Sarkar

When the system fails... A power will rise. A Made in Bollywood Mafia saga? A remake of The Godfather? Why not, actually? And in certain respects this is a surprising remake and, it could be said, well-made. The different setting makes it interesting and is a sufficient excuse for making the movie, despite occasional inevitable concessions to Indian peculiarities. Logically, good casting of “Don Vito", alias the head of the Nagre family, is essential for the success of the movie. But, no worries in that respect. His casting was a stroke of genius. Amitabh Bachchan commands natural respect even before he opens his mouth. The problem about this movie doesn’t lie with him. However, the problem lies with most of the remaining cast. There is no point in commenting on their “performances". And I found the music very tiresome. The music itself is great, I might even buy the soundtrack, but it is simply incredibly badly used. Simple leafing through the morning papers is accompanied by such bombastic music that you would have thought you are witnessing a fundamental moment in world cinema. But also, last but not least, it has a really strange composition of shots and the directing is just weird. Ram Gopal Varma doesn’t manage to enthrall you in the story even for one moment, instead he keeps you on the outside of any action or emotion. Apart perhaps from the very beginning. That worked exceptionally well. Overall it is an interesting project and if you watch it with the expectation of nothing more than a "B-movie" off-shoot of The Godfather, maybe you’ll get something from this. Maybe. (2008.02.02)

A very interesting Indian version of Godfather with Bachchan and Bachchan. It features excellent filmmaking fetishizing all shades of beige.... The atmosphere is only dragged down by Swami's perpetual sneers and the overly frequent switching to English, which could have been more subdued in such an environment. The plot manages to draw audiences in despite various clichés, and I would credit the purposefulness of the OST to the whole narrative style. I was also looking forward to the sequel with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for a long time and it paid off. I can honestly recommend both films, one being better than the other. In retrospect, I also consider the supporting roles for Katrina Kaif to be a breakout. (2009.08.04)