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Raajneeti
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Wikipedia article
'Raajneeti' is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film co-written, directed and produced by Prakash Jha, with a screenplay by Anjum Rajabali and Prakash Jha. The film has an ensemble cast including Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Sarah Thompson and Naseeruddin Shah. It was originally produced by Prakash Jha Productions and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures and Walkwater Media. It was shot in Bhopal. The title translates literally as "Politics" and contextually as "Affairs of State."Lovece, Frank. [http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/reviews/specialty-releases/e3i3fec1ed166d90dea2c534c8434a884d7 "Film Review: 'Raajneeti'"], 'Film Journal International', 7 June 2010
The film was released in theatres worldwide on 4 June 2010, after some controversies regarding similarities between real-life people and the characters in the film. It received mixed reviews from critics, both in India and internationally. A sequel to the film was confirmed by Prakash Jha in 2012.
Plot
Bharti Rai, the daughter of Ramnath Rai, an eminent politician, is influenced by rival leftist leader Bhaskar Sanyal. She bears an illicit son from Bhaskar, who is abandoned in a boat by Brij Gopal, Bharti's 'rakhi' brother. Bharti is later married to Chandra Pratap, the younger brother of Bhanu Pratap, who leads the 'Rashtrawadi' party.
The minority state government collapses, when Rashtrawadi party withdraws its support. On his birthday gathering, Bhanu Pratap suffers a stroke and hands over power to his younger brother Chandra Pratap. Chandra's elder son, Prithvi Pratap tries to take advantage of his father's power and starts to impose his own decisions on the party, which results in a clash with his miffed cousin, Veerendra Pratap. Chandra Pratap begins to sideline Veerendra. For the upcoming mid-term polls, Prithvi rejects the nomination of a kabaddi champion and local leader Sooraj Kumar, who is chosen by the common people. However, Sooraj gets Veerendra's support to join the Central Committee of the party. Unknown to all, Sooraj is Bharti's abandoned son, who was found and brought up by the Pratap family's driver Ram Charittra and his wife. When Sooraj demands a candidacy in the elections, Brij Gopal shrewdly nominates his father Ramcharitra from the same seat. Meanwhile, Chandra Pratap's younger son, Samar Pratap, returns from the United States and meets his childhood friend Indu, who loves him. She proposes to him, but he declines.
In order to regain his power within the party and be the chief-ministerial candidate in the state assembly election, Veerendra, with Sooraj's help, has Chandra Pratap assassinated. In an ensuing drama, Prithvi is arrested. SP Sharma, under Veerendra's influence, press rape charges against Prithvi Pratap. In order to bail him out, Samar Pratap promises Veerendra of Prithvi's resignation from the party. However, Samar and Prithvi begin rallying public support. The bed-ridden Bhanu Pratap officially expels Prithvi, who forms the new 'Jana Shakti' party, with Brij Gopal as his mentor and Samar as the executive. To raise funds for the new party from Indu's industrialist father, Samar shrewdly ensures Prithvi's marriage to Indu, against her will. Meanwhile, Samar's American girlfriend Sarah arrives in India to meet him.
The battle gets murkier with both sides trying every trick to ensure their victory. Allegations and counter-allegations are made. Subsequently, Samar blackmails and kills Babulal, an old party associate of Bhanu Pratap, after uncovering from him that Sooraj and Veerendra had murdered his father Chandra Pratap. On the other hand, Prithvi kills SP Sharma and a party worker. Meanwhile, Indu slowly falls in love with Prithvi who has been nice and respectful towards her. Sarah realizes that the two brothers are committing political murders, and decide to return to the US, pregnant. Veerendra and Sooraj plan to assassinate Samar by planting a bomb in his car, but it is Prithvi and Sarah who perish in the explosion. Braj Gopal confronts Ramcharitra for Sooraj's misdeeds, when Sooraj is revealed to be the first child of Bharti.
Devastated by the loss of his brother and girlfriend, Samar decides to retaliate. He suggests Indu take the reins of the party and arranges the election campaign single-handedly. Bharti implores Sooraj to join his younger brother Samar. However, Sooraj refuses to part ways with Veerendra who has always supported him. Exit polls predict a victory for Indu's party. On the counting day, Samar lures Veerendra and Sooraj to an unused factory by spreading a rumour. They fall into the trap, and Veerendra gets shot by Samar and his men. Sooraj gets an opportunity to shoot Samar, but cannot bring himself to do it since he knows Samar is his brother. Sooraj requests Samar to spare him and Veerendra till they reach the hospital, but Veerendra dies on the way. Gopal prompts Samar to shoot Sooraj who questions the morality of the act, but Brij Gopal convinces him to take revenge for the destruction of his family. Samar, not aware of his relationship with Sooraj, shoots him.
