Sarkar (Lost opportunity) !!!

phantom

So, finally I went and watched a new hindi movie. Since its RamGopal Verma's movie, I was anticipating a good take on "Godfather". But, i was dissappointed. The opening scenes were quite good and you could feel the chills when the guys who manhandled the girl were beaten up by the goons of "Godfather". But after that everything started going haywire. The background score was too loud and overdone, I got tired of the chants of "Govinda Govinda" in the end. Santino's whole character has been changed. Even Michael's character been docored.. I mean c'mon RGV, this is a cult novel we are talking about and you have Coppola's classic movie to compete with. Gone from the movie, Tom Hagen, Luca brasi, Freddo, Johnny ..!!! Godfather without the entry of "Luca Brasi".. !!
And you wont believe it when you see Santino, attempting to murder the godfather .. huff.. puff !!

In the end, if you dont know about the novel and havent watched the Coppola's one, then you might pass it as an OK film. But you dont expect RGV to make a film like that.. This movie had so much potential but all wasted. RGV seems to be on decline. I saw the trailers of the forthcoming releases from his stable, "James", "My wife's murder" and they all looked dissappointing. Is it the beginning of the end of RGV ?????? (I hope not)

lonelyaztec

RGV is good with bringing out the best in women...antari mali, urmila..etc etc...who is his latest muse ?

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rangss

Phantom...you should have left Godfather at home when you went to the movie. How could you expect RGV to remake Godfather frame by frame...Sarkar is more of a take on Bal Thackeray and his family than a Godfather series movie.

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...and I took the road less travelled.

phantom

Yeah rangss.. You are right actually, I had left Godfather at home, but for the remarks of RGV in the beginning of the movie that its inspired from the Godfather that made all those memories come back !!!!

LonelyAztec, you are right about the female part. Ramu has launched another screen scorcher in Sarkar (I dont remember her name) , she plays a film actress in "Sarkar". She is also starring in the next RGV production "James" as a lead actress. She is a delicious bombshell, people will forget urmila after that movie !!!!!

natasha chanda acharya

Wow!
Watched Sarkar over the weekend.
Really amazing "film".
It is the best cinematography I have seen in recent times.
The kind of shots and the lighting used was totally mindblowing.
Even in well shot movies, you find one or two important scenes shot like that.
But this whole ******* movie was shot in this classic format.
Not just the interior shots but even street shots.
Amit Roy has done magical things with the lights and the camera.
The entire film has taken on a texture becase of his genius.
I found the film to be brilliantly made.
It was such a crisp editing. Not one superflous scene.
No non-intelligent justifications, and ramblings.
No song, not even an item no.
It was fast-paced and crisp and totally cool.
Excellent acting by everyone.
Was good to see Supriya Patakh on the big screen after a long time.
Except for the Sadhu who was a little cliched with his hair flicking and all, everything was so real.
A brilliant production.
Each and every prop was thought out and relevent.
An excellent movie.
A definite treat for those who are into photography or cinematography.
I cannot finish without saying Abhishek is sooooo hot.
Just brilliant!!!

tornado989

I liked Sarkar a lot, because of few reasons...

one - my fav. actor Amitabh was 'sarkar'.... whatta performance!!

two - powerful storyline... RGV is an awesome director... (plz. no comparisons with Godfather)

three - Abhishek is getting better with each movie, people! ... His style of walk at the end of the movie... reminds me of Amitabh in Agneepath...

four - Kay Kay Menon is a damn good actor!

phantom - wasnt one the actresses in the movie was Tanisha?? (Kajol's sister).. i might be wrong...

phantom

Yep, the girl who played the love interest of Abhishek after Katrina split with him, she's tanisha. But I must admit, she looked better in the newspaper than in the movie

Most of the actors had played out their part really well.. and technically it was brilliant apart from that deafening background score. But I must say again, there was zero emotional quotient in the movie.

It is becoming like a trademark of Ramu's movies... Excellent production values, good acting but weak stories. That's what happened with "Naach", "D", "Gayab". People might watch sarkar for Bachchan duo but I would anyday prefer KAUN or a SATYA over SARKAR.

Anyways, watched (Godfather I-II) this weekend (again) and like 'em more now..

spitze_udz

First of all to put an end to the never ending debate to the Sarkar
Vs Godfather, this is NOT a Godfather and can never be one, thanks to
it's over-hyped characterisation, thin plot & most importantly an
underplayed protagonist. When you see a director of the class of RGV
making statements like "I wanted to make this movie from 25 yrs ...
This is my best movie so far ..."., your clinical analysis should be
prefect ... without any prejudice.

First of all, why do you think Godfather is a bible of sorts for many young
directors? Put it simply, its characterisation, its drama & powerful
dialogues set amidst a realistically paced screenplay. Of course we
need not copy Godfather but what we need to understand is the essence
of film-making taken from the Godfather saga. RGV himself has
attributed his inspiration from this film by which I will assume he
does justice to its style of film-making. Unfortunately he disappoints
in many sectors.

