Satyagraha Reviews Topic

Satyagraha

Not a day passes when you don't hear/read about rampant scams and corruption, dreadful and appalling crimes, shortage of essential commodities and thick-skinned and power-hungry netasgoing back on their promises. There's no denying that you commence the day by reading/watching mostly miserable news in newspapers/news channels. Prakash Jha, a conscientious film-maker, has always emphasized on narrating stories that mirror actuality, raising pertinent issues that affect the nation. This time, in SATYAGRAHA, the proficient storyteller attempts to depict the anguish in middle class Indians and how this stratum of society is left with no choice but go on recourse to start a movement against corruption and the deceitfulbabus responsible for the mess.

The timing couldn't be more appropriate, for SATYAGRAHA summarizes the mood of the ordinary man and the nation in general. Jha minces no words while flaying and condemning the fraudulent and unscrupulous politicians and the unjust system in a style that's now synonymous with his brand of cinema -- realistic, hard-hitting, forceful -- that leaves a hammer-strong impact.

I wish to affirm that SATYAGRAHA has a striking semblance to Jha's former proficient work RAAJNEETI, but I must also acknowledge that this is Jha's most intensely political film thus far. Right from the abuse of power taking place around us to depicting the ugly underbelly of Indian politics, which, of late, has transformed into big bucks and business, Jha and co-writer Anjum Rajabali make sure they chisel and sculpt the screenplay around the present-day scenario, often borrowing from headlines and episodes that the spectator is acquainted with. In addition, like the well-intended political protest movement sometime back, SATYAGRAHA also portrays the fact that the movement/s ought to be well thought-out and structured to recover from the current scenario.

SATYAGRAHA deals with the movement of the middle class to re-negotiate transparency in democracy. It's the story of a man who is a firm believer of Gandhian principles [Amitabh Bachchan], an ambitious entrepreneur who represents the modern India shining philosophy [Ajay Devgn], a social activist who aims to be a politician [Arjun Rampal], a fearless political journalist [Kareena Kapoor Khan] and a wily politician [Manoj Bajpayee] who uses every means to break the system.

Prakash Jha, one of the finest narrators of political themes, derives inspiration from a number of real-life episodes that occurred in the recent past, but SATYAGRAHA doesn't take sides nor does it favor/denounce any particular politician. In that respect, it's a standalone film that encompasses episodes such as the Anna Hazare movement, the murder of the whistleblower who exposed the road mafia and the telecom scam, besides highlighting the police attack on public and the candle light protests. Also smartly intertwined are intricate relationships amidst the backdrop of politics and corruption to make the goings-on more absorbing and engaging.

Executing a political thriller seems like a cakewalk for Jha, who, by now, is a veteran in this genre of cinema and executes a variety of sequences with aplomb. Note the point in the narrative when Amitabh is released from police custody after Manoj Bajpayee intervenes and the sequence that ensues. There's another pertinent moment between Amitabh and Ajay -- an emotional one, in fact -- which gets you all moist eyed. Similarly, there are several episodes in the second hour that keep you thoroughly hooked to the proceedings... and that includes the culmination, which takes the film to its pinnacle. Besides, Jha smartly bundles in a couple of songs in the narrative, with 'Raske Bhare Tore Naina' [Aadesh Shrivastava] and 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' [Salim-Sulaiman] pepping up the goings-on, especially the latter which has truly strong words that reverberates one's thoughts. Sachin Krishn's cinematography captures the hues and angst with precision. Dialogue are piercing, intense and thought-provoking all through.

SATYAGRAHA is embellished with qualitative performances, with each actor grabbing eyeballs. Both Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgn's characters bear striking correlation to real-life characters, but the capable actors ensure they don't come across as caricatures. Amitabh is incomparable and unmatched yet again, delivering a performance that's easily one amongst his finest in the recent times. He's fantastic and also the scene stealer. Ajay underplays his part brilliantly. He breathes fire where required and handles the poignant moments with extreme care, without going overboard. Kareena is effortless yet again, displaying a natural streak while interpreting her character. Arjun Rampal also stands out in a film that boasts of towering performers. That speaks volumes of his range as an actor of calibre and competence. Manoj Bajpayee is vicious and sadistic to the core, flaunting the evil streak to the optimum. Here's another power-packed performance by this splendid actor. Amrita Rao sparkles in a noteworthy role, leaving a strong impression.

Indraneil Sengupta leaves a mark in a cameo. Vipin Sharma is tremendous yet again. Vinay Apte is top notch. Mugdha Godse doesn't get much scope. Manoj Kolhatkar, Shireesh Sharma, Ajay Trehan and Girish Sahdev are noticeable.

On the whole, SATYAGRAHA is an all-engrossing, compelling drama that mirrors the reality around us. In fact, it's yet another brilliant addition to Prakash Jha's credible repertoire, who has created some of the most politically momentous motion pictures. For the splendid drama and the electrifying dramatic highs, I suggest you must watch this hard-hitting fare. Absolutely recommended!

