost being written off in his previous movies as another model-non actor.He is the show stealer and the surprise element of the movie. Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgan provide immense weight to thier characters and are terrific.Katrina Kaif obviously tries hard but her non hindi accent just doesnt leave the desired impact.Nana Patekar delivers a superbly subtle performance as the Chief Advisor.Ranbir Kapoor pitches in a sincere performance though it had scope for improvement by means of effective facial expressions.Nasseerudin Shah leaves a strong impact even with a minute role.He is one of the finest actors of all time undoubtedly.

All in all a surely worth your price of a ticket, compared to the mediocre fare dished out so far in 2010. I would go with 3.5 stars out of 5 for the same.