Not my vote!

Rajneeti review
Rating **1/2
Way back in 1981, Shyam Benegal made 'Kaliyug' - a modern day take on Mahabharat. Subtle yet compelling and hard-hitting. No such luck with this muti-starring mammoth of a movie titled 'Rajneeti' that tries too hard really. And achieves way too little. Sad. Sad because this multi-inspired movie(from 'Mahabharat', 'Godfather',’Sarkar' and even 'Kshatriya'..phew) set against the backdrop of Bihar-like politics had the heart in the right place.
The director himself knows the place, the characters, the language inside out as is so evident by his previous hard-hitting movies-'Gangajal' and 'Apharan'. This one also starts off well. The drama builds up quickly gripping you in all its twists and realism. But with each new character popping in and the drama getting convoluted, does start ‘Rajneeti’s downfall. Jha is way too ambitious which in itself isn't a bad thing. What is bad, however, is his trying to fit in almost everything at the cost of diluting the impact. So, you have fleeting references to dynastic politics, caste, unions by marriage for political gains, influence of electronic media-all there. And since Jha apparently wanted to make sure that almost every A-list actor, whom he has roped in, gets something significant to do, the editing for ‘Rajneeti’ must have been a nightmare. But despite the efforts , the flaws are easily visible. Much of the drama, especially in the second half looks forced , sometimes at the cost of evoking some unintentional laughs. The scene between Ranbir's mother (very badly played by some Barkha Bisht) and Ajay Devgun , intended to add on to the drama, ends up being way too funny. And then, you have those absolutely redundant love-making scenes serving nothing but to increase this already longer-than-needed film's length. What is good to see however are Nana Patekar and Manoj Bajpai back in form after long. The same can't be said about Rampal who is clearly miscast for the role. Mouthing strong Hindi words isn't sufficient. And please, can someone just ask him not to wear that designer stole around his neck when doing a movie like this. Katrina looks pretty but has looked prettier before. Ranbir Kapoor is restrained and perhaps, this is what the role required of him to be, but honestly, his performance here is nowhere close to his best.
Politics in India is an ugly cocktail of money, muscle power and corruption. While ‘Rajneeti’ tries hard to capture these elements, it gets too muddled up providing very little insight and is too exhausting by the time it ends. Watch it if you must.