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Sarkar Raj in haiku

interesting, tight;
Bachchan family does well,
other actors too

very final scene
made me really quite intrigued -
hope that goes somewhere

bad things happen but
all are part of mobster life -
you reap what you sow

but violence and
treachery are hard to see -
I'd not watch again

GovindaGovin
daGovindaGovindaaaa
Govinda-aa-aaaaaaaaaa

Govinda-aa-aaaa
GovindaGovindaGo
vindaGovindaaaaaaaaaaa
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Comments

Anarchivist said…
Ohhhhh, I love this banner! And I've only read two of these books. Have you done any Bollywood booklist posts that I've missed? (Spoken like a true gal at the Circulation desk).
June 09, 2008 6:10 AM
Banno said…
The thing I hated most about the film. That Govinda track! Slaughtered my head. And the idiotic camera work of course. But the Big B family did save the day. And how!
June 09, 2008 8:11 AM
Beth Loves Bollywood said…
Anarchivist - I have not done a ton, but my book-related posts are under the tag "bollywood articles and books," which should show up near the top of the bottom light pink side bar. I need to do more - I've read more books but am always acquiring them at a faster rate than I read them, sadly.

Banno - I know! Both of those were really grating! Enough with the spinning and shooting from under a glass coffee table and having the top of Amitabh's head out of frame (or was that just at the theater I went to?)! Truly good performances, though. And we MUST talk about the end!
June 09, 2008 8:25 AM
Anonymous said…
Violence and treachery are hard to watch...as is most of RGV's work in my opinion :-) If not for the violence, then for the lascivious directorial leering.

I think I'll give this one a miss...
June 09, 2008 8:28 AM
Filmi Girl said…
I'm with Memsaab. I was tempted, but I think I'll save my film going dollars for the delightfully cheezy looking De Taali and TPTM out later this month.

Ramu still has a lot to answer for for "Aag."
June 09, 2008 12:51 PM
Shweta Mehrotra Gahlawat said…
I'll brave it this weekend. And I'll take a book w/ me, just in case :D
June 09, 2008 1:31 PM
Beth Loves Bollywood said…
memsaab - I'm not a huge fan either, based on my limited sampling.

Filmi Girl - Yeah, no cheese here, that's for sure!

Shweta - I found the movie really entertaining - and interesting within the fairly conscripted world of movie mobsters, you know what I mean? Nothing earth-shattering, but the story and performances are a good time.
June 09, 2008 1:33 PM
ajnabi said…
I think if I want a movie mobster I'll stick to "Omkara." But the haiku is very nice. Now, we all know Govinda is not equal to Shashi, but is he equal to, say, Abhi? ;-)
June 09, 2008 2:03 PM
Beth Loves Bollywood said…
Bwa! NEVER! I don't say it often (and oddly it seems to come out in verse form when I do), but here seems as good a place as any: Abhishek really is my primo most favorite actor, even across the eras, because he is so very skilled at comedy and more dramatic things. Shashi is close behind, and I like them for very similar reasons. But I've never made a big deal about my luuuuurve of Abhishek because one of my blogger pals had dibs on him as FPMBF and, as Babasko likes to say about her fledgling love of Akshaye, when she met me she "sacrificed her love on the altar of friendship" (that's a quote from some Sanjay movie, I think). :)
June 09, 2008 2:06 PM
a ppcc representative said…
A haiku! The best way to review movies.

Someone needs to tell Ram Gopal Verma that you don't need to punctuate EVERY SINGLE SCENE with a veritable explosion of drama. "Dad, doesn't that one guy look a bit seedy to you?" GOVINDAGOVINDAGOVINDAAAAAAAA. Someone teach that man some restraint! Some scenes were so wonderfully effective - like Amitabh saluting the crowds in the beginning, ooh, I went all goosebumpy - but then every single scene was another attempted dramafest.

Loved the guy who played Sanjay Somji though. Loved that he was eating/drinking in practically every scene we see him in. And the glasses! Apparently Hema recommended him for the role, partly because he resembled Raj Thakeray so much.

Agreed that Abhishek is great. Both he and his father have unbelievable comic timing; I love them both in KANK so much.
June 09, 2008 2:40 PM
Beth Loves Bollywood said…
The haiku format was to keep me from rambling on and on, as I tend to do. I didn't mention the OVERWHELMING HAMMER-TO-HEAD-BLUNTNESS of the music and should have because it was really too, too much most of the time, even when the story was perfectly dramatic and interesting enough all on its own and no one could possibly have needed aural cues to suggest to them how to feel.

And yeah that guy was really good.

