Raajneeti

Prakash Jha's *Raajneeti* is an ambitious political thriller that attempts to weave personal betrayal into the fabric of electoral machinations, and for the most part, it succeeds in creating a layered narrative that justifies its considerable runtime. The film's central conceit—positioning a woman's illegitimate child as the nexus around which political dynasties crumble—is genuinely compelling, and Jha's direction ensures that the personal stakes feel as weighty as the political ones. Ajay Devgn delivers a measured performance as the ideologically conflicted protagonist, while Nana Patekar brings gravitas to the role of the aging patriarch, though Katrina Kaif's portrayal of Bharti occasionally struggles with tonal consistency, veering between steely determination and melodramatic vulnerability without fully inhabiting either space.

Where *Raajneeti* stumbles is in its structural bloat and narrative overreach. At 155 minutes, Jha indulges in lengthy political speechifying and subplot construction that dilutes rather than deepens thematic resonance. The film wants to be simultaneously a family saga, a political procedural, and a character study, and while each genre element works in isolation, their synthesis feels uneven. The cinematography effectively captures the underbelly of backroom politics, and the ensemble cast—particularly Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpayee—elevates supporting sequences, but the screenplay's attempt to balance too many narrative threads results in so