CHAKRAVYUH REVIEW:
CAST:
ARJUN RAMPAL, ABHAY DEOL, MANOJ BAJPAYEE, ESHA GUPTA, OM PURI, ANJALI PATIL
DIRECTOR:
PRAKASH JHA
HOW MANY TIMES WE SEE A BOLLYWOOD FILM BRINGING UP A BURNING
ISSUE LIKE NAXALISM TO THE FOREFRONT? DIRECTOR PRAKASH JHA’S ‘CHAKRAVYUH’ DOES
IT BUT THEN IT ALSO CONSIDERS THE RESTRICTIONS OF MAINSTREAM FILMMAKING.
ON THE
OUTSET, THE FILM IS A STORY ABOUT TWO FRIENDS ADIL KHAN (ARJUN RAMPAL) AND
KABIR (ABHAY DEOL). THEIR FRIENDSHIP RECEIVES A SEVERE JOLT WHEN KABIR DECIDES
TO LEAVE THE POLICE ACADEMY AFTER REALISING THAT HE COULDN’T COPE UP WITH THE
QUINTESSENTIAL ‘POLICE’ ATTITUDE. LATER, ADIL EMERGES AS A RESPECTED POLICE
OFFICER WHO TAKES UP THE JOB OF POLICE SUPERINTENDENT IN NAXALISM AFFECTED AREA
NANDIGHAT (ANY RESEMBLANCE!).
ADIL’S
REUNION WITH KABIR, WHO IS A FAILED BUSINESSMAN, PROMPTS HIM TO PLANT KABIR AS
A MOLE INSIDE THE ENEMY CAMP. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS WHEN KABIR STARTS
STRUGGLING BETWEEN TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT IDEOLOGIES.
BE IT
‘DAAMUL’ OR BE IT ‘AARAKSHAN’, JHA HAS ALWAYS COME UP WITH A FILM THAT IS BASED
ON AN ‘ISSUE’ BUT IS POLITICALLY CORRECT. THIS TIME AGAIN, HE HAS TRIED HIS
BEST TO NOT HURT THE POPULAR SENTIMENTS. THE POLICE HAVE BEEN SHOWN FROM ALL
SIDES BUT THE MAN WHO IS AT THE HELM OF AFFAIRS IS MORALLY UPRIGHT AND KNOWS
HIS LIMITATIONS. THERE IS A DELIBERATELY PUT SCENE IN THE FILM WHERE ADIL
REFUSES AN OFFER FROM A BUSINESS TYCOON MAHANTA (KABIR BEDI), WHILE THERE ARE
OTHER POLICEMEN UNDER ADIL’S JURISDICTION ONLY WHO ARE PROTECTED AND
SYMPATHISED BY HIM, SO THAT CONFUSES THE AUDIENCES ABOUT HIS ACTUAL STAND.
NOW,
COME TO THE OTHER SIDE. MANOJ BAJPAYEE IS THE DREADED NAXAL COMMANDER RAJAN,
WHO DOESN’T SOUND IDEOLOGICALLY EQUIPPED BUT IS THE LEADER AT THE GROUND ZERO.
IN ANOTHER NUANCED PERFORMANCE, BAJPAYEE CONVEYS THE CONVICTION OF SOMEONE WHO
HAS LOST ALL HIS FAITH IN THE GOVERNMENT. HIS DIALECT IS FINE, BODY LANGUAGE
AND RUTHLESSNESS IS FINE, BUT WHAT DISTURBS IS HIS APPROACH TOWARDS THE PEOPLE
HE SYMPATHISES WITH. OF COURSE, HIS LAWS ARE DIFFERENT BUT WHO WILL EXPLAIN THE
REASONS BEHIND SUCH SELF STYLED OWNERSHIP OF THE LAND. HE HAS BEEN SEEN IN
CONVERSATION WITH IDEOLOGUES BUT THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION REMAINS THE
AVAILABILITY OF ARSENALS RATHER THAN THE FAITH WHICH COULD DRIVE THE LOCAL
PEOPLE AGAINST THE FORCIBLE EVICTION.