Abhishek is my top pick for "talented young-ish stars of today." I think he has the potential to be hugely fantastic in a vast range of things. It does not hurt to be tall and devastatingly handsome, of course, or to have been given a generous start in your career. But still. Man's got mad chops.
June 09, 2008 3:14 PM
gebruss said…
Beth,

"sacrificed her love on the altar of friendship" (that's a quote from some Sanjay movie, I think). :)

is from Saajan (or Sajaan, wherever the extra a goes). Very nice movie, horrible fashion. I might just as well confess myself to be a Sanjay-fan here and now, it shows anyway. :)
June 09, 2008 3:51 PM
Anarchivist said…
Just had to jump in on the Abhishek appreciation. I sometimes think he doesn't get his due, because of Big B and the silver spoonage. But he does have incredible range. I think he and Amitabh both really shine the brightest in their comic, even goofy roles...but then they both can turn around and deliver the drama.

On RGV, his "Bhoot" is pretty good, but he also produced the abysmal "Darna Mana Hai" that I watched last weekend...so he's a wash with me until further notice.
June 10, 2008 8:59 AM
Never Mind!! said…
Havent watched it yet and will give it a miss. But I think RGV should stick to this mobster/underworld genre rather than venturing into Ghost related movies.

You should watch Ab Tak Chappan produced by RGV and directed by Shimit Amin, Chak de director. brilliant I thought it was.
June 12, 2008 1:28 PM
Shweta Mehrotra Gahlawat said…
Finally saw it- was definitely better than I had expecteded, but no huge surprises in terms of plot. That "Govinda" and other misc background music does encroach onto the movie too much at times me thinks- but thats just a quibble :)
June 12, 2008 1:40 PM
Beth Loves Bollywood said…
Gebruss - There are no secrets here. All are free to love/crush on whatever actor they choose! :) And stop tempting me with horrible fashions! You KNOW how I love horrible fashions!

Anarchivist - Yeah! Totally! Range-o-rama! And agreed completely about comedy. If he did nothing but Roy and Bunty, I'd be pretty darn happy. And drooly.

Never Mind! - There was a trailer for some witchcraft-y movie after the intermission in Sarkar Raj which didn't impress me. Then again, that's not my kind of movie.
June 12, 2008 1:41 PM
Beth Loves Bollywood said…
Oops! And Shweta - No, no huge surprises, though I am v v excited about the very last frame before the credits, because I think that could be really interesting! The background music is way over the top. And can someone tell me why "Govinda" is the power being evoked? I haven't been able to find out much about this online - what the connection of Govinda could be to what's going on in the movie.
June 12, 2008 1:44 PM
sony said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
June 13, 2008 10:45 AM
Shweta Mehrotra Gahlawat said…
I think I know the answer to that, and no, it isnt easy to explain :D

The movie is based in bombay, maharashtra. One huge festival in b'bay is gokul-ashtmi, where a earthen pot of yoghut is hung on a high rope. designated, positically-backed men are designated "govinda"s (symbolic: Krishna), and climb a human pyramid to break the pot. the whole act has slowly become a symbol of power in the city over the years. (See http://chummachumma.blogspot.com/2006/08/govinda-aala-reaaala.html)

The way I see it, the chanting of the word is the down home call of "Govinda" to do something powerful and strong and establish cred- which is where it is used in the movie- every time Amit has to do something exhibiting his power.

That was a mini thesis in itself :P
June 13, 2008 12:07 PM
Unknown said…
Oh! you lucky woman you! I so wanted to watch this and it is not playing anywhere in Connecticut! Went all the way to NJ (1.5 hours) and realised that their website was not updated, they weren't playing it. How infuriating! They just decided not to play it coz there weren't many people. Never going back there. No, not even for a Hrithik movie!
June 21, 2008 11:17 AM
Beth Loves Bollywood said…
Shweta - WOW. That is exactly what I wanted to know!

Vatsala - I'll do pretty much anything to see Abhishek on the big screen (this time I got up early on a Sunday morning and drove one hour each way), so I can understand your disappointment! That's very sad!
June 21, 2008 5:53 PM
sanjay saini said…
For me its a complete let down...whole film like a scared attempt on film making by Ramu....I mean...it looks Ramu was so scared of failure after "Aag" that he put in all ingredient of his style of film making and yet he failed miserably. There was nothing new in this film in terms of direction, treatment, background score, characterization etc...Story & screenplay was very weak and leaves so many questions like what made Shanker believe so strongly that power project is the key to Maharashtra’s progress …why didn’t Ash opposed to the murder of her father….infect she was shown as a part of Nagre family in the end of the film....all crap. It looked Gunda Raj rather than Sarkar Raj in that Deputy Chief Minister was murdered in his office by Nagare’s gunda brigade and dead bodies are kept in home for public display(Rao Shaahab is shown his grandson’s dead body when comes to meet Big B). Look at the characterization…it seems every business man is shown crooked and criminal mind. And what about background score..all the time “Govinda…Govinda…” I know it is symbolic here and drawn from the Mumbai culture where chanting Govinda means demonstrating power but it was too much, over used….almost irritating….
So….anything good about it….yes…the assassination scene of Sanker was really good one but that was not enough.
But over all for me….another bad movie from Ramu…
June 25, 2008 6:33 AM
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