1) The PLOT

The whole plot of the movie is about two things - killing Sarkar &
taking revenge on Sarkar's assassination attempt. This is where the
film fails to justify its protagonist's role. Where have you seen
Sarkar;s character growing.., sharing his principles with the family,
where did you see Sarkar's treatment of the business, where is it
captured the nuances of the character building?

In fact the first 15 mins is the only place where Sarkar has been
portrayed well. The rest just sidelines the main theme - SARKAR to a
mere revenge, plot killing saga of hero vs villain.

2) Too many villains.

This is a conventional storyline with too many caricatures throwing in
as Goons. OK., now for comparison with Godfather(mind you this is just
the style of film-making & not the actual film), have you seen a
single villain glorified in the whole trilogy? The whole crux was on
Godfather & his son, how they manage the business. SIMPLE. You don't
throw in loud music, lots of characters to over emphasise a bad guy.
This is absolute cliché. Too many reels wasted on showing the bad guys
when its not so important to show them.

3) Too loud music.

Whatever happened with RGV, he seems to be choosing the wrong person
for BG score these days. Amar Mohile is annoying and irritating most
of the times. He doesn't know that adding music for every scene
actually spoils the impact & effect. Besides if you notice, there are
4-5 instruments used in the same scene ( Sitar, classical, dhol,
violin. synths .., which change the mood of the film in seconds). For
a dark movie, you only need violin & bass. or else no music. Perhaps
ar rahman or Sandeep Chowta are the only ones who know the basics in
this dept.

4) Underplayed characters.

As mentioned, Sarkar is underplayed. There is not much scope or role
for him after 45 mins of the movie. & for all those who are praising
AB's acting skills., they need to justify the same. There isn't much
scope for him in this. I don't remember a single powerful, yet subtle
dialogue from him in this movie. It's a shame that a protagonist
himself is underplayed. The only person who exemplified in acting in
this movie was Kay Kay. Absolutely brilliant !!! But unfortunately we
don't see much of his character being built up after the interval
which is bad. There could have been so much scope to his dark shaded
side. Abhishek is good, nothing extra ordinary again. (Yuva has much
larger scope & its still his best)

There was so much talk about Sarkar's "power". Unfortunaltey Amitabh
looks helpless, throughout the movie. He seems to be dependent on his
sons & associates & post interval is a mere waste for his role. This
is where RGV loses balance & focus. This movie is all about SARKAR &
his power (Remember Satya?) not his chamchas, not the villains, not
his sons., not the plot. So bingo ! You are lost again.

5) Ending.

A shabby ending which sounds quite banal. Son kills goons., takes over
& he is now the DON. In fact they waste 30 mins of reel (in the 120
mins) just to show the chasing, revenge killing which was all
unnecessary. (could have done in 5 mins)

The bottomline is RGV like many others fail to understand why
Godfather is such a prodigy in film-making. In an attempt to make an
adaptation they only take the principle characters & leave behind the
characterisation & the plot. But yes, there are a few good moments in
the film which deserver an applause, for ex., Abhisheks reaction when
he kills his bro etc. The cinematography is brilliant with it's black
n grey shades.

Talking of adaptations., "Nayakan" is a far better adaptation than
Sarkar. In fact you will be taken aback by the power, performance,
story & direction of that movie. Sarkar doesn't even come close to it.
Sarkar fails on both the grounds - Godfather adaptation as well as
RGV's capability (Just to mention, Satya still is a cult movie &
remains his best direction till date). RGV probably is suffering from
a post satya syndrome where he is self assuming his films to be near
perfection, sadly they are lost in the pipeline.

rangss

One thing for sure...no one can make another Godfather....ever!

somnath

Right, no oneliners like Sholay. But - Nazdik ke faide se pahele dur ki luksan dekhna chaihiye.
(Trying to convey the message: - “first think about losses may come in the long run rather than immediate profit”.)
- This is one of the unique features of this film. Not dependent on vocal jugglery. Facial expressions and body language speaks a lot unlike traditional Hindi movies where dialogs are the one and only medium of expression. So far I can remember Big B shouted once in the whole film when police came to arrest him and some one from the gathered crowed throws a stone to the police jeep and policemen accepts the challenge, Sarkar asks to stop.
The sheer power - the strong existence of Srakar is represented very clearly without making unnecessary vocal noise.
Small and ‘nothing great’ story but beautifully crafted. Good movie !!!! congratulations Ramu.

Paagla Dashu

Sarkar

My take:

Clever cionematography
Brilliant Art Direction
Superb acting by Amitabh, KK Menon and Supriya Pathak
Disappointing acting by Avishek
Shabby script - like most other copies
Too predictable (because its a copy)
Direction - trying to be too clever while copying - will appeal to high-brow pseudo-intellectual movie-goers
Overall - Wasted acting talent in a boring narrative
Rating - 2/5

Virudh
Superb Script
Simple but realistic cinematography and art direction
Mind-blowing performance bby Amitabh - much better than what he does in Sarkar
Weak climax
Direction - M Manjarekar shows where his true strength lies
Overall - A story that makes one think and remember - without relying on clever shots like Sarkar
Rating - 4/5

Chandra

I have to say I liked it. And later, when I have more time, I may even say why.