Sarkar Raj - Movie Review

Published: October 10, 2009

By JENNIFER HOPFINGER

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Victor Banerjee, Tanisha Mukherjee, Supriya Pathak

While Sarkar Raj is the sequel to Sarkar, which was based on The Godfather, this film was not based on The Godfather Part II, although there are many allusions to it. In this sequel, the father, Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan), is alive and well and still calling the shots, but he’s preparing to hand over the reins to his son, Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan), who’s now deeply entrenched in the family business he once eschewed.

As the story progresses, Shankar becomes less of a clear-cut surrogate for Michael and more of a curious amalgamation of all three Corleone brothers. Actress Tanisha Mukherjee returns as Avantika, Shankar’s Apollonia, and Supriya Pathak does a wonderful job reprising the role of Shankar’s mother, Pushpa.

 

Enter Anita (played by Abhishek’s real-life wife Aishwarya Rai)—and she’s no compliant Kay, but tough and sharp, playing with the big boys in her power suits—Shankar’s equal in every way. She’s the head of a London-based electric power company, and she reports to her father, Mike (Victor Banerjee), who regards her as more of a business partner than a daughter.

 

The characters are fascinating and the performances top-notch, but the plot—involving shady businessmen, corrupt politicians, and gangsters jockeying for position in a lucrative deal—is as dry as day-old toast. Anita and Mike are angling to build a power plant in a rural area in the state of Maharashtra. The project would involve resettling tens of thousands of villagers, and they appeal to Sarkar for his political influence. Sarkar doesn’t like the proposal, but Shankar does, and the nearly retired father capitulates to his son. Rounding up the support they need is, of course, arduous and violent. Yawn.

 

The end is somewhat redeeming, though, as the director leaves his characters in a shockingly different place than Coppola did in the second Godfather installment.

 

There has been speculation that the director of Sarkar and Sarkar Raj, Ram Gopal Varma, may make a third chapter—in the spirit of The Godfather trilogy. Rumor has it that the film will include two storylines in different time periods, like The Godfather Part II—one in which Abhishek will play the young, up-and-coming Sarkar, and the other in which Amitabh will play the aging Sarkar, who is grooming his grandson, Chiku (Vishnu’s son from the first film), to take his place. Actors Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor are reportedly being considered to play Chiku.

Sarkar Raj is rated Worth Watching.

Community - News - Reviews - Commentary - About