Banner: Prakash Jha Productions and UTV Motion Pictures
Director: Prakash Jha
Producer: Prakash Jha,Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur
Screenplay: Prakash Jha and Anjum Rajabali
Music: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant, Aadesh Shrivastav, Meet Bros Anjan Ankit, Indian Ocean
Release Date: 30th August 2013
Story line: “Satyagraha”
reflects the uprising of the middle class against a corrupt and unjust system
that leaves it with no recourse but to form a spontaneous movement to challenge
the status quo. It is the story of a dynamic and ambitious young man who is
poised to take the elevator of corporate success when a personal tragedy
exposes him to the shocking consequences of corruption in this country. Joining
hands with an idealistic old man, he ignites a people’s protest that soon
escalates into a massive movement with a national resonance, battling
politicians determined to crush and discredit him. However, when people’s raw
and unbridled anger is unleashed, the unintended penalty could be horrifying by
itself.
Know more about the
captain of the Ship, the director: Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film
producer-director-screenwriter, who is most known for his political and
socio-political films such as Damul (1984), Mrityudand (1997), Gangaajal
(2003), Apaharan (2005), multistarrer hit movie Raajneeti (2010), Chakravyuh
(2012), and the upcoming Satyagraha. He is also the maker of National Film
Award winning documentaries like, Faces After The Storm (1984) and Sonal
(2002). He now runs a
production company, Prakash Jha Productions
Facts And Figures:
•
Budget of Satyagraha is approx. Rs 75 crore and the duration of
the film is 2 hours 32 minutes.
•
A social action group - the Bhopal citizen’s forum (BCF) has
objected to the laying of a tar road and construction of a makeshift market at
the historic 19th century Benazir palace, the location of Prakash Jha's
upcoming film 'Satyagraha'. The issue caught the eye of the national monuments
authority (NMA) as well. Benazir palace grounds come under the Gandhi medical
college (GMC, Bhopal). The palace itself, not a protected monument, is held by
the public works department (PWD)
My “Gut Feel” and preview:
Prakash Jha has
always been associated with soulful story, driven by great performances;
however “Satyagraha” appears to have deviated from the same owing to the
commercialization through multi starrer approach. Transformation of stars into
the characters looks like rather missing from the frame, which will make it
difficult for the audience to accept them in their roles.Movie aims at capturing the Anna Hazzare’s similar style of revolt against corruption and injustice which we all have seen in media recently. Driven from the same style, movies portrayal appears more on the dramatic end than being on the realistic side of the whole attempt.
Story and screenplay seems to be conventional with no out of the box thought process, where Amitabh Bachchan plays idealistic, Ajay Devgan the opportunist who after series of incidents turned in to the follower of Amitabh Bachchan and joins his movement. Kareena seems to be typical and same seems to be the case with Manoj Vajpayee who played similar characters in previous Prakash Jha’s projects such as “Aarakshan”.
Movies budget is high which increases the scale of the movie, however if the content of the movie is low it is difficult for it to make a mark. With Prakash Jha being the director expectations are high, however I am not optimistic about this project. This has been a trend now to do extensive promotion and try to mystify the audience in first week and recover the money. Box office success does not mean that the movie is always good; it simply means that the profit has been made.
I would like to be proved wrong and would be elated if the movie proves to be competence of Damul, Apharan and Gangajal which represents Prakash Jha in best possible manner.
With conventional storyline and average repetitive performances I would give this movie 3 out of 5 stars, five days before the release.