SARKAR RAJ **/*****

I firmly believe Ram Gopal Verma is the most brilliant filmmaker in India.Not many people have the brains (or the balls) to do the movies he does.It makes me cringe to see every half-ass critic taking potshots at him.So all you self made Woody Allens,go take a piss.RGV is back with a bang !!You just have to watch the opening sequence to see that he is back in form with his favourite subject,Power.Sarkar Raj takes off from wer Sarkar ends.The Nagre family runs a parallel government in Maharasthra,but this time its beta Shankar ( Abhishek ) who’s handling the business.A power plant project comes from America to b started from a village in Maharashtra.The only problem is that d villagers hav to rehabilitated.Subhash Nagre is against it,but Shankar thinks that its good for d people in d long run.Soon,nothing is what it seems and the Nagres realise that there are elements who want to wipe them off.There are many things about a RGV movie that stand out.Firstly,there will be no songs and stupid ‘nautanki’.Secondly,there will be no apologetic justifications.Bad guys are bad.That’s it.The trademark sepia tone cinematography,the uncanny but nevertheless fabulous camera angles,use of darkness and light,and the never too loud portrayal of raw power,heightened by the long silences and stares.Sarkar Raj is not an edge of the seat thriller,its more like a mystery that unfolds slowly.The screen play gets a tad slow in the 1st half but the 2nd half more than makes up for it.The soundtrack is a little better this time and doesn’t overshadow the dialogues like last time.Also there lesser references to The Godfather (except for the one scene in which a bomb is planted in a car) Sarkar Raj relies solely on the performances of its cast.Abhishek Bachan is good.his dad even better.But the person to watch out for is Aishwarya Rai.Whoever said that you cannot look stunning and act as well in Bollywood should watch her.Its a carefully restrained and rivetingperformance.Don’t miss it !!