Rajneeti was released in theaters worldwide on 4 June 2010, after some controversies regarding similarities between real-life people and the characters in the film, as well as issues about the national anthem.
Plot
The film begins with a quick flashback into the life of Bharti Rai (Nikhila Trikha), the daughter of Chief Minister Ramnath Rai (Darshan Jariwala). Influenced by leftist ideology, she rebels against her father and joins the rival party of leftist leader Bhaskar Sanyal (Naseeruddin Shah). Bharti develops an illicit relationship with Bhaskar, who, guilt-ridden over taking advantage of the younger woman, leaves for parts unknown, having unwittingly gotten Bharti pregnant. Upon the child's birth, he is abandoned in a boat by Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar), Bharti's brother. Bharti later marries Chandra Pratap (Chetan Pandit), the younger brother of Bhanu Pratap (Khan Jahangir Khan). Bhanu leads the Rashtrawadi political party. The government in the state collapses and Bhanu suffers a stroke. In the hospital, he hands over power to his brother Chandra and to Chandra's son, Prithviraj Pratap (Arjun Rampal) — sidelining his own son, Veerendra Pratap (Manoj Bajpai). Veerendra, who believes power is his birthright, demands his uncle's position, and after being rebuffed, enlists support from a Dalit leader, Sooraj Kumar (Ajay Devgan) — who, unknown to both, is Bharti's abandoned son.
Veerendra with the help of Sooraj, has Chandra assassinated in his car, while he is returning from the airport after seeing off his younger son, Samar Pratap (Ranbir Kapoor). In an ensuing drama, Prithvi is arrested by police under the influence of Veerendra and put on trial for a case of raping a woman party worker (Shruti Seth). Samar comes to the rescue and promises that if all charges upon his brother are dropped, his brother will resign and that he is ready to move with his family to the U.S.. Veerendra agrees but the newly released Prithvi begins rallying public support despite his resignation from the party. After Bhanu officially expels Prithvi, the latter splits from the Rashtrawadi party and contests elections under "Jana Shakti party", a new party with Gopal as his mentor and Samar as the executive. Meanwhile Samar's American girlfriend Sarah (Sarah Thompson) arrives in India to see the situation. To raise funds for the new party, Samar shrewdly ensures Prithvi's marriage to their childhood friend Indu (Katrina Kaif), the daughter of a powerful businessman. Indu had always loved Samar, however, Samar only thought of Indu as a friend and loved Sarah.
The film gets murkier with both sides trying every trick to ensure their victory in coming elections. Allegations and counter-allegations are made. Subsequently, Samar uncovers that the real murderer of his father is Sooraj and Veerendra, and decides to take revenge. On the other hand, Prithvi executes the former police officer, who had arrested him and the woman worker at a farmhouse. This infuriates Veerendra and he hatches a plot to assassinate Prithvi. Amidst of all the events, Indu realizes her love for Prithvi and Prithvi accepts her love in return. Also, Sarah is revealed to be pregnant with Samar's child and Samar promises Sarah that he will go to America with her and leave politics. A car bomb is planted in Prithvi's car which kills both Prithvi and Sarah, who was to be dropped at the airport in that car. Devastated by the loss of his brother and girlfriend, Samar decides to retaliate. He suggests Indu to take the reins of the party and arranges the election campaign single-handedly.
Meanwhile, Sooraj is revealed to be the first child of Bharti, who implores him to join his younger brother Samar. Sooraj refuses to part ways with Veerendra and asks his mother to leave. Exit polls predict a victory for Indu's Party and on the counting day, Samar lures Veerendra and Sooraj to an unused factory by spreading a rumor about electronic voting machine being hacked. Veerendra and Sooraj fall in the trap and Veerendra gets shot by Samar and his men. Sooraj requests Samar to leave him and Veerendra till they reach the hospital, but Veerendra dies on the way. Gopal prompts Samar to shoot Sooraj who questions the morality of the act. But Gopal convinces him to take the revenge. Samar shoots Sooraj and takes the revenge for the destruction of his family.
