Sarkar (2005 film)

Sarkar (transl. Government) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language political crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma. It is based on 1972's The Godfather. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan in the title role alongside Abhishek Bachchan as his younger son, along with Kay Kay Menon, Katrina Kaif, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Anupam Kher, Supriya Pathak and Tanisha Mukherjee.[3] It is the first installment of Sarkar film series.

For the Tamil film, see Sarkar (2018 film).

Sarkar
Directed byRam Gopal Varma
Produced byRam Gopal Varma
Parag Sanghvi
Written byManish Gupta
Screenplay byRam Gopal Varma
StarringAmitabh Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan
Katrina Kaif
Kota Srinivasa Rao
Kay Kay Menon
Tanisha Mukherjee
Anupam Kher
Music byAmar Mohile
CinematographyAmit Roy
Edited byNitin Gupta
Amit Parmar
Production
company
RGV Film Company
Distributed byK Sera Sera
Sahara One
Release date
  • 1 July 2005 (2005-07-01)
Running time
123 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹140 million[1]
Box office₹400 million[2]

Sarkar Raj, released on 6 June 2008, and Sarkar 3, released on 12 May 2017, the film was archived at the American Academy of Motion Pictures library.[4] The blockbuster film was premièred at the New York Asian Film Festival.[5]

Plot

Subhash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan), who is known by his followers as Sarkar, lives in Mumbai. The opening scenes show a rape victim's father (Veerendra Saxena) approaching Sarkar for justice (which the corrupt law and order system has failed to deliver) which Sarkar promptly establishes by having the rapist beaten up by his henchmen. His son, Vishnu (Kay Kay Menon), plays a sleazy producer who is more interested in the film actress Sapna (Priyanka Kothari) than his wife Amrita (Rukhsaar Rehman). Sarkar's other, more upright son, Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan), returns from the United States with his love Pooja (Katrina Kaif) after completing his education there. Pooja's doubts about Sarkar's image cause Shankar, who firmly believes in his father's righteousness, to break up with her.

One day, a Dubai-based don, Rasheed (Zakir Hussain) tries to strike a deal with Sarkar; he promptly refuses on moral grounds and also forbids him from doing it himself. Rasheed tries to eliminate Sarkar's supremacy with the help of Selvar Mani (Kota Srinivasa Rao), Sarkar's former associate, MLA Vishram Bhagat and Swami Virendra (Jeeva). Meanwhile, they trap Sarkar by assassinating a righteous, upright, Ahinsa political leader and an outspoken critic of Sarkar, Motilal Khurana (Anupam Kher), and frame Sarkar for the murder. Everyone, including Vishnu, believes that Sarkar is guilty but Shankar has deep faith in his father. Sarkar gets arrested and is imprisoned. Shankar now takes over the position of Sarkar temporarily. On learning of a plot to murder his father in prison, he approaches the police commissioner (Anant Jog) and asks him to arrange stronger security for his father, only for the commissioner to mock Shankar and his father beside not providing protection. Shankar gets a feeling that the police commissioner wants Sarkar to get murdered. Shankar and Khansaab, one of Sarkar's men, try to ask Selvar Mani for help to prevent possible murder, but Mani ultimately betrays them when he reveals that he is in an alliance with Rasheed. Rasheed prepares to kill Shankar and Khansaab but only Khansaab is killed when he decides to sacrifice himself for Shankar. By the time Shankar reaches the prison and appropriate action is taken, the attempt on Sarkar's life is already made. Sarkar is later acquitted. He remains bedridden as Shankar takes on Sarkar's enemies.

Meanwhile, Selvar Mani, Swami, Vishram and Rasheed try to convince Vishnu to murder Sarkar. Vishnu was previously thrown out of Sarkar's house because he had murdered the actor who was having an affair with Sapna. Vishnu returns home pretending to have repented. When he approaches Sarkar in the dark of the night with the intent of murdering him, Shankar foils his plan and later kills him. Shankar eliminates Rasheed, Vishram and Selvar Mani. He also succeeds in making Swami his puppet. Shankar has also realised that Chief Minister Madan Rathore (Deepak Shirke) was really behind everything; Rasheed and everyone else were merely pawns. This results in legal action against the Chief Minister. The closing scenes show a woman approaching Shankar for justice to a fake encounter of her husband by the police and calling Shankar the Sarkar, while Subhash is busy with family.