The election results are declared. 'Jan Shakti' Party emerges with a majority and Indu becomes the CM. Samar and Indu mend their differences. Indu is pregnant with Prithvi's child, while Samar leaves India to look after Sarah's mother.
Cast
* Ajay Devgn as Sooraj Kumar [
* Nana Patekar as Brij Gopal [
* Ranbir Kapoor as Samar Pratap [
* Katrina Kaif as Indu Pratap (' Seksaria) [
* Arjun Rampal as Prithviraj Pratap [
* Manoj Bajpayee as Veerendra Pratap [
* Sarah Thompson as Sarah Jean Collins [
* Naseeruddin Shah as Bhaskar Sanyal [
* Darshan Jariwala as Ramnath Rai [
* Chetan Pandit as Chandra Pratap [
* Shruti Seth as a party worker
* Nikhila Trikha as Bharti Pratap [
* Vinay Apte as Babulal [
* Kiran Karmarkar as Sharma, an SP loyal to Veerendra Pratap
* Dayashankar Pandey as Ram Charittra [
* Khan Jahangir Khan as Bhanu Pratap [
* Ravi Khemu as Ramkumar Sakseria [
* Barkha Bisht as item number "Ishq Barse"
Reception
Critical reception
Mayank Shekhar of 'Hindustan Times' rated it 3/5 and criticized saying, "There's a reason Mahabharat was a television series. Shyam Benegal could brilliantly adapt it around Indias corporate boardroom, only for his contained minimalism ('Kalyug', 1981). What you sense here instead then is an over-dramatic, over-written screenplay: an over-boiled egg." He said that the sub-plots of various characters have an awkward conclusions. He compared Jha's earlier films 'Gangaajal' (2003) and 'Apaharan' (2005) and remarked that they are "finely focused works" in comparison to 'Raajneeti'. Nikhat Kazmi of 'The Times of India' rated it 4/5 and said, "The film basically anchors its plot in two classic tales The Mahabharata and The Godfather to create an engrossing diatribe on India's political system where democracy may prevail, but not in its purest form." Anupama Chopra of 'NDTV' rated it 3/5 and said "Jha creates a real sense of the machinations and sordid deals that fuel politics but then hobbles it with outlandish twists and some decidedly 'filmy' moments".Rajeev Masand of 'CNN-IBN' rated it 3.5/5 and said, "In the end "Raajneeti" is thrilling and gripping for the most part, even though it does lose steam in its final act. And as far as politics goes, it doesn't tell you very much more than you didn't already know." He continued, "For the superb acting, and for the exciting dramatic highs, it's a film I recommend you do not miss." Raja Sen of 'Rediff.com' gave a 1.5 out of 5 star rating explaining that it is "essentially 'Sarkar Raj' minus Amitabh Bachchan, is a hyperactive drama given to much yelling and little thought. The screenplay is weak, manipulative and every possible kind of lazy, with an omniscient narrator who vanishes after a while, a slew of unbelievably one-note characters, clunky dialogue that often lapses into something from period cinema, and bloody deaths thrown in every few scenes to kickstart the drama in this exhausting 3-hour film."
Rachel Saltz of 'The New York Times' said, ""Raajneeti," with its large cast of characters and wealth of subplots, is often a mess, but an interesting one." She also said, "The film full of romance, intrigue and fraternal strife is too diffuse to score political points. Or to have much impact." Robert Abele of the 'Los Angeles Times' found that while it aimed "for something trenchant about thwarted destiny and ugly ambition in modern Indian democracy", it "mostly winds up with a convoluted and tonally awkward "Godfather" rehash, with nary a character worth rooting for" and that "Kapoor's performance is stony rather than calculating...." Frank Lovece of 'Film Journal International' said, "More pulpy than political, this 'Godfather'-ripoff Hindi electoral drama is a candidate for oblivion in U.S. theatres. ... It all eventually becomes so ridiculous and over-the-top violent that there is nobody, nobody, to root for."
Box office
'Rajneeti' grossed worldwide and was declared a blockbuster.
