Satya 2

This was my write up about The Attacks of 26/11 http://kartikr.blogspot.in/2013/03/the-attacks-of-2611.html.  Notice the part where I state, “But of late, RGV's intense movies are restricted to those to study the History of Cinema. With little or no production value”.  Unfortunately with Satya 2, RGV breaks new ground.  He gives you a masterpiece that will be used in film schools for a long time to come.

The Attacks of 26/11

A very interesting way to market a movie and especially one of the magnitude of this one.  I stumbled upon this clip on you tube when I was looking for the trailer of The Attacks 26/11.  It shows the actual 7 minutes at the beginning of the movie.  Not a trailer but the actual 7 minutes.  So here goes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmSIJhfmXq0

Not a Love Story

Ram Gopal Varma could not have picked up a better time for the trailers of his movie to be released and then the eventual movie release. It was bang at the time when the verdict on the Maria Susairaj case was about to be announced. A couple of weeks into the trailer and one of the most absurd verdicts (that’s what I believe – it is totally personal) ever by the Indian judiciary was announced. I guess it has been a little under a month since the verdict and unfortunately for RGV, Anna and the World Champions, for totally different reasons, have hogged the lime light. As of now, everyone in this country is interested only in the Jan Lokpal Bill. And maybe a few would be interested in knowing the build up of the Susairaj case and where it finished.

And why in the blazes would RGV start the movie with a disclaimer that this is a work of fiction. Surely all of us know that the movie is about the Susairaj case and it would only mean that Maria Madam and Jerome Sir refused to co-operate with the RGV Factory in terms on the money that was offered. Maybe they will cash in on it over time at a much higher level – crime is after all a very lucrative profession as has been proved in the past in more developed economies.

That being said, RGV also ends the movie with 4 dramatic statements – please don’t hold me to this because it may not be verbatim but I am quite certain it was something to this extent.
“The Prosecution wanted both of them to be killed
Their lawyers wanted them to kill each other
The two of them wanted to die together
Finally the verdict is still awaited”
RGV Sir – Gross!!!! How much cornier do you want to get?

The movie starts off with great promise and intensity thanks to Deepak Dobriyal who has put up another stellar performance and kind of keeps the movie alive. I was quite intrigued though with the choice of Dobriyal for this role but he comes out on tops. RGV uses his signature camera angles which are a bit off beat and it does make you think that RGV is back. But then one starts feeling a tad giddy in a bit. But for a couple of specific shots which gave the output that was desired, the other angles only made the movie look more like a horror story and not one that was based on a crime of passion. Mahie Gill has never been able to get back to the near perfect performance she gave in Dev D. I guess it will continue to be her nemesis in a manner of speaking. Needs to stop trying too hard to get there. The same syndrome as Jr. B after Yuva. Not much of a support cast with the exception of Zakir Hussain (remember Rashid in Sarakar) who is the only person who comes close to Dobriyal’s performance.

Overall disappointing. I was so hoping that RGV was back. I really like RGV and find it quite sad that he seems to have gone onto a different planet. Either we need to join him there or he needs to get back to Mother Earth. 5 on 10 is what I would give NALS. Watchable but don’t expect too much.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrbcn2k-FMI

Rakht Charitra

This one is based on a true story – But ironically claims that all characters are fictional and that any resemblance to a person living or dead is purely coincidence – Now that’s what u call playing to the laws of the land. The funny part is that both these claims follow each other at the beginning of the movie itself. Now hows that for absolute irony. Based on the story of Paritala Ravindra, this one is everything that you can expect out of an RGV biography. Home Territory as one would call it. This is RGVs backyard. This is what RGV does best. And he comes reasonably close to his previous best.

Ananthapur is a district in Andhra Pradesh where Jungle Law prevails. It is led by and completely controlled by Narasimha Reddy, the local politician. His right hand man from the lower caste (wonder why this was beeped out in the movie) is Veerbhadra (Rajendra Gupta). He painstakingly helps Narasimha build his empire over 2 decades. And on Narasimha’s insistence goes ahead with the listings for the upcoming elections. Obviously he favours people who are closer to the so called downtrodden and thereby gives the people hope of a brighter future.

Unbeknownst to him, Nagamani Reddy (Kota Srinivasa Rao), yet another close associate of Narasimha Reddy is extremely upset with the turn of events which is taking away a lot of power from the upper classes (which coincidentally is not beeped out). He starts sowing seeds of doubt in Narasimha’s mind of how VB is misusing the power and tarnishing his image with the lower classes. Wonder why Narasimha never looks at checking up on these claims but directly takes away all power from VB. VB is obviously incensed about this entire episode and decides that he doesn’t need the lead party’s support. Goes ahead and launches his own challenge to fight the elections. Not a good idea Mr. VB. Remember – Jungle Law prevails. Obviously the result is his death – brutally murdered by his own kin – Manda (Ashish Vidyarthi) – who is threatened by Nagamani.

All hell breaks lose after this. Shankar (Sushant Singh) who is VBs elder son leaves the town for the jungle and starts plotting the revenge plan on his father’s killers. Simultaneously news reaches Pratap (Viveik Oberoi) who, at that time has just returned after discussing his plans to marry Nandini (Radhika Apte). He returns back to see an ocean of blood all over and his brother leading the revenge. Only a matter of time before he has to jump into the slug fest coz Shankar is also killed by the local cops who are hand in glove with Nagamani.

RGV’s home turf as I had mentioned earlier. Music is atypical Sanskrit Shlokas in the background. Some unnecessary stuff songs thrown in for bad measure. Could have done without it. And then there is the kicker in the shitter – There is RC2 releasing on November 19th 2010. Now how is that for squeezing the market dry. Smart Marketing RGV Saar!!!! Glad to say that VO is back although his entry could have been much better than riding on a scooter in slow motion!!!! Come on guys lets give the guy his due. But the absolute stand out performances are by Abhimanyu Shekhar Singh who plays the role of the disgusting despicable Bukka Rao – Nagamani’s son and by Kota Srinivasa Rao who plays Nagamani. Super performances by both. Overall RC1 is a 6 on 10. Not too close to Sarkar which was much better executed. Don’t think RC2 is going to be too great. But will be worth a dekko I guess.