Clichés galore, stereotypes aplenty, visit the familiar terrain of Prakash
Jha in yet another angst filled scenario. In fact this could well be the
extension of Aarakshan enter Ajay exit Saif, enter Kareena exit Deepika. There
he dramatized Mandal now it is the Anna Hazare movement against corruption.
This is typical Prakash Jha genre. Yet something is amiss. The aborted
anti-corruption movement is the text of the script. Yet again, a la Aarakshan
the film maker is willing to bite incapable to chew, ready to shout, unwilling
to strike.
Or, is that the exact problem? It is easy to point fingers at Mum Mohan Singh
or any Modification thereafter, but where and what about the citizen? As a
nation of finger pointers is this just about chest thumping and then
surreptitiously contributing to the malice we speak against. We seem to be
desperately waiting for the Messiah to work the magic. Even as we have retarded
into a collective of finger pointers (as is the case with the script) the
murals and motifs are getting too predictable and loud and lacking in punch.
The script lacks punch (as if that is the cynical and discerned message!!).
Take for example the crude comments from the audience, in a romantic scene or
the tasteless reaction from some sitting in the audience, it is surely not just
about the yawn filled script, it is about a tendency that seeks remedy without
cooperation, being self contradictory, unaccountable judgemental and
regrettably disdainful.
Dwarakanath (Amitabh) is a retired school teacher in Ambikapur living in style
that defies his profession or his values. The stern elder patriarch does not
even approve of his son Akhilesh (Indraneil Sen Gupta) having a drink on the
sly or being weaned into the world of business by good friend Manav (Ajay
Devgan). Akhilesh is killed in a road accident or so we believe till it is
proved to be a murder at the instance of the Home Minister Balram Singh (Manoj
Bajpaye). When Dwarakanath slaps the District Magistrate he is promptly jailed
and handed over for custodial interrogation, Manav returns to help his friend’s
widow Sumitra (Amrita Rao- who incidentally symbolises the lack of soul in the
script with a picture perfect presence !!). Helping him in exposing the corrupt
system are journalist Yasmin Ahmed (Kareena Kapoor – too dressed and glamorous
to navigate the demands of the role) and local aspiring leader Arjun (Arjun
Rampal- another easily essayed outing).
The script now moves to Ram Leela grounds where Dwarakanath leads the fight
against corruption, we have a dekho at those who believe revolution comes
without a price tag and is a product of facebook tags and sms texts. Here
revolution and change can come in the midst of rock music, and as one character
puts it a camp for fun , soft drinks and pizzas. The problem is well chronicled
but perhaps a tad too near and known to public memory for such a strenuous
effort. In case you are looking for the film maker to push the envelope you are
bound to be disappointed. He like many of us is clueless of the solution and is
entwined in the many contradictions we face. For example his Satyagraha finds
the finale dripped in fights stunts and violence. He symbolically even visits
Chauri Chara and takes Anna for the central character.
Is this Prakash Jha’s statement that Anna has failed? Is it a statement
clarifying that this nation has not got to terms with the passing away of the
Mahatma? Is it just a potboiler making some megabucks at the box office with a
star studded assemble of actors who carry their image into the script? Why did
Prakash Jha one of our better film makers fail to deliver when he chose a
subject that is so, so relevant and somewhere occupying atleast the peripheral
psyche of the nation? In fact if the screenplay is jittery, the direction is
meandering, the editing is perfunctory.
Yet Satyagraha is worth a watch for it atleast raises a few questions and gives
you two worth watching performances. Amitabh returns to the son loosing dad
role and does his role with studied sincerity. May be even he is not at his
best, but he is good and that matters. Ajay Devgan too is in familiar
territory. He has always been comfortable with Prakash Jha (save Rajneeti) and
he takes the film on his shoulder.
I am worried and as seriously as I can sound, why can Prakash Jha not be a
Costa Garvis? Is the problem just Jha? Obviously not. Haunting is the thought
that is so well stated by Jeremy Poolman (The Road of Bones):
And the wind whining and complaining,
Is shaking house and forest, straining
Not single fir trees one by one,
But the whole wood , all trees together….