Rachel Saltz of The New York Times wrote that the film jumped from scene to scene, easily resting the blame on the the screenplay for the faulty narrative. But, for me, this very feature of the movie let it redeem itself from all the other less intriguing segments. The fast pace of the film and parallels to the Indian epic Mahabharat are the reasons I write in support of the movie.

The Mahabharat was a story of the Kuru family who ruled Hastinapur. It was about the power struggle and the fight of good and evil between two branches of the family, the Pandavs and Kauravs. Both the Pandavs and Kauravs had flaws, but the Pandavs were clearly the good guys. They stood with the truth, and had God on their side (literally). The Kauravs, on the other hand, personified evil. Samar and Prithvi (Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal) represented the Pandavs, while Veerendra and Sooraj (Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgan) symbolized the Kauravs. Devgan’s character in particular was an accurate reflection of Karan from the Mahabharat, who was also the illegitmate child of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavs.

Unlike the Mahabharat, it is hard to argue that one side– either the Pandavs or Kauravs, are inherently “good.”  Arjun Rampal’s character was obviously flawed– his relationship with Shruti Seth’s character, his violent streak, his refusal to let a Dalit run for election and his thirst for power were all qualities that don’t match up with the famously moral Pandavs. It was unclear as to why Katrina Kaif’s character believed he had a “good” heart. His love for his brother and his failed attempt to save his brother’s girl friend did not make him a good person, but definitely a compelling character.

Samar, Ranbir Kapoor’s character, also had too many shades of darkness to be accurately matched up with the most famous Pandav, Arjun. Bajpai and Devgan together did have darker shades than their counterparts, but the stunning difference of a lack of truly moral figures from the Mahabharat is notable, and one of my favorite themes in the film. It was a deliberate and brilliant move by Jha. Frank Lovece of Film Journal International stated that the film “becomes so ridiculous and over-the-top violent that there is nobody, nobody, to root for.” For me, this was one of the saving graces of the film. Jha’s message that politics doesn’t have room for heroes was accurately conveyed, even more so, with the use of the Mahabharat.

The characters in Rajneeti played politicians, yet none showed any compassion or responsibility toward their constituents– they were all selfish, all greedy, and all power hungry. At the end, Kapoor’s character stated that politics can only bring the darkness from inside of you, and he has a point. It was a pessimistic message about Indian politics, one that differed from Mani Ratnam’s Yuva.

In Jha’s film, he conveyed that in the modern era of politics, it’s all a power struggle– there is no virtuous Yuddhishtir, no politicians who stand who work for the greater good. There are some who are more evil than others, but circumstances did play a hand (as seen through Devgan’s story). According to Jha’s film– in politics today, there are only Kauravs.

The film’s storyline and performance by Arjun Rampal were delightful. Katrina Kaif’s performance and storyline were weak and almost destroyed the film. Oh, and I must note that her character bares no significant resemblance to Sonia Gandhi.

Overall, Rajneeti was a compelling story, and due to a lackluster Bollywood year, I’m glad that a film that relied on a good script and strong performances outdid some other less deserving films that pulled strong box office numbers (cough, My Name is Khan, Housefull, cough). This movie also deserves merit because major Bollywood stars took a risk by making a dialogue-heavy film that wasn’t too commercial. It was nice to see Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and even Katrina Kaif act in a film that was very different from anything they had done before. Kapoor’s career in particular is becoming more intriguing by the day.

Because Bollywood seems mythological obsessed these days (Raavan releases on June 19), stay tuned for a post about Kalyug, Shyam Benegal’s 1981 film starring Shashi Kapoor– also an adaption of Mahabharat.