HOWEVER,
JHA’S HANDLING OF THE HUMAN SIDE OF NAXALITES IS PRAISEWORTHY. HE CLEARLY KNOWS
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NAXAL AND A HUMAN WHO IS ALSO A NAXAL. THEIR LIVES
WITH GLIMPSES OF POVERTY HAVE BEEN PORTRAYED WITH APPARENT OBJECTIVITY. NAXAL
COMMANDERS CAN LOVE, CAN BE HIT BY GREED AND CAN DANCE TOO.
CAPITALISM
DOESN’T GET INTO A HEAD-ON COLLISION WITH COMMUNISM IN ‘CHAKRAVYUH’, AND THAT
MAKES IT INTERESTING. THERE ARE TWO FORCES FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER BUT
THEIR GOALS ARE NOT GLOBAL. IT’S MORE OF A WAR BETWEEN TWO LEADERS, ONE OF
WHICH BELIEVES THAT THE GOVERNMENT MACHINERY IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
WHO IS
INNOCENT AND WHO IS DELIBERATELY BECOMING INNOCENT IS ANOTHER QUESTION. HOW CAN
THE PATH OF GUN BE JUSTIFIED? WHY THE MINISTERS SHYING AWAY FROM TAKING THE
RESPONSIBILITY WHEN THEY CLEARLY REPRESENT THE POPULAR NOTIONS? HOW CAN BE A
MINISTER WHO IS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT OUTER INVESTMENTS IN HIS AREA AND WHO
DANCES WITH ‘ADIVASIS’, NOT GO FOR THE HEALING THERAPY. IS THEIR ANY CHANCE OF
FINDING A MIDDLE WAY? BUT, AS I SAID THERE ARE RESTRICTIONS OF MAINSTREAM
BOLLYWOOD FILMMAKING. RESTRICTIONS THAT DROVE PRAKASH JHA TO CAST THE SHORT
PANT WEARING ESHA GUPTA AS AN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER AND SAMEERA REDDY AS A
‘KUNDA KHOL’ ITEM GIRL.
ARJUN
RAMPAL’S IMAGE AND DIALOGUE DELIVERY MAR HIS CHANCES BUT IT IS ONE OF HIS
BETTER PERFORMANCES, IN FACT HE HAS A GIVEN ABHAY DEOL A RUN FOR HIS MONEY IN
DOUBLE SHOTS. ABHAY DEOL IS SATISFACTORY BUT WE HAVE SEEN HIM DOING BETTER IN
EMOTIONAL SCENES. THE DIRECTOR COULD HAVE WORKED A LITTLE MORE ON BRINGING OUT
HIS HEADSTRONGNESS AND CONVICTION ON THE PATH OF VIOLENCE. IT SEEMS THAT HIS
SOFT CORNER FOR JUHI (ANJALI PATIL) IS MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS CHANGE OF HEART
THAN THE PLIGHT OF ADIVASIS AND ATROCITIES OF POLICE.
ANJALI
PATIL IS THE SURPRISE PACKAGE OF ‘CHAKRAVYUH’. SHE HAS COME UP WITH AN
AUTHENTIC PERFORMANCE. SHE IS VULNERABLE, MANIAC, IDEOLOGY DRIVEN, ALL AT THE
SAME TIME. PATIL IS JHA’S PERFECT PORTRAYAL OF A NAXALITE.
‘CHAKRAVYUH’
HAS SOME AMAZING SCENES. THE FIRST GUN BATTLE BETWEEN THE POLICE AND THE NAXALS
IS SHOT WITH FANTASTIC IMAGINATION. IT COMES AS A DISTURBING SURPRISE. THE GRANDEUR
HASN’T BEEN COMPROMISED ON. THE HANDLING OF THE CROWD SHOWS THE STORYTELLER’S
CONTROL ON THE SETS.
OVERALL,
‘CHAKRAVYUH’ IS A WELL INTENTIONED AND FINELY CRAFTED FILM, WHICH SHIES AWAY
FROM TAKING ANY STAND. A GOOD WATCH FOR THE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THAT INDIA HAS
PROGRESSED A LOT AND THINGS GO JUST FINE IF YOUR STOCK EXCHANGE FUNCTIONS
SMOOTHLY. AND YES, CLAPS FOR THE LAST ULTIMATE VOICE-OVER OF THE FILM.
nice news friend....
ReplyDeletea good movie
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