Later the election results are declared, and Indu emerges with majority and is made Chief Minister. Samar is seen asking forgiveness and is seen attempting reconciliation with Indu. Explaining his decision to return to America, he reflects that he always wanted to stay away from politics as politics is a game that brings out the "inner devil" . Indu is also revealed to be pregnant with Prithvi's child, while Samar leaves India to look after Sarah's mother and settle thereCast
* Ajay Devgan as Sooraj Kumar
* Nana Patekar as Brij Gopal
* Ranbir Kapoor as Samar Pratap
* Katrina Kaif as Indu Sakseria/Pratap
* Arjun Rampal as Prithviraj Pratap
* Manoj Bajpai as Veerendra Pratap
* Sarah Thompson Kane as Sarah Jean Collins
* Naseeruddin Shah as Bhaskar Sanyal
* Darshan Jariwala as Ramnath Rai
* Chetan Pandit as Chandra Pratap
* Shruti Seth as Party worker
* Kiran Karmarkar as S.P. Sharma
* Daya Shanker Pandey as Ram Charitar
* Vinay Apte as Babulal
* Nikhila Tirkha as Bharti Pratap née Rai (mother of Sooraj, Prithvi & Samar)
* Khan Jahangir Khan as Bhanu Pratap
Critical reception
In the Indian press, Rajneeti scored 5.5/10 on the critic ratings aggregation site Reviewgang.
In India, Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times rated it 3/5 and said, "None of the actors assembled on stage let him (the director) down; right from an unusually inspired Rampal to his powerful, polar opposite Bajpayee".Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India rated it 4/5 and said, "The film basically anchors its plot in two classic tales — The Mahabharata and The Godfather — to create an engrossing diatribe on India's political system where democracy may prevail, but not in its purest form." Anupama Chopra of NDTV rated it 3/5 and said "Jha creates a real sense of the machinations and sordid deals that fuel politics but then hobbles it with outlandish twists and some decidedly 'filmy' moments". Rajeev Masand of IBN said, "Raajneeti is thrilling and gripping for the most part, even though it does lose steam in its final act. For the superb acting, and for the exciting dramatic highs, it's a film I recommend you do not miss."
In the U.S., Rachel Saltz of The New York Times said, "[T]he film — full of romance, intrigue and fraternal strife — is too diffuse to score political points. Or to have much impact."[11] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times found that while it aimed "for something trenchant about thwarted destiny and ugly ambition in modern Indian democracy", it "mostly winds up with a convoluted and tonally awkward Godfather rehash, with nary a character worth rooting for," and that "Kapoor's performance is stony rather than calculating...." Frank Lovece of Film Journal International said, "More pulpy than political, this Godfather-ripoff Hindi electoral drama is a candidate for oblivion in U.S. theatres. ... t all eventually becomes so ridiculous and over-the-top violent that there is nobody, nobody, to root for
Box office
Raajneeti recorded an opening of nearly Indian Rupee 10.50 crore net on its first day. It had the second highest Friday opening in India after 3 Idiots, and the highest Friday opening in the first half of the year, surpassing Kites. It collected Indian Rupee ₹ 34 crore at the end of the weekend and set a record for biggest weekend in the first half of the year, surpassing Housefull. It showed no major decline in business on Tuesday and collected Rs. 5.85 crore. At the end of the first week, the film collected Rs. 54.75 crore and set a record for biggest week in the first half of the year beating Housefull. Raajneeti sustained well in the second weekend and collected Indian Rupee ₹ 16.25 crore. It is currently the fifth highest grossing Bollywood film behind 3 Idiots, Dabangg, Ghajini and Golmaal 3.
Overseas, the film opened to weekend business of $2.25 million. In the U.S., the film played well for a limited release, noted Ray Subers of BoxOfficeMojo.com, grossing $850,244 on 124 screens its opening weekend, "which was good for first among limited releases and 11th place on the overall weekend chart." He specified that Raajneeti "became the third Bollywood movie this year to lead all limited releases in its first weekend," following My Name is Khan and Kites. In Australia and New Zealand, Raajneeti surpassed the opening weekend record set by 3 Idiots
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