Prakash Jha has become the slave of his own formula. I have loved his films in past. They always have meaty subjects, excellent story-telling, actors giving their best and above all he takes you to places, Hindi cinema rarely goes. This time also he does all this, but somehow fails to connect with me as an audience. In fact as a director he comes across more as Madhur Bhandarkar in this one than himself. He relies heavily on scandalizing every aspect. He peddles every stereotype associated with post independence movements. e.g. Capitalists are bad. Greed is not good. Only teachers / old men who have renounced everything are respected by masses. Youth only participates through social media, etc. etc. Also, the way Anna Hazare movement was misguided, this film is equally superficial. Never really delves deep and the end result is a 'khichdi' of sorts.
It is not that everything is wrong with the film. The 1st half, the set-up of conflict and the pace till interval is good. Manoj Bajpayee gives yet another performance you can watch this film for. It is the stupid climax and over-simplification of the possible solutions that leaves you angry at the end.
At the same time it is true, that watching Satyagraha is a better option than many more films 'still' playing at a theater near you...
P.S. Amitabh Bachchan is now doing same kind of roles. Though still reliable, needs to re-invent. Ajay Devgn needs a break. Arjun Rampal has done well for himself, by being a constant in Prakash Jha's films irrespective of the role he gets Kareena Kapoor is always Kareena Kapoor - never the character....
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