Sarkar

Director: Ram Gopal Varma

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, Supriya Pathak, Rukhsar, Katrina Kaif, Tanishaa, Anupam Kher, Kota Srinivasan Rao, Ishrat Ali, Zakir Hussain, Ravi Kale, Jeeva

6/10

Year 1972. francis ford Coppola sets a trend by stylising the underworld with Mario Puzo’s Godfather. Filmed in foreboding tones, Godfather took us into the lurid world of the mafia, where the boss Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) was at the helm of things. The film was 175 minutes long and each ticking minute was as absorbing as the last and by the time the film was over, we felt that icy chill in our bones (having seen the sheer brutality and the methods of the Mafia ways) mixed with the warmth and admiration for Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and the rest of the artistes who held us for almost three hours with never-seen-before performances.

Year 2005. Ram Gopal Varma copies a trend that has been already copied a million times over the last 33 years. He calls it Sarkar.

Like FFC, RGV maintains the silence, the methods, the foreboding tones and, of course, he has the company of the emperor (Mr B) and the prince (Master B). The emperor delivers as usual, and so does the prince (Abhishek is brilliant), but their deliverables are not enough to save Sarkar from toppling down and if I am right, it will not fall with a bang, but will fade away in a whimper.

The reason being RGV’s decision to copy Godfather. At a time when remakes of lesser-known films are making it big, RGV felt he could pull a similar one with perhaps the greatest mafia epic ever filmed.

Of course, RGV was wrong. He is the one who has inspired innumerable directors like me with Satya, Shiva, Rangeela, Company, Bhoot, etc and yet he disappoints us with perhaps the most long-awaited film in recent times.

Sarkar lacks content and there is nothing new in the drama it offers. I personally felt Sarkar bleeds because the director wanted to wrap it up within two hours. An acting duel between the two brothers (Abhishek and Kay Kay) could have been a treat for the viewers and with a little more time, Sarkar would have breathed h(w)ealthier! (Even FFC took three hours!)

As a follower of the emperor, I think it was great to watch Mr B’s sheer persona resonate in silence. Abhishek proves his mettle. So does Kay Kay. But Amit Roy’s cinematography did not inspire me much and the background score does not add much value to Sarkar.

The two reasons to watch Sarkar then. First, to listen to the sound of silence of Amitabh Bachchan, and second, to see how the legacy of Sarkar changes hands slowly from Amitabh to Abhishek, from father to son ? in reel life as well as in real.

RINGO