Following the apparent
accidental death of Akhilesh Anand (Indraneil Sengupta), an upright
officer working for the Highways Authority, Minister Balram Singh (Manoj
Bajpai) announces a reward. Predictably, his grieving widow Sumitra
(Amrita Rao) has a tough time dealing with the local administration to
get the cheque released. Enraged at this, patriarch Dwarka Anand (Amitabh
Bachchan) slaps the Collector.
With the
intervention of Akhilesh's childhood friend and business magnate Manav
Raghavendra (Ajay Devgn), the arrest soon snowballs into a massive social
media campaign against the high-handedness of the administration. Manav
ropes in popular television journalist Yasmin Ahmed (Kareena Kapoor) to
cover the event.
Somewhere in the
film, the story follows the India Against Corruption's 2011 fast unto
death campaign by Anna Hazare. Here, Bachchan turns into Anna; Manav who
is the brain behind it, apparently seems like Kejriwal; an altruistic lawyer is
like Prashant Bhushan, a cop gives up his job and joins the group, a possible
likening to Kiran Bedi.
The film also
flirts with a sub-plot on what could've been Akhilesh's expose on
irregularities in highway construction contracts, remember the whistleblower's
murder case? With the main plot itself being a handful, Jha hardly had any
time to touch upon the matter. Maybe it was only used as a plot element
that could explain his death.
'Satyagraha'
also suffers from Too many people being cast in the film. End result? They
hardly get time to establish the characters they play. The angle of the
opposition leader played by Vipin Sharma could have been better used.
Amidst all of this,
what was Arjun Rampal doing? Except for being there as a seasoning in a
dish. His meager role failed to justify his persona or his
commanding voice. Kareena Kapoor's casting hardly mattered in the
film. Even if a newbie or a second grade actor was cast, it would have not had
any impact on the film.
Another passable
creature was Amrita Rao, playing her typical typecast avatar as
the quintessential good girl. If anyone noticed, there is a picture of
hers from her film 'Vivah' pasted on to a bulletin board in the Anand
household. Ah, how creative!
Having said that, some
good acting by Manoj Bajpai, Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay
Devgn salvage whatever that is left of the film. Nonetheless, it looks like
we have gotten too used to seeing Bachchan play the idealist and Bajpai
the antagonist.
Music isn't
impressive barring the
exception of the title song 'Satyagraha' on the tunes of a
modernized 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’. Another song which has a some potential
to become a youth anthem in any anti corruption protest is 'Janta Rocks'.
Given the gravity
of the subject, 'Satyagraha' really had the potential to make its
mark, which it somehow falls short of. Maybe, we have gotten too used to
the same ensemble cast being re-cast time and again in predictable
roles. And what to say about the plot losing itself somewhere,
without coming up with radically creative solutions.
Verdict: Going by the films Prakash Jha has made
and given the fact that the movie posters and promos make a clear reference
to the Anna Hazare fast against corruption, you know what to expect. If you
don't mind a movie that only scratches the surface on the subject of
corruption, watching the film won't really hurt.
Rating 5/10: Genuine cause at heart but fails
to pack a punch
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