The second film I’m focussing on is Prakash Jha’s controversial 2010 movie Rajneeti. The IFFI opening night centrepiece film, which will be attended by the director himself, Rajneeti is a complex tale of political intrigue and betrayal.
Bharti Rai (Nikhila Trikha), the daughter of Chief Minister Ramnath Rai, rebels against her father and joins the rival party of leftist leader Bhaskar Sanyal (Naseeruddin Shah). Bharti develops an illicit relationship with the much older Bhaskar, who leaves her but not before getting her pregnant. Upon the child’s birth, Bharti’s brother Brij abandons him in a boat .
Bharti later marries Chandra Pratap (Chetan Pandit), the younger brother of Bhanu Pratap, who leads the Rashtrawadi political party. When he suffers a stroke, he hands over power to his younger brother Chandra and to Chandra’s son, Prithvi Pratap (Arjun Rampal) — sidelining his own son, Veerendra Pratap (Manoj Bajpai). Veerendra, who believes power is his birthright, demands his uncle’s position, and after being rebuffed, enlists support from a Dalit leader, Sooraj (Ajay Devgan) — who, unknown to both, is Bharti’s abandoned son.
Veerendra has Chandra assassinated in his car with the help of Sooraj. In an ensuing furor, Prithvi is arrested by police under Veerandra’s influence. The scene is set for a feud that may destroy both political dynasties.
The film was particularly controversial upon its release due to the alleged similarities between the lead character and real-life politician Sonia Gandhi. However, Prakash Jha denied that this was intentional. There were also complaints about the levels of violence and the implication that compromises are unavoidable if you are to get ahead in politics. Nonetheless, the film garnered excellent reviews and is one of the highest-grossing Indian films of the last ten years.
If you’re looking for an intelligent, engrossing political thriller, you will want to check out Rajneeti.
Indian Film Festival of Ireland 