Sarkar

SARKAR is a creation of a life time from Ramu, it will remain as a highlight in all the artists careers, a great movie...it sucks you into it and throws you out. I watched the movie and before i could realise it started...it finished. When someone says slow narration...they are just ignorant of what cinema making is all about. Amitabh is excellent...on par with him is his son playing hi son in the movie, Abhishek. He is the one actor out of the young genre who will stand tall for a long time. The music of the movie is first rate, it plays a very important role in keeping us glued to what happens on screen.

I read a post saying "a bad adaptation of godfather" lets get this one clear that this is not Godfather. We get that impression because Ramu says he is inspired by the Hollywood movie, very kind of him. I have seen the movie and can confirm that approx 5% meets with what we have seen in Godfather.

Talking about direction, i could write a couple of pages about it, but i prefer to say it is exceptional. Its a pity our movies do not get as much exposure as international cinema, but having watched movies from all other languages, Indian cinema coming from unorthodox directors like Ramu are far better.

Watch the movie or you will miss out on something special.

The opening credit clearly puts a disclaimer that like many, he is inspired by Puzo/ Copolla' "The Godfather". The very first scene reminds you of the opening of "The Godfather". What follows next is an engaging and captivating tale though remaining within the basic framework of "The Godfather".

Too many close-up shots puts immense pressure on the actors when the camera begins to roll. And guess what barring a few, everyone delivers.

۞ Big B:: RGV's dream come true first outing. Its a tailor-made role for him. Fans both RGV's and Big B's would have been satiated at this deadly combo, and it worked very both for both.

۞ Kay Kay:: After Big B, this movie will be remembered only for Kay Kay. He stands tall opposite Big B and leaves a tremendous impact (to an extent that he topples Big B with his towering performance).

۞ Aby Baby:: Silent, resilient performance start to flesh out in the second half of the movie. He does it quite effectively. The stubble and the introvert character suits him actually.

۞ Kota:: You will love to hate this character called Selva Mani.

۞ Supriya Pathak:: Authentic performance.

۞ Tanisha:: Weakest link.

۞ Katrina:: Extended special appearance.

RGV fans will get their quota of unconventional camera angles and violence. The chantings of "Govinda Govinda" could have been little more subdued. Otherwise the background music is engaging.

Sarkar is no-nonsense narrative with practically zero relief moments. Its gritty, and fast, so the viewer has to concentrate. The sepia colour adds to the rustic/ raw look. It ensures to leaves an impact, to the extent that you would love to watch it again to catch those finer nuances which you would have missed in the first instance.

PS: Don't forget to the sequel which propels "Sarkar" to a different level altogether.

Sarkar a bolly wood remake of Godfather is not even remotely close to the original as par to execution wise. The next major fault of the movie is that RGV remained principal characters in the movie underdeveloped. Even the title character of the movie played by Mr. Bacchan is not clearly developed. But still this movie need some mentioned because for its powerful performances from lead cast. Specially the surprise element is the performance from Jr. Bacchan. If You disagree with RGV version that Abhiseikh is ahead of Big B in terms of natural talent of performing arts go and watch Sarkaar you will realize he has said nothing wrong. He least speaks and he performs with his eyes. Shahrukh & Amir this guy is superstar of tomorrow and like Hrithwik I can bet you cannot stop him. He is undeniably the best actor of this generation and Hrithwik Roshan is next to follow. Story is Crime Saga like all RGV films. Amitabh is the most powerful person in Bombay who believe in his own Principal and ethics. He run his unparalleled government and even Chief Minister of the state can do nothing against him as he has so much popularity in between masses. He believe in helping poor and helpless people and he is known for giving justice to the innocent one. The problem comes in his life when he deny to help his some of the colleagues for unethical work. Further he became victim of grand design operated by gangsters and Chief Minister of the state. For this purpose they even took help of his elder son. Suddenly a leader of the opposition played by Anupam Kher in the movie get murdered and Amitabh Bacchan became the prime suspect of all these. He became arrested but Abhiseikh his younger son took a mission to find out guilty. And finally he do what he owe from his heart. Love triangle between Katrina, Abhiseikh & Tanisha runs along with the principal story in the movie. Anyway I love this movie because of the performances of Jr. B, K.K. Menon & of course Big B.9 out of 10. Watch it you will definitely love it for some good reason it has, to be 1st hit movie of next 6 month of year 2005.