India
'Raajneeti' recorded an opening of nearly 10 crore net on its first day. It had the second highest Friday opening in India after '3 Idiots' and the highest Friday opening in the first half of the year, surpassing 'Kites'. It collected 34 crore at the end of the weekend and set a record for biggest weekend in the first half of the year, surpassing 'Housefull'. It showed no major decline in business on Tuesday and collected Rs. 5.85 crore. At the end of the first week, the film collected Rs. 54.75 crore and set a record for biggest week in the first half of the year beating 'Housefull'. 'Raajneeti' sustained well in the second weekend and collected 16.25 crore. Rajneeti nett grossed in India with a distributor share of . It was the tenth highest grossing Bollywood film until it was surpassed by Salman Khan starrer Kick. It was declared a blockbuster.Overseas
Overseas, the film opened to weekend business of $2.25 million. In the U.S., 'Raajneeti' played well for a limited release, noted Ray Subers of BoxOfficeMojo.com, grossing $850,244 on 124 screens its opening weekend, "which was good for first among limited releases and 11th place on the overall weekend chart." He specified that 'Raajneeti' "became the third Bollywood movie this year to lead all limited releases in its first weekend," following 'My Name is Khan' and 'Kites'.Subers, Ray. [https://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2810&p=s.htm "Arthouse Audit: 'Raajneeti' Continues Bollywood Blitz"], BoxOfficeMojo.com, 7 June 2010 In Australia and New Zealand, 'Raajneeti' surpassed the opening weekend record set by '3 Idiots'.Awards and nominations
56th Filmfare Awards
Nominated
*Best Actor Ranbir Kapoor
*Best Supporting Actor Arjun Rampal
*Best Supporting Actor Manoj Bajpai
*Best Supporting Actor Nana Patekar
12th IIFA Awards
Won
* Best Supporting Actor Arjun Rampal
Nominated
* Best Film Raajneeti
* Best Actor Ranbir Kapoor
* Best Actress Katrina Kaif
* Best Supporting Actor Manoj Bajpayee
17th Annual Star Screen Awards 2011
Won
*Best Actress (Popular Choice) Katrina Kaif
*Best Screenplay Prakash Jha, Anjum Rajabali
*Best Background Music Wayne Sharp
Nominated
*Best Actor Ranbir Kapoor
*Best Supporting Actor Nana Patekar
*Best Actor in a Negative Role Manoj Bajpayee
6th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards(2010)
Won* Best Actor in a Supporting Role Arjun Rampal
Nominated
* Best Film Prakash Jha
* Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) Ranbir Kapoor
* Best Lyrics Sameer for "Mora Piya"
* Best Playback Singer (Male) Aadesh Shrivastava for "Mora Piya"
* Best Performance in a Negative Role Manoj Bajpai
* Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) Ajay Devgn
* Best Dialogue Prakash Jha
* Best Story Prakash Jha
* Best Screenplay Anjum Rajabali & Prakash Jha
2011 Zee Cine Awards
Won*Best Supporting Actor Arjun Rampal
Nominated
*Best Film
*Best Actor Ranbir Kapoor
*Best Actor Katrina Kaif
3rd Mirchi Music Awards
Nominated*Male Vocalist of The Year -Gopal Nathan wellington shrikrishna holdan Walter
*Upcoming Female Vocalist of The Year antra Kapoor- Ek do teen
*Song representing Sufi tradition "Mora Piya"
* Best Programmer & Arranger of the Year Amar Makwana, Mani Iyer and Sandeep Chatterjie "Mora Piya"
*Best Background Score of the Year Wayne Sharpe
Controversy
'Raajneeti' was first denied a certificate by the censor board of India for their thought that the lead character played by Katrina Kaif is inspired fully or partially by the Congress Party's chief Sonia Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal's chief Rabri Devi. Director Prakash Jha dismissed this allegation, saying his only inspiration was 'Mahabharata', an epic from ancient India. References to electronic voting machines and parts of the film suggesting that women have to compromise to get ahead in politics, crude dialogues about the Muslim community and some intimate scenes and excessive violence were removed before giving the film a U/A censor certificate.
Soundtrack
The score was composed by Wayne Sharpe while the soundtrack was composed by Wayne Sharpe, Pritam, Aadesh Shrivastava and Shantanu Moitra. The lyrics were written by Irshad Kamil, Gulzar, Sameer and Swanand Kirkire. The soundtrack consists of five original songs and four remixes. It was released on 14 May 2010. The Song "Mora Piya" and "Bheegi Si Bhaagi Si" was a hit in 2010.
Track list
References
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