Raajneeti highlights: True colour of politics

Lots of films have been released in the last couple of months but none managed to create box office record, including Prince, Paathshaala, Badmaash Company and Housefull. Last Friday"s release Kites also failed terribly in spite of all the hype. Now, all eyes are on tomorrow"s release Raajneeti featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal and Nana Patekar.

Raajneeti is an Indian political thriller. It is about politics behind the closed doors. It brings to light the dark side of power and the events that follows when power hungry people occupy the chair. The film is also about two political parties that have common target but follow totally different approach and strategy.

Interestingly, controversies have become a sort of highlight of Raajneeti. Nana Patekar and Prakash Jha fought during the shooting of the film and they are said to be still at loggerheads. It was dragged to the dirty waters with allegations of plagiarism and then the story of the film, which is said to be similar to the real life story of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi. Then censorship controversy followed. The Censor Board refused to issue certificate to the film but the appelatte tribunal cleared it with a U/A certificate. The Congress workers added more salt to the wound by censoring it before it was sent for censorship.

As if that was not enough, the love-making scene involving Arjun Rampal and a theatre actress was deleted by the makers even before sending it for censorship. Arjun reportedly requested the makers of the film to delete the particular scene, as he thought it would not go down well with his wife and daughter. The actress also requested the makers not to mention her name in the credits. Finally, the scene was deleted, though producer and director of the film Prakash Jha promised to retain it in the DVD version.

One of the highlights of the film is the star cast, particularly Katrina Kaif. She is said to have put in lots of hard work, including dubbing for the film in her own voice though she is not fluent in Hindi. Her character is said to be similar to that of Sonia Gandhi. And the glamorous actress has shed all glamour for her role. All eyes will be on other lead actors Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Rampal and Nana Patekar as well.

Raajneeti is releasing tomorrow (June 4) in spite of all the controversies surrounding it. The hype around it has been fantastic. But the big question is – will the film live up to the expectations and bring hope to Bollywood? You will have to wait for a few days to know its fate. Watch out!