Sarkar (2005 film)

Plot

Subhash Nagre, who is known by his followers as Sarkar, lives in Mumbai. The opening scenes show a rape victim's father approaching Sarkar for justice (which the corrupt law and order system has failed to deliver), which Sarkar promptly establishes by having the rapist beaten up by his henchmen. His son Vishnu plays a sleazy producer who is more interested in the film actress Sapna than his wife Amrita. Sarkar's other, more upright son Shankar returns from the United States with his love Pooja after completing his education there. Pooja's doubts about Sarkar's image eventually cause Shankar, who firmly believes in his father's righteousness, to break up with her.

One day, a Dubai-based don, Rasheed, tries to strike a deal with Sarkar; he promptly refuses on moral grounds and also forbids him from doing it himself. Rasheed tries to eliminate Sarkar's supremacy with the help of Selvar Mani, Sarkar's former associate, MLA Vishram Bhagat, and Swami Virendra. Meanwhile, they trap Sarkar by assassinating a righteous, upright, Ahinsa political leader and an outspoken critic of Sarkar, Motilal Khurana, and frame Sarkar for the murder. Everyone, including Vishnu, believes that Sarkar is guilty, but Shankar has deep faith in his father. Sarkar is arrested and imprisoned. Shankar now takes over the position of Sarkar temporarily. On learning of a plot to murder his father in prison, he approaches the police commissioner and asks him to arrange stronger security for his father, only for the commissioner to mock Shankar and his father beside not providing protection. Shankar gets a feeling that the police commissioner wants Sarkar to get murdered. Shankar and Khansaab, one of Sarkar's men, try to ask Mani for help to prevent possible murder, but Mani ultimately betrays them when he reveals that he is in an alliance with Rasheed. Rasheed prepares to kill Shankar and Khansaab, but only Khansaab is killed when he decides to sacrifice himself for Shankar. By the time Shankar reaches the prison and appropriate action is taken, the attempt on Sarkar's life is already made. Sarkar is later acquitted. He remains bedridden as Shankar takes on Sarkar's enemies.

Meanwhile, Mani, Swami, Vishram, and Rasheed try to convince Vishnu to murder Sarkar. Vishnu was previously expelled from Sarkar's house because he had murdered the actor who was having an affair with Sapna. Vishnu returns home pretending to have repented. When he approaches Sarkar in the dark of the night with the intent of murdering him, Shankar foils his plan and later kills him. Shankar eliminates Rasheed, Vishram, and Selvar Mani. He also succeeds in making Swami his puppet. Shankar has also realised that Chief Minister Madan Rathod was really behind everything; Rasheed and everyone else were merely pawns. This results in legal action against Rathod. The closing scenes show a woman approaching Shankar for justice to a fake encounter of her husband by the police and calling Shankar the Sarkar, while Subhash is busy with family.

Cast

• Amitabh Bachchan as Subhash Nagre alias "Sarkar"
• Abhishek Bachchan as Shankar Nagre, Sarkar's younger son
• Kay Kay Menon as Vishnu Nagre, Sarkar's elder son
• Supriya Pathak as Pushpa Nagre, Sarkar's wife
• Katrina Kaif as Pooja Chauhan, Shankar's girlfriend (dubbed by Mona Ghosh)
• Tanishaa as Avantika, Shankar's wife
• Rukhsar as Amrita Nagre, Vishnu's wife
• Anupam Kher as Motilal Khurana
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Selvar Mani
• Zakir Hussain as Rashid
• Raju Mavani as MLA Vishram Bhagat
• Jeeva as Virendra Swami
• Deepak Shirke as CM Madan Rathod, Sarkar's best friend and confidant
• Anant Jog as Police Commissioner
• Ishrat Ali as Bochya
• Saurabh Dubey as Pooja's father
• Ravi Kale as Chander, Sarkar's right-hand man
• Virendra Saxena as Girl's father
• Carran Kapoor as a hero in Vishnu's film
• Nisha Kothari as a heroine in Vishnu's film
• Narendra Sachar as IG Police
• Mangal Kenkre as Shoba
• Shivam Shetty as Bhushan
• Chintan Atul Shah as Shivaji Nagre alias "Cheeku", Vishnu's son and Sarkar's grandson

Production

Development

Sarkar's director Ram Gopal Varma was deeply influenced by the Francis Ford Coppola's Hollywood classic The Godfather (1972), which he mentions in the opening credits of the film. He changed the film's setting to modern-day Mumbai.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Sarkar consists of 10 songs composed by Bapi-Tutul & Prasanna Shekhar the lyrics of which were penned by Sandeep Nath.

Critical reception

Raja Sen of Rediff said that the film "had the potential to be great. It turns out to be passable." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama praised the movie saying that, "Sarkar is without doubt an interesting film. The story, its execution, the performances, the drama… The outcome leaves you spellbound." but criticized the slow pacing of the film and gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5. William Thomas of Empire Online gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Constructed with flair and crackling with intelligence, this is one of the most edgiest and grittiest releases to come out of Bollywood in years."

Abhishek Bachchan won multiple awards for his performance in the film, namely Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male, and IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Accolades

Remake

A Telugu remake, titled Rowdy, was made replacing the background of Marathi politics with that of Rayalaseema factionism. Veteran actor Mohan Babu reprised the role portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, while his son, Vishnu Manchu, reprised the role played by Abhishek Bachchan. Rowdy released on 4 April 2014 to positive reviews from critics, but was a moderate commercial success, grossing approximately 8 crores in its full run.

Sequel

A sequel titled Sarkar Raj was released on 6 June 2008 with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan (who reprise their roles from the original) and new entrant Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Supriya Pathak, Tanishaa and Ravi Kale also reappeared in their respective roles from Sarkar. The film released on 6 June 2008, was both critically and commercially successful.

Notes

References

References

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2. Raja Sen. (30 June 2005). "Sarkar is just Godfather, dumbed-down". [[Rediff.com]].
3. David. (16 June 2006). "The Films of Ram Gopal Varma – An Overview". Cinema Strikes Back.
4. (2 August 2008). "Sarkar Raj makes it to the Academy of Motion Pictures library".
5. (2015-04-15). "Hindi Movies That Have Been Inspired, Remade Or Simply Lifted From Hollywood".
6. Tiasa Bhowal. (8 July 2021). "Is Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar a fitting tribute to The Godfather? On Throwback Thursday".
7. (27 June 2005). "Sarkar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". [[iTunes Store]].
8. "Sarkar is just Godfather, dumbed-down". [[Rediff.com]].
9. (July 2005 }}{{Rating). "Sarkar Review by Taran Adarsh".
10. (11 August 2023). "Sarkar Review – The Bollywood version of the Godfather.". [[Empire Online]]}}{{Rating.
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13. (22 February 2006). "Winners of the 51st Filmfare Awards". Zee News.
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18. (27 January 2006). "Zee Cine Awards 2006 nominations". IndiaFM News Bureau.
19. (4 March 2006). "Black dominates ZEE Cine Awards 2006".