Ram Gopal Verma has not intended to actually remake "The Godfather". Its his tribute to the original great story & subsequent adaptation for Indian audiences. Hence, if one thinks that Sarkar is an Indian remake of Coppola's "The Godfather" he might get disappointed as for fact even the director has not intended to revive the original Master piece.

"Sarkar" is an Acting galore. After Agneepath, we see the best performance of Amitabh Bachchan of his career. Here is an absolutely unique genre of Acting skill depicted by Amitabh Bachchan, playing Subhash Nagare (Sarkar) illustrating all emotions through his Eyes. With very less dialogs spoken, Amitabh Bachchan proficiently establishes a massive screen presence captivating the audience throughout the movie.

Its finally proved that, its only Amitabh Bachchan who can reach or excel the act of Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone from the original.

Sarkar begins with a common man visiting Subhash Nagare seeking justice for his rape-victim daughter. The first 30 minutes is an explosive drama. The meeting with Rashid & Sarkar is riveting. The villains in the movie are like any other Hindi movie Villains and are shown larger than life which possibly was a setback unexpected from R.G.Verma Film.

The strength of the movie drama again slightly suppresses by pale acting from Kay-Kay, who plays Sarkar's elder son. Abhishek as Sarkar's younger son is shown as obedient & modest as Al Pacino in The Godfather.

The Script is then changed from the Original, and in a better fashion to suit Indian cinema. The Elder son joins the Baddies & Sarkar is caught in a conspiracy of killing a honest politician. Sarkar is arrested and an attempt to murder Sarkar in Jail is planned by the baddies just when the younger son saves his father. The gradual transformation of Abhisekh's humble human person to the tough-guy is splendid.

The major drawback of the film includes the lack of display of the Operations & Business Conducts carried out by Sarkar. We don't come to know primarily what are their various source of income. What governs the strength of "Sarkar" ? What are the mutual benefits deriving from relationships of the Politicians with Sarkar ? In R.G.Verma's Satya & Company, they perfectly dispayed the operations which the gangs conduct, their source of income & various businesses they do.

Finally the film is a journey revived through "Agneepath" where we relish the powerful performance of Superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Sarkar is a very good crime film, and its value is quite notable particularly in comparison to the majority of Hindi films made around those years, which were not as good in technical quality as this one is. The film's production values, including the cinematography, the editing, the camera work, and particularly the action, which thankfully avoids the ridiculous, exaggerated and noisy style employed in other action films, are all impressive and make it feel a cut above the usual fare. The same could go for the dialogue and nicely dark the narrative style, which is not melodramatic as could be expected from a Hindi film of that time.

Indeed, all these elements make Sarkar an enjoyably slick and realistic film. Not much should be said about the story, it is pretty much a respectful, careful adaptation of The Godfather, which is done pretty well although clearly those who would be tempted to compare between the two would have a hard time appreciating this film. Mind you, these two films share just core plot elements, but the film has a script of its own. Sadly, perhaps in an attempt to not be overly pretentious, Sarkar is not fully realised. While it does deliver the goods most of the time, it is at times too contrived for its own good and sometimes loses some of its focus.

The film stars the real-life father and son Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan as the underworld don and his unassuming son to a good effect. The senior Bachchan is excellent as the authoritative, tough mafia don with a heart of gold. The junior is highly competent in a restrained performance with a nice twist played convincingly. Actually, the entire cast is very good although the show belongs to the two players. Even the minor characters are played as real people and do very well. Sarkar is an entertaining and consistently gripping film by Ram Gopal Varma, one of mainstream Hindi cinema's most interesting and experimental directors.