Cast

Commercial and critical reception

Sarkar was superhit at the box office and was greeted very well by critics. Critics liked the way the movie indigenised The Godfather and introduced a political angle to it. The actors, particularly the trio of Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Kay Kay Menon, were lavished with praise for their controlled yet intense performances. Abhishek Bachchan in particular, was rewarded for his portrayal as a son who is inexperienced but enters an unknown world so as to save his father. He won the following awards:

Soundtrack
Sarkar
Soundtrack album by
Bapi-Tutul & Prasanna Shekhar
Released27 June 2005 (2005-June-27)[7]
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length33:35
LanguageHindi
LabelT-Series

The soundtrack of Sarkar consists of 10 songs composed by Bapi-Tutul & Prasanna Shekhar the lyrics of which were penned by Sandeep Nath.

Tracklist
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Deen Bandhu"Sandeep NathReeta Ganguly4:36
2."Deen Bandhu Theme"  4:24
3."Govinda - Song"Sandeep NathAmitabh Bachchan, Kailash Kher, Bapi, Tutul2:59
4."Govinda - Trance"Sandeep NathBapi, Tutul, Janaki3:25
5."Jitni Oochaeeyan"Sandeep NathKrishna, Farhad3:27
6."Mujhe Jo Sahi Lagta Hai"Sandeep NathAmitabh Bachchan, Kailash Kher3:03
7."Sam Dam Bhed"Sandeep NathKailash Kher3:29
8."Shaher, Shaher Ke Hazaron Sawal"Sandeep NathKailash Kher3:54
9."The Govinda Omen"Sandeep NathChoir1:58
10."The Want For Power"Sandeep NathKrishna, Farhad, Prasana Shekhar2:04

Critical reception

Raja Sen of Rediff said that the film "had the potential to be Great. It turns out to be passable."[8] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama praised the movie saying that, "SARKAR is without doubt an interesting film. The story, its execution, the performances, the drama… The outcome leaves you spellbound." but criticized the slow pacing of the film and gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5.[9] William Thomas of Empire Online gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Constructed with flair and crackling with intelligence, this is one of the most edgiest and grittiest releases to come out of Bollywood in years."[10]

Remake

A Telugu remake, titled Rowdy was made replacing the background of Marathi politics with that of South Indian factionism. Veteran actor Mohan Babu reprised the role portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan while his son Vishnu Manchu reprised the role played by Abhishek Bachchan. Rowdy released on 4 April 2014 to positive reviews from critics but was a moderate commercial success, grossing approximately Rs 8 Crores in its full run.

Sequel

A sequel titled Sarkar Raj was released on 6 June 2008 with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan (who reprise their roles from the original) and new entrant Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Supriya Pathak, Tanisha Mukherjee and Ravi Kale also reappeared in their respective roles from Sarkar. The film released on 6 June 2008, was critically and commercially successful.

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References
  1. "Sarkar - Movie". Box Office India. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  2. "Sarkar - Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Kay Kay Menon, Rukhsaar, Supriya Pathak". ibosnetwork.com.
  3. Raja Sen (30 June 2005). "Sarkar is just Godfather, dumbed-down". Rediff.
  4. "Sarkar Raj makes it to the Academy of Motion Pictures library". Bollywood Hungama. 2 August 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  5. David (16 June 2006). "The Films of Ram Gopal Varma – An Overview". Cinema Strikes Back. Archived from the original on 25 July 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  6. The young version of Shivaji Nagre (Appeared in Sarkar 3) was played by Chintan Atul Shah in Sarkar as Cheeku
  7. "Sarkar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes.
  8. "Sarkar is just Godfather, dumbed-down". Rediff.
  9. "Sarkar Review by Taran Adarsh". Bollywood Hungama.
  10. "Sarkar Review - The Bollywood version of the Godfather". Empire Online.
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