Sarkar - A Counter-Review
I watched the Hindi movie Sarkar a while back. However many people I know hated it. Why? Because they compared it to one of the best movies ever made ... The Godfather. Here is a review I wrote to counter the bad reviews it received from a couple of others.
Mario Puzo created waves when he wrote The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola used this masterpiece and created another; albeit on celluloid rather than in text. Although this movie is rated as one of the best ever made, people say does not do justice to its textual brethren. Can one truly replicate a masterpiece and be safe from being judged through the jaded glasses that one wears when reviewing the replication? No.
Sarkar was RGV's attempt to pay tribute to a masterpiece that set such dizzying standards that can never truly be reached. So about the movie Sarkar. When I was about to watch it, I expected little of the movie. After all rip-offs can never be good. It starts off with an introduction which could have literally been torn out of its inspiration, although with a Hindi voiceover and a place that is improbably an Indian town. A grieving father pours out details of his travesty to the "Sarkar" aka Abhishek Nagre.
The events that unfold are not dissimilar to the Godfather. However there is something about this film that grabs your attention and keeps it as you watch it. As time passes you wait for the movie to fall apart, but this one that surprisingly does not. It flows through at a good pace moving from scene to scene at a decent speed that pulls the story along with it. It is assumed that the audience has enough knowledge about the underworld and its workings to move along without explaining it all.
Of course being a Hindi movie there is the occasional over actor and overkill without which it would be too bland a fare for the Indian audience. As the movie shifts into the second half you still wait for it to fall apart as others have, but again it seamlessly shifts into the workings of Abhishek Bachchan (playing Al Pacino's role) as the son who is thrown among the lions while the scheming, plotting baddies down Abhishek Nagre.
The transformation of Abhishek into the new Sarkar is very well orchestrated. Eventually all's well that ends well and there is a new "Sarkar" in town, but even the end has a hint of class to it.
Is this movie a masterpiece? No. Can it even be considered to be a great movie? No way. Is it a good movie? Definitely. Compared to what is considered to be a hit movie nowadays, it stands head and shoulders above the rest. A truly watchable movie with some catchy background music edited into all the right places to highlight many scenes.
Kay Kay Menon who acts as the estranged eldest son does a wonderful job and steals the show in my book. It is definitely worth a watch and quite comparable to some of the other good movies that have come out of Bollywood.
5 comments:
Nice review. Though I'm surprised that you know so many people who hated it. The movie's done quite well and was one of the box-office toppers of last year. Well, I don't care as such about all that. I liked the movie and yes, the ending was very classy. The scene in which Sarkar sends out his men to bash the guy who's raped the daughter is quite something. One of the men hits him on the head and the 'supervisor' of the gang is quick to point out "Udhar mat maar. Jaldi mar jaayega." The whole bashing process is so well organized and the execution of the scene leaves the viewer quite dazed.
P.S.
SOMEBODY gonna be reading your blog ... SOMEBODY ... That was supposed to be Russell Peters style btw, in case it wasn't already realized ... :)
The review is positive and reflects open mind.
Please help me understand when you say in the earlier part of your commentary, quote:
"When I was about to watch it, I expected little of the movie"
Later quote:
"As time passes you wait for the movie to fall apart, but this one that surprisingly does not."
Again later you say quote:
"...As the movie shifts into the second half you still wait for it to fall apart ..."
How do I reconcile the statement that you expect little but you wait for the movie to fall apart???
Let me have your views.
Good review. Hema
What I meant by saying that was that although the movie had been good until then, I expected it to become boring after that that. Most hindi movies start off well and then after the first half inexplicably become stale. The story does not move and becomes fixated on one topic, therefore transforming an otherwise good movie into a bad one.
Interesting review. It analyzes the differences between the styles of the two movies - it is impossible to capture the spirit of the original in a replica because the latter is a copy; it already lacks the intrigue of the original, not to mention the fact that expectations are high.
One of the things I loved about the Godfather was the measured pace of the movie - every scene of the movie was carefully plotted out with brief moments of extreme action to highlight the plot; not having watched 'Sarkar,' based on other movies like this, I'd guess that the director left out the subtleties which made the Godfather so successful. Those nuances go a long way towards differentiating a great and good movie... wouldn't you say so??? - Veena
Maybe so. But you have to be very careful with nuances. Especially in Indian cinema as they tend to grow roots and take off in a completely different direction.
It's better to be focused and concentrate on the main theme sometimes, rather than try something that you are not confident about.
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