Rajneeti : thru my eyes.. :)

Rajneeti : Prakash Jha : Ajay Devgn, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Vajpayee and last but not the least : Nana Patekar..

Thats a bombshell of an ensemble to start with !
Went in with a mix of opinions from friends : some good some bad.
I expected a typical 'Prakash Jha' movie : Hard hitting but with a dash of masala to pull crowds at the box office.

Well, thats what it almost is !
Calling it good or bad is something I still fight with.

Its not as hard hitting or ruthless as it could have been, but still it doesn't fail to surprise you at some points.

First, the performances.
Ajay devgn - as usual. at ease. I say : good performance.
Ranbir kapoor - unusual role to play - but still at ease. he kinda oscillates between the typical lover boy + a ruthless decision maker. I say : good performance.
Arjun Rampal - Good voice, great persona, Good screen presence. Trust me, director must've worked on him a lot. And it shows ! I say : hmmph.. ok.. good performance.
Manoj Vajpayee - To the 'T'. Perfect fit for the character he plays. And he literally lives it. I say : One of his best performances definitely. Critics be damned if he doesnt get an award for best negative role.
Katrina Kaif - Good Acting. She emotes right thru her eyes. And surprise surprise !!!! her hindi has improved ! :P

And the best of them all : Nana Patekar : Boss.. this guy, although playing role with not much of screen-presence, ( even after bein a very important character in the story ), makes his mark. Big time. Expected. But still he does it in his trademark style. Loved it to the hilt !! I say : Kick ass !! :)
Phew !

PS : i had forgotten abt Shruti Seth... ! man, she has a role that one would never expect her to portray ! And she plays it just perfect !!

Now 'bout the movie : Good story - but i took first 5 minutes to figure out how the main characters were related.. :P
A lot of bits are inspired from The Godfather, but it doesnt feel out of the place anywhere. Note that those who have seen godfather many times would immediately point out the inspirations. They are so direct - and to some extent, even filmed in similar fashion.

Since I dunno even ABC of editing, I cant really comment on it, but one thing for sure. A lot of hard work, and attention to details has gone into editing of this movie. One can say that from the scenes involving crowds. Excellent crowd control + excellent set of actors in the crowd. One expects a lot of wierdities in the crowds - some guy at the back waving to the cam, some guy not looking in the direction where he shld really be looking etc etc.. :)

Cinematography is excellent. Good closeups where required, and great crowd shots ( i know CGI is used to 'create' crowds, but some shots are real, and flawless ! ).

Music : Well there's no song & dance in the movie except for a 2min bootyshakin by Barkha Bisht in an item song. Thank god ! :D
But, every track that plays in the background is brilliant. Absolute brilliant. Worth a mention : The slow rendition of 'Mora Piya' by Kavita Seth in a very tragic scene : just perfect..

That kinda sums it up..
In short :
1. Good movie. Worth a single watch.
2. Good performances. Nothing too loud/ whacked out/eccentric.
3. even in limited role, नाना सगळ्यान्ना कच्चा खाऊन टाकतो. :)

Something I noticed after the movie :
Ajay Devgn's Numerologist is definitely a big big 'sms' fan !!!! 'DEVGN' instead of 'DEVGAN' ???? how the f*** is one supposed to pronounce it ?? :P
LOL..

Hidden Moral of 'Rajneeti' :
बारिश का मौसम है. जोश में होश खोना बुरी बात है.
एक छोटीसी गलती अगली २ पीढ़ियों को भुगतनी पड़ती है

ज्यांना झेपले नसेल त्यांनी कृपया चित्रपट ( नीट लक्ष देऊन ) बघून यावा.
LOL.... :D :D


- Hrishikesh Kanitkar