Movie Review

Rating :

Verdict : Watch it for intense performances

Prakash Jha is back again with another engaging political drama in the form of ‘Satyagraha’. The film has an ensemble cast of biggies like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpayee. The film has hit the screens today and let’s see what the director has served up this time.

Story:-

Amitabh Bachchan (Dwarka Anand) is a retired school teacher who has strong moral values and staunchly opposes all the evil forces in the society. Manav (Ajay Devgn), who is a close friend of Dwarka’ son Akhilesh, wants to make it big in the world of business.

Akhilesh, who is married to Sumitra (Amrita Rao), unfortunately dies in an accident. Minister Balram Singh (Manoj Bajpai) announces compensation to be paid to Sumitra for this death and despite repeated attempts from Dwarka, this amount is not paid to Sumitra. One day, Dwarka gets involved in a huge argument in a government office and ends up slapping an arrogant official which leads to his imprisonment.

A visibly upset Manav starts a campaign to free Dwarka and for this he uses the social media, ropes in wannabe politician Arjun Singh (Arjun Rampal) as well as journalist Yasmin (Kareena Kapoor) into the movement.

With time, the movement is actively supported by different students, hungry laborers as well as angry middle class citizens who empathize with the cause. The rest of ‘Satyagraha’ is about the journey of Dwarka and Manav to accomplish their Satyagraha movement towards the corrupt politicians of the country.

Positive points:-

Contrary to reports floating around earlier, Satyagraha is definitely not a sequel to Prakash’s earlier film ‘Raajneeti’. The strongest part about the film is the way in which it creates an awakening against corruption and showcases the power of the youth and the social media in this cause. It is a call that was needed by the masses of the country against the prevailing political crimes, scams, corruption and greedy netas.

Coming to performances, as expected each character confidently carries the movie in their own style. Amitabh Bachchan is his usual self with his stirring performance while Ajay Devgn is convincing as a young man fighting against political fraud. Kareena Kapoor is extremely believable in her character and Amrita Rao looks apt for her role.

Special mention about Manoj Bajpayee who steals the show as the corrupt minister. As expected, his dialogue delivery, expressions and timing is perfect and adds a lot of weight to the film.

While the first half is all about the protagonists march towards a movement, the second half creates awareness about the different ways through which the society can be changed into a better place.

Negative Points:- While Satyagraha is a film that is required in the times we are living, the film is not a genre that is demanded by the masses. In Satyagraha, one cannot expect any entertainment quotient except for Manoj Bajpai who adds in a little bit of humor in a few scenes.

Arjun Rampal has not been given enough scope to showcase his talent. Also, the intimacy shown between Ajay and Kareena could have easily been edited out from the plot.

The weirdest part of the film is when Kareena, who plays a journalist, is allowed to participate in all the confidential political meetings and be a part of the decision making. The climax of the film is not up to the mark and has been stretched unnecessarily.

Technical points:-

The music of the film goes well with the screenplay and the title track easily stands out alongwith the background score. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are top-notch while the cinematography is decent with the camera covering the violence and protests in a realistic manner. The editing is a bit disappointing as a few scenes are disconnected in the second half. Overall, the screenplay is good.

The movie has been exaggerated in a few sequences during the second half and also too much of drama ruins the flow. Prakash Jha has nicely showcased a number of real life incidents such as the Anna Hazare movement, the telecom scam and the people’s reaction against some government initiatives.