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List of Rajneeti Movie Reviews
Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Rajeev Masand Site:IBNLive
"Raajneeti", directed by Prakash Jha, is a compelling drama about a family in politics. It's about the extent people will go to, driven by a greed for power and a thirst for revenge.Deliciously dramatic, and packed with sinister twists and turns, the film's plot and characters are rooted in "The Mahabharata", although parallels with "The Godfather" are hard to ignore. Jha's film relies on the solid performances of its ensemble cast to distract your attention from its many lapses. The film's first half is immensely engaging, the various machinations making for thrilling entertainment. It's in the second half that "Raajneeti" stumbles. At 2 hours and roughly 50 minutes in running time, "Raajneeti" is way too long and demands much patience on your part. But it's held up by a string of credible performances. In the end "Raajneeti" is thrilling and gripping for the most part, even though it does lose steam in its final act. And as far as politics goes, it doesn't tell you very much more than you didn't already know. Still I'm going with three-and-a-half out of five for director Prakash Jha's "Raajneeti". For the superb acting, and for the exciting dramatic highs, it's a film I recommend you do not miss.Visit Site for More
Ratings:4/5 Reviewer:Taran Adarsh Site:BollywoodHungama
To me, RAAJNEETI is a human drama, a complex game that people indulge in to achieve power and how this greed envelopes them and transforms them into ruthless and conniving humans. I admit, it takes time for the story to sink in, but slowly and steadily, you get sucked into a world that's dark, dangerous and demonish. Final word? Prakash Jha, the persona, is known for qualitative cinema and RAAJNEETI, his new offering, stands tall on the list. Cinema is all about narrating interesting stories on celluloid and for that very reason, RAAJNEETI deserves distinction marks. Of course, the massive star cast and the sparkling performances are the icing on the cake. I strongly advocate this film. Do yourself a favour: Watch RAAJNEETI.Visit Site for More
Ratings:4/5 Reviewer:Nikhat Kazmi Site:TimesOfIndia
Raajneeti marks the return of twist-and-turn drama to contemporary cinema, which indeed is a refreshing turn of events. The film basically anchors its plot in two classic tales -- The Mahabharata and The Godfather -- to create an engrossing diatribe on India's political system where democracy may prevail, but not in its purest form. Dynasty, lawlessness, violence and misuse of power are the ugly underbelly of India's not-so-clean political framework where the battle for the ballot is waged almost like war: unprincipled, belligerent and bloody. Take time out for a serious and compelling celluloid experience. Don't miss Raajneeti.Visit Site for More
Ratings:2/5 Reviewer:Khalid Mohammed Site:Passionforcinema
Is Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti — an overbloated, over-hyped, self-proclaimed allegory on the Mahabharata. In fact, the result’s one enormous 19-reeler punishment of a movie, a harangue which revels in the cliches of corruption, police venality,media ’stupidity’, furtive sex and gleeful violence. you can even amble out of the auditorium for a stroll, return, and you won’t miss anything. Except maybe an extra scowl or two from the mega-furious Manoj Bajpai. The ‘story’ is a cat’s cradle of confusion, complication and perspiration. Occasionally, it is an unintentional hoot, too.Incontestably Rajneeti, or whatever there is of it, belongs to Ranbir Kapoor. He is excellent – intelligent and restrained in an enterprise which is strictly average, never mind its star roster, extravagant resources and bulldozer publicity. Suggestion: instead rent The Godfather DVD or — never thought, I’d live to say this – Sarkar.Bottomwhine: Need an ice-pack for a headache.Visit Site for More
Ratings:3.5/5 Reviewer:Gaurav Malani Site:Indiatimes
Prakash Jha is the best in business when it comes to handling political drama. While his Hindi heart-belt dialogues and political jargons add authenticity to the film, at times it may be difficult for the audience to appreciate the proceedings. Nevertheless his storytelling is simple, effective and gripping never letting you lose the film for any moment. The hypocrisy of the two-faced politicians that he brings out through the film, as they smile externally and scheme internally is admirable. Also while having a star-studded cast, at no point does he exploit the heroism of his stars but focuses only on the performance of his actors.Raajneeti is an absolutely performance driven film and Jha not only extracts excellent performances from his cast but also balances each role so that no actor overshadows the other. Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti is a politically correct tribute to Mahabharat. Absolutely recommended!Visit Site for More
Ratings:1.5/5 Reviewer:Raja Sen Site:Rediff
Raajneeti, essentially Sarkar Raj minus Amitabh Bachchan, is a hyperactive drama given to much yelling and little thought. The screenplay is weak, manipulative and every possible kind of lazy, with an omniscient narrator who vanishes after a while, a slew of unbelievably one-note characters, clunky dialogue that often lapses into something from period cinema, and bloody deaths thrown in every few scenes to kickstart the drama in this exhausting 3-hour film.All that buzz about The Mahabharata, you ask? Well, there is a reason it worked so well as a Sunday morning TV show. Raajneeti, unsubtly and conveniently labelling its characters Karan, Duryodhana, Krishna, tries so hard to maintain their epic arcs while relating them to the sweep of this gun-toting film that it's weighed down by far, far too much plot.Visit Site for More
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer:Anupama Chopra Site:NDTV
Raajneeti, writer-director Prakash Jha’s sprawling portrait of a political family, is a mixed bag. The film has moments of ferocious power and just as many flaws. The narrative has a propulsive movement in the first half but becomes dramatically inert in the second. Jha, who has fought elections in Bihar himself, creates a real sense of the machinations and sordid deals that fuel politics but then hobbles it with outlandish twists and some decidedly ‘filmy’ moments.In its second hour, Raajneeti lets go of logic. We know that politics is an amoral, brutal cesspool but even so, leading politicians themselves murdering their rivals on a street in broad daylight is a bit of a stretch.Eventually then, Raajneeti is as exhausting as it is compelling.Visit Site for More
Ratings:3/5 Reviewer:Mayank Shekar Site:HindustanTimes
I suspect, we’re unlikely to get a more authentically insider account of the intrigues within state politics, suited still for blockbuster cinema. Jha also knows a thing or two about producing shock and awe on screen. This helps.What does the film in more than slightly is, but, the sheer commercial relentlessness of its drama. The ambition of its sweep screws this up alone. This problem has as much to do with silly diktats of a mainstream multi-starrer as with the size of the Hindu epic the film supposes to borrow from.What you sense here instead then is an over-dramatic, over-written screenplay: an over-boiled egg.Just to let you in on a mental note I made smilingly stepping out of this film’s interval: “You so know it when you’re watching one of the most powerful Bollywood dramas ever!” I wish I could say that for the rest of the movie. Well. Halfway there then, I guessVisit Site for More
Ratings:2/5 Reviewer:Shubhra Gupta Site:IndianExpress
`Raajneeti’ starts by trying to give us a throbbingly-alive picture of things as they are today, but ends up becoming stodgy and diluted in its attempt to accommodate A-list stars. .Jha’s best work has come from being mean and lean. And from being located in Bihar, and its specificities : nowhere else in the country can you get kidnapped for a lousy hundred bucks. Here, the director shifts out, and loses his edge. He also tries stuffing in too much, resulting in a messy, overdone storyline.`Raajneeti’ could have been the film of the year. It had the potential, and the actors, but it comes together only intermittently. This is not the Prakash Jha who has made some of the most politically resonant films in Hindi cinemaVisit Site for More
