Reviewed by Anjli
Hindu Voice UK, August 2008

“Sarkar Raj” is the latest outing by Ram Gopal Varma, the director of the biggest flop of recent times, “Aag”. But we should not forget that he was also the one to give us some super hit films like Company, Satya, Rangeela and Sarkar, of which this movie is the sequel.

As many will be aware, Sarkar and Sarkar Raj are modeled on Godfather trilogy. Not being a great fan of Indian remakes of Hollywood greats, Sarkar was in fact a pleasant surprise. The storyline is adequately modified to make the films realistic in the Indian setting.

Set in Maharashtra, Sarkar Raj starts of with Shankar Nagre (Abhishek Bachchan) as the emerging don, taking over the mantle from Subhash Nagre, also known as Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan). The family is revered by the public, and everything is going well for them having conquered their adversaries. But trouble brews as some individuals who envy and covet their fame and power launch quite a sly and clever plan to defame them.

A foreign company is trying to build India’s largest power plant in Maharashtra. The building of the plant would cause several villages to have to be vacated of all its inhabitants. These villages are home to quite a militant people who are likely to do some serious rioting at the prospect of having to vacate their ancestral homes. The Nagre family is brought in to help broker a deal. Their involvement fuels a political war. It is not clear exactly who is on who’s side, and there is plenty of suspense as the plot unfolds.

The first half of the film is slow but the second picks up pace with plenty of surprises to keep viewers engrossed. As usual Amitabh Bachchan takes the screen with his fine and excellent acting. Ashiwarya Rai has a prominent role, but she seemed unnatural and out of place. Abhishek Bachchan is too arrogant and cocksure of himself, but quite suitable for his role (its good that he gets bumped off half way through – the overconfidence of his character is almost asking for it). The love-angle between Ashwarya and Abhishek is a bit dodgy - just a matter of a few days after his pregnant wife is killed, who he is shown previously to love very much.

The Hindu elements in the film add a very authentic touch to the storyline, even more so than in Sarkar. The theme song Govinda sets the tone for this. The style and mannerisms of both the good and bad sides of the conflict are largely rooted in Hindu ethos, and the flags, riots, relationships etc also reflect this.

Overall it’s a good movie to watch – different from the regular Bollywood stuff, i.e. either comedy or romantic films. There are certain things that are over the top but again that’s Bollywood – it’ll always be like that.