When I first saw the promos of Rajneeti and more tellingly the image of Katrina Kaif moving through cheering crowds, in a look cleverly cultivated to make her look like the most powerful lady in the land, my pulse quickened. Was Prakash Jha going to give us the definitive Indian political thriller with thinly veiled allusions to the great Phemily? I imagined the ‘Half Blood Prince Who Joins the Opposition’, ‘The Chosen One Born To Rule”, the “Regent Who Kept The Throne Warm” , the “Dallit Messiah Who Went From Friend of Phemily To Sworn Enemy” as protagonists—-rubbing my hands together in glee at the prospect of a game of “spot the allusion”, especially if they used one of Katrina Kaif’s iconic songs “Kya baat hai kya cheez hai paisa” some how in the narrative.
But then a side of my brain said “Surely not”. The Queen Cong and her knaves would never allow a nasty tell-all and “spontaneous outbreaks of public anger” would lead to the movie being taken off the theaters, even if it by some miracle got by the censors. Then another side of my brain said “This must be a hagiography” from Prakash Jha, who after a disastrous run as a Lok Janashakti Party candidate, might be looking at something bigger and what better way to go up the rungs of the Party than by making a film extolling the struggles of Queen Cong.
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