Satyagraha

Well there is a scene in the movie where Manoj Bajpai (arguably the best performer of the movie) mocks Satyagraha movement of Mr Ambitabh Bacchan. He ridicules the protesters because of their corporate (read westernized) culture ,rock bands (hard to believe)and serving of eateries at a site of a hunger strike.The scene captures the essence of the movie which tries to be too serious about the topic but fails to stir an emotion in the audience. The actors don't have well defined roles ,songs are irrelevant ,cinematography below par (believe me I have stayed in Bhopal for more than two years and she has much better places to shoot than a couple of sets and educational institutions which are shot so many times that somewhere down the line you pray you were HANUMAN so that you can burn down those sets to ashes) and direction well Prakash Jha direction personifies his role in the movie (Watch out for the beggar in the crowd).The protesters in all the scenes seem to be more zealous than they actually should be ( to add some somber tone afterall we are not there to watch a Rohit Shetty film). The movie lacks any emotion and even the most heart breaking or heart aching ones leave you unaffected. On the acting front I would say Manoj Bajpai has done a decent job , Ajay Devgn is totally wasted , Karina seems more fashion conscious for a professional journalist and Amitabh Bachhan is more of an authoritarian (without violence) than a Gandhian.All in all the movie is a waste of time with a runtime of about 3 hours. Go outdoors or watch a repeat run on TV rather than wasting your time on this.

4/10.

Director (Prakash Jha) seems to be confusingly treading the path between fiction and non-fiction but achieves neither.

Nevertheless , those who want a 2 hour interpretation of Anna's movement and had not followed it , may find it useful , treating the movie as non-fiction Historic Drama .

Out of all the characters, Manoj Bajpai's (Balram Singh) is the best executed. Kareena's character (Yasmin Ahmed) is frivolous. A more in-depth analysis was expected for Amitabh's (Anna) and Ajay's (Arvind) character.

The script needed to convey more than what met the eye through traditional media but it is just a 2 hours summary of TV reporting of last 2-3 years. In comparison, Madras Cafe, brings out a lot more than what was in Public domain earlier .

The script also lacks a proper climax and logical end .

But in spite of short comings , I would still rate it high as Movie does convey a message convincingly and logically and does have a Moral of the Story. It holds a mirror to the Voters of India , many of whom are still not convinced that corruption is a major issue in the country.

Prakash Jha is back with another social subject oriented movies, this time he focuses on Corruption and dirty politics of current system. The movie begins with very small issue which becomes the starting point of revolution and slowly and steadily revolution gains pace and momentum. First half of the movie is very slow and predictable but as movie enters second, it energies the audience with every scene showing the true character of current government towards public's welfare. Packed with intense dialogues and brilliant capture of rural locations of country, Jha was able to bring down the truth on silver screen. Movie has lots of flaws. Love story between Ajay and Kareena seemed totally out of the way as per movie's subject and story. Music is also not up to the mark except for just one song. "Raghu Pati Raja Ram" song keeps audience engaged with its excellent lyrics. Whole Star cast did full justice to their roles, Specially BIG B, he was simply brilliant. Ajay as usual good with intense roles and Manoj good with his negative image. Overall brilliant effort by Jha to bring this corruption problem on silver screen from which whole nation is suffering from past so many years. He tried his best to show the root causes of this dirty politics. Overall everyone must join this revolution to contribute against corruption. My verdict to this is 3/5 Stars.!!!!

Bravo for choosing such type of subject, which is very related to now a days social problems. Director Mr.Prakash Jha is known for it. Concept is good. Screenplay is written very conveniently rather that showing some mind game. Almost every incident is common. Problems are taken and shown in general way. Somehow, it reflects a naive approach because all this incidents are very common as an audience due to media coverage of lots of Satyagrahas. Surprisingly sad track is very weak. You won't feel that much of pain, which will be being shown on screen. Same fate for love scenes. A person is emotionally complaining to you for your carelessness then rather showing concern you just made a lip lock and finishes the conversation!!!? Even, it was first time your love shown towards that person. First lip lock shouldn't be so accidental and impulsive. Metaphor of that wine bottle is also not very emotional. Two persons are angrily arguing across the railway track and trains are being passed between!!! It is too much. Performance wise Mr. Amitabh Bachchan is amazing. Ajay Devgan is superb. Manoj Bajpeyi is outstanding. Kareena Kapoor Khan is very good. Amrita Rao is OK. Music doesn't support the film well. In this type of film, music has to pace up the mood but all tracks are just so so.

After the super successful political thriller 'Raajneeti', when Prakash Jha gave a confused 'Aarakshan', all were curious to know as to which side will his latest camel 'Satyagraha' sit. Sadly, the movie goes the latter way, though most of the ensemble and genre resemble the former one. Let's delve straight into its facets:

• Plot: The movie draws its name from Gandhian way of dissent which was used recently by Anna Hazare and gang. Yes, it does talk about Gandhian principals and tries its best to showcase the most contemporary topic 'corruption', yet fails to serve the message quite well. The basic problem is- treatment. Unlike the crisp 'Raajneeti', sluggish 'Satyagraha' keeps meandering throughout, trying to match Anna movement, literally. In the process, everything appears fake and characters look mere reel caricatures of the real. It attempts to take you through micro nuances of our rotten politico-administrative system, which finally lead to a macro movement. The intent is commendable; however, it's the content and presentation which falter. Realism gets lost in commercialism (lots of brand endorsements there!), larger-than-life portrayal of a ground-level subject and overdose of crowd-protests. Barring a few moments of real business, movie looks more preachy and glossy (facebooked). Climax is a big let-down out of its abruptness and fictional treatment.

• Casting: The ensemble of big names does not disappoint you when it comes to performance. Big B is a master at his work and exudes both strength and fragility with equal ease. It was good to see Ajay back to some serious stuff after his Himmatwala/ SoS phase, though he is unable to match his Gangajal feat. Kareena looks beautiful in the street-smart character. Hunk Arjun oozes ample masculinity while Amrita Rao is mostly on MMS mode. It's basically Manoj Bajpai who is the biggest saving grace with his comical villain-giri. Though his character is a shadow of Virendra Pratap of 'Rajneeti', he carries off this one too equally well.

• Music: In my previous reviews too, I have mentioned, in movies based on genuine subjects, music should be pushed to background only. 'Satyagraha' loses out here too. Unnecessary songs and persistent rock bands at movement-sthal, all steal authenticity from the flick. 'Janta rocks' makes you wonder whether you are watching a 'Rock on' while Adesh Srivastava fails to repeat a 'Mora piya' with 'Ras ke bhare'. Only 'Raghupati Raghav' manages to touch you both through the remixed music and meaningful lyrics. In all, music only interrupts the already snail- paced movie.

To conclude, 'Satyagraha' does no justice to its name, star-cast and the noble message it intended to deliver. I really hope some other film-maker to grab the burning subject and present to us something more authentic, moving and engrossing. This one is certainly not the one expected from a Prakash Jha!