Movie Review: Prakash Jha's Satyagraha

An epic subject, a heavy star-cast and a proven director!

Yes, these are good enough reasons to draw initial crowds to cinema theatres but to sustain or leave a mark, the complete package has to stand-out. Unfortunately, one of the most awaited films this year is not here to stay. Satyagraha is an average movie, far below our expectations & arguably one of Prakash Jha's worst made presentations.

A tight slap on the District Magistrate's face by a common man boils into a nation wide agitation. But the manner it unfolds is unconvincing & at times, even the flow of scenes doesn't look natural or realistic. To make things worse, Salim-Sulaiman's poor background score too adds to the lack of audience connection. Satyagraha is powerful in bits & pieces but irregular & weak as a whole. To me, it seemed that far more than a logical narrative, the director tries to create high-drama screen shots for its posters.

The first half is a story of a retired school principal fighting against corruption to get his son's compensation, who died on duty. But, it takes a different turn after interval and metamorphoses into a vivid copy-paste of Anna's andolan. This is where the film loses steam becoming no more than a commentary of Anna-Arvind saga, that too in a haphazard manner. The Aam Aadmi Party has requested people to watch Satyagraha, understandably for its depiction of Ajay Devgan's character, inspired by Kejriwal.

With the class of actors present, the acting had had to be Good. Arjun Rampal & Amrita Rao were the only ones who seemed out of place in their respective roles of local bahubali & a widowed housewife. Manoj Bajpai brings the much needed comic relief and as always does complete justice to the corrupt minister's character playing his role to perfection. The best part of Satyagraha is the relationship shown between Maanav (Ajay Devgan) & his friend's idealist father played by Amitabh Bachchan. Diagonally opposite ideologically, the Devgan-BigB duo has surely been able to draw some viewer's emotions through their on-screen relationship. In fact, I did find audiences wetting their tissue papers in delight!

Satyagraha is a classic example how a lack of good direction cannot be complimented by any amount of super star-cast. Being obsessed with politics is not bad but we expect the director to infuse some freshness in a new subject which he terribly fails to do. In fact, its a khichdee of Gangajal, Aarakshan & Rajneeti and sadly, even a brand new subject like the anti-corruption movement somehow lacks originality.

Far more than anything, Satyagraha is an unhappy reflection of a talented director's complacency. Its high time Prakash Jha reinvents himself lest he gets stereotyped for the lack of a fresh approach & originality. Although a well-intentioned motive, but Satyagraha would be rated 2.5 out of 5 for poor direction & a confused plot!

Raanjhanaa: Love from the by-lanes of Benaras to Canteens of JNU

First things first. My parents were in Chandigarh this weekend & I requested them to watch a movie along with me. It was to be a historic family moment, for the last time I went to a Cinema theatre with Ma/ Papa was some 20 years ago. This time they weren't interested, but I insisted. And you know what happens when I insist!

  ...Only option before us was Raanjhanaa and glad to say, this singular option was worth it because my parents liked it!

Raanjhanaa showcases the two types of love stories characteristic of our India. First kind is the small town love stories weaved in the lanes by not-so-mature desperadoes, who run behind rickshaws, cut slit their nerves, get slapped by the girl but smile, recite shayaris claiming they've written it themselves and all such similar exercises. The other type of love story is of a more mature kind, one where the intellect & ideology makes you fall for someone. Where you think you are made for each because your thought processes are on the same plane. The first type is like the medieval bhakti movement, other like the European Renaissance. From the by-lanes of Benaras to the canteens of JNU, Raanjhanaa tries to explore both these genres of Love.

Barring some rare scenes where you find the film needlessly flat, Raanjhanaa is engaging in every bits & pieces. Its able to keep the audience engrossed enough not to know when time passed & its popcorn break. A good effort by Anand Rai given this is only his second directorial venture after Tanu weds Manu. Talking of Music, A R Rahman lives up to his high standards & also shows how music can be used to fast forward the story. I had grown a liking for Irshad Kamil's poetry since the days of Rockstar. Here also, Rahman's music coupled with Irshad Kamil's lyrics has successfully weaved a melodious combo.

With all his constraints & limitations of language & looks, Dhanush has given a superlative performance. He seems real, pure & true all through. For a tamil actor to play a benarsi pandit character, that too in his first Hindi film can be a challenging task. That challenge was eased to an extent by tracing Kundan, the character of Dhanush to Tamil ancestry. Its no hyperbole to say that Raanjhanaa is a dream Bollywood début for Dhanush. The story starts with him, ends with him & it shows him as the truest character. With a guy-next-door features, whatever his dialogues are he wears his heart on his sleeves. To me, the best narration was when Kundan, the sadak-chhap pandit while breaking all ties with his love, an affluent Muslim girl Zoya, played by Sonam Kapoor says, "Tumse pyaar karna Mera talent tha, Tumhara nahi."

Zishaan Ayyub delivers his one-liner punches with aplomb. His character of Murari, the hero’s best friend has again left an impact as he did in Mere Brother ki Dulhan & Jannat. To me, the disappointment was Mr Arvind Gaur, a noted theatre personality synonymous with issues of social concern. Gaur's role of a third-rate politician, that too not performed to perfection makes him the weak link in Raanjhanaa. Sonam Kapoor has done better than her previous assignments & looks refreshingly innocent in some scenes. Abhay Deol, the fine actor that he is, plays a short cameo with a strong screen presence.

The second half is not as brilliant as the first one, neither in terms of class, nor in terms of entertainment. Talking of the humour element, the first half is a laugh riot against the serious political backdrop of second half. But, post interval Raanjhanaa does take a good dig at sarcasm. The scene where a group of left-thinking students discuss from night till morning upon what to do of a thief they had caught in their campus & why, after all he became a thief is a scathing satire on some of the pseudo-intellectuals. The night long left-oriented deliberations led them to a conclusion that the thief's poverty & unemployment were the reasons behind why he was one. Ironically, when asked earlier, this was exactly what the thief had answered the moment he was caught climbing the hostel wall furtively.

The concluding scene with Kundan on death bed, alongside a weeping Zoya beautifully summarises the story you've been watching for the last two & half hours. A Love that never sufficed is more pure than one that reached its culmination..!!

I'll rate Raanjhanaa (3.5 out of 5)..!!

Chambal to Kolkata: A Paradigm shift in Indian Cinema -Backdrop playing the Protagonist!

Every story has a backdrop, a background, a medium where the plot is set. And a good story teller never misses this integral build-up to the plot. A story is best when it can vividly describe the settings and sidings. He who has been able to create pictures and scenes in the beholder's mind, is surely one of the best in business.

These guidelines are just some of the basic rules of thoughtful story-telling.

But Wait! I recently watched two movies in a week's time. Tigmanshu Dhulia's "Paan Singh Tomar" and the other one was "Kahaani" directed by Sujoy Ghosh. Both of them with gripping storylines as have many other hindi cinemas been. Yet, there was something else about them that made me think & wonder.