Sarkar

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.

The movie is as well made as any of the better Ram Gopal Verma movies. The man knows the language of Cinema well and his technique flows very smoothly, but what takes this movie upwards and above RGV's other movies are the stellar performances.

The movie follows the story of the family of Sarkar, a powerful 'Bhai' of Mumbai who runs his own law. He executes justice for the down-trodden in the way he deems right, even if it may be (as it invariably is) outside the law. His seat of power, the opposition to it, and it's eventual inheritance is what the movie deals with.

AB Sr. does his most balanced portrayal since Aks. His 'Sarkar' comes across as a person aware of the power he controls, rather than one basking in it. And it is this underplayed demeanor that covers the Superstar we otherwise tend to see over the character he plays.

AB Jr. plays 'Sarkar Jr' in the movie and he pulls off the double-whammy of proving to be a worthy son/successor of 'Sarkar Sr.' & AB Sr. - I say that coz the dad took a lot more years & movies to prove himself as good as what AB Jr has already proved himself to be.

Most of the other characters are played by non-names, or small-names but each of them paints their characters with a reality portrayal - these people ARE the characters they play. I have come to realize that one of the trademarks of a RGV movie is to use actors that have rarely been seen in roles otherwise, leading the viewer into the character without any set expectations/typecasts.

But put all of that aside - and watch Kaykay. He plays the elder son of Sarkar, and does he play it. The director knows that this man can shout out words from his eyes what actors fail to do with their mouths, and uses it to full advantage, much to the delight of cinephiles. There are three distinct shots where the camera focuses on Kaykay's face, and one shows only his eyes. What we see in them is as clear as this text you are reading. The fact that this man does so few movies and so far apart makes his performance much more valued, coz one tends to forget how good an actor he is. Never is his name mentioned among the better actors of India, and would it be even now? I would rate this above Company. The reason? Company was a movie about selective performance - Ajay & Vivek doing it then. But Manisha, being the wonderful actor she is, was nothing more than a distraction. And was Ajay Devgan ever able to shed his *star* from his role? No. As real as the movie's story was, the picturization made it quite 'filmy'.

The only other movie close to Sarkar in the RGV element is Satya - more so coz of the grittiness and lack of deliberate stylization. It stays in the real world creasing out any clichés that would give it a fictionalized feel.

Sarkar is the movie that would be played in the tributes of everyone associated with it, especially Ram Gopal Verma, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishekh Bachchan and Kaykay (if he ever has one).

My Rating --> 4.5/5

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.

I recently read a review on IMDb completely destroying Sarkar. I found it to be quite untrue. This movie is one of the best i have seen. The performances are mind blowing. Its the first time amitabh has been told to underplay his role.Amitabh is incredibly restrained, and his task is to sit there and look simmeringly angry.The first half focuses on the Big B and the second on the smaller one. Abhishek tries to copy his father's angry look from yesteryear and does so brilliantly. Even Kay Kay Menon does a great job as the bad son. Of course credit must go to Ramu who always makes his stars perform. The camera work and the background score keeps you riveted to the movie. Truly a very good movie.

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.