Sarkar (film)

Plot

Subhash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan), who is known by his followers as Sarkar, lives in Mumbai. The opening scenes show a rape victim's father (Veerendra Saxena) 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 (Kay Kay Menon), plays a sleazy producer who is more interested in the film actress Sapna (Priyanka Kothari) than his wife Amrita (Rukhsar). Sarkar's other, more upright son, Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan), returns from the United States with his love Pooja (Katrina Kaif) after completing his education there. Pooja's doubts about Sarkar's image cause Shankar, who firmly believes in his father's righteousness, to break up with her later in the movie.

One day, a Dubai-based don, Rasheed (Zakir Hussain) 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 Silver Mani (Kota Srinivasa Rao), Sarkar's former associate, Vishram Bhagat and Swami Virendra (Jeeva). Meanwhile, they trap Sarkar by assassinating a righteous, upright, Ahimsa political leader and an outspoken critic of Sarkar, Motilal Khurana (Anupam Kher), and frame Sarkar for the murder. Everyone, including Vishnu believe that Sarkar is guilty but Shankar has deep faith in his father. Sarkar gets arrested and is 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 (Anant Jog) and asks him to arrange stronger security for his father, only for the commissioner to mock Shankar and his father besides 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 Silver 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, Silver Mani, Swami, Vishram and Rasheed try to convince Vishnu to murder Sarkar. Vishnu was previously thrown out of 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 (establishing justice by the way of his father and not shown in the film but viewer can guess after watching sequel/s). Shankar eliminates Rasheed, Vishram and Silver Mani. He also succeeds in making Swami his puppet. Shankar has also realised that Chief Minister Madan Rathore (Deepak Shirke) was really behind everything; he had instructed Rasheed to murder Sarkar.This results in legal action against the Chief Minister. The closing scenes shows a woman approaching Shankar for justice to a fake encounter of her husband by the police and calling Shankar the Sarkar, while Subash is busy with family.

Commercial and critical reception

Sarkar was superhit at the box office and was greeted very well by critics. Critics liked the way the movie indigenised The Godfather and introduced a political angle to it. The actors, particularly the trio of Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Kay Kay Menon, were lavished with praise for their controlled yet intense performances. Abhishek Bachchan in particular, was rewarded for his portrayal as a son who is inexperienced but enters an unknown world so as to save his father. He won the following awards:

Soundtrack

The music of the film is composed by Bapi and Muhatir choudhary. Lyrics are penned by Sandeep Nath.

Track listing

and muhatir choudhary

Remake

A Telugu remake, titled Rowdy was made replacing the background of Marathi politics with that of South Indian 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 Rs 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, Tanisha Mukherjee and Ravi Kale also reappeared in their respective roles from Sarkar. The film released on 6 June 2008, was critically and commercially successful.