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India Today
Movie review: 'Satyagraha' timely wakeup call for a wounded nation

IANS Mumbai, August 29, 2013 | UPDATED 12:51 IST

Film: Satyagraha

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee, Arjun Rampal, Amrita Rao

Director: Prakash Jha

Rating: ****




Prakash Jha's "Satyagraha" bears no thematic relation to any of his earlier political dramas. It is certainly not a sequel to his "Raajneeti", as has been reported in some sections of the media. And yes, it is most certainly based on the movement that Anna Hazare started against corruption.

To say that Mr. Bachchan's character Dwarka Anand in "Satyagraha", lovingly called Dadujee by one and all, and Dadujee's turbulent relationship with the go-getting NRI-turned-Gandhian-nationalist Maanav Raghvendra(Devgn) does not bear a resemblance to the Anna Hazare-Arvind Kejriwal equation, would be plain blindness.

What Jha and his very able astute and politically informed co-writer and long-time collaborator Anjum Rajabali have done, is to collect together the thematic threads of Anna Hazare's mass anti-corruption movement and weave it into a gripping, thoughtful, hard-hitting and inspirational drama which contains all the resonances of a newspaper headline, and wrap it up in the semantics of cinema with as little creative violence as possible even while addressing an inherently violent issue.

From the time Jha made his intensely political drama "Damul", there has been a constant strife between the director's personal political ideology and its rendition into cinematically interpreted language. Drama and emotions have always been Jha's bete noire. In his predominantly brutal domain of interpersonal politics, the human drama is played out austerely, often at the cost of squandering away the chance to draw the characters' innerscape in an elaborately-charted schem .

In Jha's "Aarakshan", we had seen that trademark emotional austerity in the way he portrayed Mr. Bachchan's relationship with his screen-daughter Deepika Padukone. In "Satyagraha", one feels the relationship between Mr. Bachchan's character and his widowed daughter-in-law (Amrita Rao) could have gone a little further.

But then Mr. Bachchan is the kind of extraordinary actor who can say so much about his character's emotional environment in the most meagre playing-time. Here, he has that one moment with Amrita Rao when hearing her sob in the dead of the night, he goes into her room to console her... And we know the kind of deep bonding this powerful patriarch shares with his cruelly widowed Bahu.

There is little time for emotions in Jha's world of politics and national awakening. Dwarka Anand gets just one sequence to show how much he misses his son. It's the moment when he returns to the scene of his son's death... The father's anguish here is palpable, throbbing with unexpressed grief. And then before we can wallow in the moment, Jha's editor Santosh Mandal mercilessly tears us away from this poignant scene of a father's loss.

In my favourite sequence, Mr. Bachchan shares a son-like camaraderie with Devgn's character telling him how he would miss Devgn when he leaves the next day. It is a deeply contemplative moment where Devgn reacts to Mr. Bachchan's supple emotions with rare care and attention.

Hold on to these infrequent episodes of emotional expression in this turbulent tale of awakening the nation's conscience where there is no room for individual's self-indulgence. In fact, Devgn's growing fondness for the TV journalist Yasmin Ahmed(Kareena Kapoor, lighting up every frame) and the sudden burst of a acutely romantic song seems to belong to some other time-zone.

You see, there's the business of the country's future to be attended to. And who better at creating a cinema of socio-political reform than Prakash Jha? The director constantly wrenches away from his individuals' personal feelings to focus on the broader picture.

Jha's narration gets busy with the business of swooping down on huge crowds of anxious restless people looking for a way out of the country's scam-frozen destiny. It's a world built on the premise of socio-political reform that Mahatma Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narain dreamt of and Anna Hazare attempted to bring to fruition.

There's an abundance of references to mobilisation of youth power through the Internet and mobile. "Satyagraha" probes and questions the validity and motivation of any mass movement that is born out of an inividual's genuine passion for reform. The pitfalls of such a mass movement are brought into play with a vingery mixture of broad drama and subtle humour.

It is no coincidence that the film's arch-villain is a politiciam portrayed as a kind of evil clown. Manoj Bajpayee plays the scummy 'scammy' brazely corrupt politician with lipsmacking relish. His smirky villainous neta act works as a perfect foil to Mr. Bachchan's controlled never overdone messianic act.

Devgn, in the all important role of the ambitious entrepreneur who becomes a catalyst for social change, could have taken his character much further down the road of self-articulation. On the other hand, Arjun Rampal has limited scope as a goonda-turned-self-appointed youth leader. He has great fun sinking his teeth into the rustic accent and boorish body language.

While the three main actors play off with each other with supple grandeur, some other supporting actors and characters are played at much too broad a pitch to be effective. When a corrupt policeman takes off his uniform to join the mass movement, you feel the script is teetering dangerously towards over-idealism.

But the message must be, and is, loud and clear. It is time for the nation to chase away damnation before it's too late. Jha's film is a timely wakeup warning, a massive clarion call for the conscience, brilliantly manifested in Prasoon Joshi's title song which tells us enough is enough, and listen... getting Gandhian on the cancerous community of corrupt politicians is a symptom of cowardice.

"Satygraha" conveys the uncontrollable anger and energy of a nation on the brink. For telling it like it is and for creating a compelling film out of the raw material of present-day corruption, the film deserves a standing ovation.
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