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Producer/s:
Ram Gopal Varma & Parag Sanghavi
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek
Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, Supriya Pathak, Rukhsar,
Kathrina Kaif, Tanishaa, Anupam Kher |
| Sarkar
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 Ram
Gopal Varma says in the beginning of the film, 'I have
been deeply influenced by 'Godfather ' and this is my
tribute to him'. I don't think Francis Ford Coppola
would feel flattered if he watches the film! To begin
with, the Godfather, which Ramu would rather term as
the 'Good Samaritan' looks completely out of character.
Where is the power in that listless frame and those
dead eyes? Forgot to add, his deadpan expression too!
To beat it, Mr. Bachchan underplays but there is no
underlying tension within! The way he carries himself,
he could well be termed as the 'Mahatma'. For he walks
in the typical Gandhi style, with his hand resting on
his younger son's (Shankar played by Abhishek Bachchan)
shoulders. A Rudraksh mala and a red Tilak on the forehead
does not necessarily allow a person to assume the Indian
Godfather look! The charisma is definitely missing.
So the film is already a letdown.
Before we get into other
things let's be done with the story of the film. Suresh
Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan) is 'Sarkar'. He's the man who
dispenses instant justice, makes and breaks the law
with the help of a group of hit men under his control.
We assume that Sarkar has fallen from Heaven as there
is no background on him. Unless of course, Ram Gopal
Varma is planning a prequel to it. Sounds scary! The
audience will also wonder if he has inherited a lot
of family property because no one in the family seems
to be doing any sort of work. Besides, Sarkar is not
indulging in any kind of financial transactions with
the people he helps. He even refuses bribe money offered
to him to allow an illegal operation to take place.
This leads to conflict. We'll come back to this later.
Let's complete the family tree first.
The elder son, Vishnu
(Kay Kay Menon), is producing a film while Shankar has
just returned from the US after his education. He has
a girlfriend, played by Katrina Kaiff, who returns to
India with him. Presumably they were classmates. There
is also another character, played by Tanisha, who calls
Sarkar, Kaka. She is his late friend's daughter and
has been in love with Shankar since childhood. She is
heartbroken when she hears of his girlfriend but puts
up a brave front.
The scene in which she
is telling Shankar about how she's always loved him
but is still happy for him is enough to raise a few
laughs. Actually it was meant to be a highly emotional
scene but it misfired. It sounded more like the girl
had forgotten her lines. Then there is the usual wife,
daughter in law (Rukshar) and grandson.
Coming to the conflict
that was mentioned earlier. Sarkar antagonizes Rashid
(Zakir Hussain) by refusing to let him carry on his
illegal business in an area that is under his jurisdiction.
To make matters worse for Sarkar, his elder son, Vishnu
is rebelling against him. Sarkar's enemies seize this
opportunity to get even with him. They also kill his
opponent, played by Anupam Kher. Obviously Sarkar is
prime suspect and is arrested. There is an attempt on
his life but he is saved.
And junior Bachchan?
Well he (Shankar) is happy to live in his father's shadow
and even refuses to return to America after this attack
on his father. As a result he loses his girlfriend but
gets another one- Tanisha. He also comes closer to his
father. The climax shows him sipping chai while listening
to a distraught woman telling him about her husband's
killing.
The new Don is born
but unfortunately the teacup looks more imposing than
him. The film too opens with Senior listening to a distraught
father talking about his daughter's rape by a rich brat.
Justice is done then and now also. Shankar's character
has no graph. There is no change in him considering
he makes a transition from a foreign-returned son to
a Don. We forgot the chant, 'Govinda Govinda' in the
background that further irritates you. As if you haven't
had enough 'underplaying' by the Bachchan's to drive
you nuts!
The film is irritatingly
slow. RGV has definitely attempted to capture the same
mood as in Godfather but there was an underlying tension
in that one to give that edge-of-the-seat feel. Here
the pace and pauses are very irritating! But one man
who has really performed and almost walked away with
the film is Kay Kay. He rocks and is the only memorable
thing about it. A pity that this talented actor still
hasn't got his due in Bollywood. But hopefully things
might get rosy for him now. To sum it up, 'Sarkar' is
yet another film with great style but no content! Cannot
predict its fate at the box office but will surely not
last after the initial hype is over.
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