Sarkar   Producer: Sahara One, Factory Director: Ramgopal Varma Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, Supriya Pathak, Kota Srinivasa Rao Music: Amar Mohile Lyrics: Genre: Social Recommended Audience: Parental Guidance Film Released on: 30 June 2005 Reviewed by: Vijay Venkataramanan  - Rating: 7.5 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review

"Sarkar" is a golden opportunity wasted. It could have been the greatest Indian gangster film, a title still retained by Mani Ratnam´s classic "Nayakan". Though drawing inspiration from "The Godfather" both films are not wholesomely faithful adaptations of Mario Puzo´s power saga. While Ratnam and Kamal Haasan overwhelmed viewers through their epic-scaled depiction of raw power, Varma´s film ironically does not provide as arresting a sense of Sarkar´s power over his people despite one of Amitabh Bachchan´s most refined performances.

In a rapid-fire first half inspired by "The Godfather" and aspects of "Agneepath" and "Nayakan", Varma sets the story up to perfection through some fine characterization, acting, and his signature music video style editing, sending the audience into the interval on a pulsating cliffhanger. Subhash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan), the most powerful man in Bombay, the messiah of the helpless struggles against the will of negative forces within and outside his family to maintain order through his parallel government. Conflict of business interests fuels a conspiracy to bring down Sarkar by falsely implicating him in the murder of a benevolent political leader. As the law and his puppet chief minister turn against him, Sarkar becomes a sitting duck for his enemies, locked in prison.

Stylishly shot by Amit Roy, "Sarkar" is a poutpurri of brilliance and amateurism, for the first half showcases Varma´s mastery while the remainder of the film could well have been directed by one of his so-called proteges, paling quite starkly in comparison. The tension and unpredictability are all but lost. The writing mellows, as does Varma´s technique as he rushes through the second and third acts of his narrative in an effort to squeeze in as much plot as he can, failing to develop it well enough to grip the audience.

The transfer of power as Shankar Nagre (Abhishek Bachchan) begins to take over for his ailing father a la Michael Corleone, perhaps the single most powerful part of the story, occurs in the most lukewarm of manners. One only wishes Varma had dedicated as much time to showcase Shankar´s rise to and acquisition of power as much as he did to develop his romantic subplot with Avantika (Tannisha), a character who warrants no place in the screenplay in the first place. Similarly the scene where Sarkar´s enemies find out that he has just survived an attempt on his life, though inspired by a similar scene from "Agneepath", simply fails to showcase the chill Vijay Dinanath Chavan sent down the spine of his enemies. Post-interval, "Sarkar" sorely misses the free flow of its first hour. The remainder of the story is put together choppily, with subtle visual moments being ruined by the continous use of Amar Mohile´s blaring, exaggerated score (Sandeep Chowta, where art thou?).

Despite its shortcomings, "Sarkar" redeems itself to an extent because of phenomenal performances from its talented cast. Amitabh Bachchan in the title role is uncharacteristically restrained, bringing to the forefront a vulnerable side to his character. With his look quite obviously based on infamous Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Mr. Bachchan´s wardrobe is replete with the loose-hanging kurta, the tilak on his forehead, and the rudraksh mala on his wrist. (The resemblance to Thackeray only gets stronger with the Lexus SUV and a house modeled with more than just a passing resemblance to Matoshree, his infamous Mumbai residence.) Abhishek Bachchan as the brooding, angry, young Shankar mirrors his father´s "angry, young man" image of the seventies. Complementing him with sheer brilliance is Kay Kay Menon as Sarkar´s frustrated and disillusioned elder son. Supriya Pathak as their mother creates the perfect foil to complete Sarkar´s family. Among the rest of the supporting cast, Kota Srinivasa Rao as the deceiving Tamilian gangster Silver Mani provides much of the twisted comic relief, churning out hilarious one-liners that will have you in splits.

Ramgopal Varma may claim that "Sarkar" is his best film to date, but his fans, myself included, will unanimously argue that he has made better films and will continue to do so. With "Sarkar", there seemed to be a digression from the story´s most gripping thematic characteristic - power. Somehow, Varma´s adaptation of "The Godfather" lacks the epic-scale that the theme and story demand, an aspect Mani Ratnam and Mukul Anand hit the bull´s eye with in "Nayakan" and "Agneepath" respectively. "Sarkar" could have been that great epic by India´s finest maker of gangster cinema. Unfortunately it ends up being simply a sleek gangster film that you can enjoy while it lasts, with nothing more to take from as you walk out of the theater.