‘Raajneeti’ is the tale of political intrigue, following the fortunes of three powerful families over a period of thirty years. ‘Raajneeti’, co-written and directed by Prakash Jha, has a formidable star cast including: Ranbi Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Ajay Devgan, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, and Manoj Bajpayee. While Jha has stated that his only inspiration for the film was ‘The Godfather’ and the story and characters of India’s epic poem, ‘The Mahabharata’; others feel the characters closely resemble real-life Indian politicians.

Bharti Rai, daughter of a state’s Chief Minister, Ramnath Rai, is in love with opposition leader charismatic leftist Bhaskar Sanyal. After a night of passion, Bhaskar feels ashamed of his behavior. Shaken, he leaves everything behind including Bharti who is now pregnant. When the baby is born, he is taken from Bharti by her brother, Brig Gopal. Gopal places the baby in a small boat left at the edge of the water and abandons him. Gopal then persuades Bharti to marry Chandra Pratap. Chandra’s older brother Bhanu holds power in the fast-rising Rashtrawadi Party. In this way, Gopal has secured Bharti’s future and formed a strong alliance for Bharti’s father.

Twenty-seven years later, we are introduced to Sooraj, a local hero and popular leader of the dalits and lower castes. Although his father is chauffeur to the wealthy Pratap family, Sooraj has little respect for the upper classes and sees politics as a way to seek justice for the masses. Eventually, it will be revealed that Sooraj was rescued as a baby by the chauffeur who raised him as his son. Bharti and Chandra Pratap also had children. Samar, the youngest son, has returned from America to attend his uncle Bhanu’s birthday party. Uninterested in politics, Samar wants to return to America and become a teacher. His older brother, Prithviraj, is politically ambitious, impulsive and volatile.

Bhanu’s son, Veerendra believes he is the next in line for the head position of the Rashtrawadi Party. But when Bhanu has a stroke and becomes paralyzed, he turns leadership of the Party over to his brother Chandra and nephew Prithviraj. This sets up a deadly struggle to control the Party. A humiliated Veerendra enlists Sooraj to regain control of the party. When Chandra is assassinated, and Prithviraj is jailed for sexual assault, both at Sooraj’s instigation, Samar finds that he has a talent for politics and revenge after all. With elections drawing near, the two sides will stop at nothing to win.

In ‘Raajneeti’, Prakash Jha weaves a tale of ruthless political dynasties, using anything or anybody to retain power. The story draws you in quickly and the pace doesn’t slow for a second. Cinematographer Sachin Kumar Krishnan captures the immense scale of political rallies in India, giving the movie an epic feel.

Ranbir Kapoor does justice to the role of Samar, who has been kept away from the dirty game of politics by his family and educated in America. Mentored by Gopal, he quickly masters strategy and manipulation. Ranbir plays him quite cold-blooded. Arjun Rampal, on the other hand, plays Prithviraj as the opposite: hot temper, impulsive, totally ruled by his passions and emotions. Manoj Bajpayee as Veerendra is solemn and brooding. He feels it is his birthright to inherit the Chief Minister’s position from his father. When he is out-manipulated by Samar and Prithviraj at every turn, he fumes and plots his next moves with Sooraj’s help.

Another interesting side plot is carried out by Katrina Kaif as Indu Sakseria, spoiled daughter of an industrialist who has loved Samar since childhood. Samar coldly uses her as a pawn and arranges Indu’s marriage to Prithviraj in exchange for her father’s financial support. The plot thickens when Samar’s American girlfriend Susan, comes to visit and doesn’t like the Samar she finds.

As most often happens Bollywood movies, the movie reflects the flavor of Indian politics, but it is probably not a completely true refection of it. At the 56th Filmfare Awards (2010), Ranbir Kapoor was nominated for Best Actor, and Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpai, and Nana Patekar were nominated for Best Supporting Actor.