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NAYAK
Producer: A. M. Rathnam
Director: Shankar
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Starring:Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Sushmita Sen, Amrish Puri

RATING:
*****

Sri Surya Movies' Nayak is a political thriller and a crusade against corruption, with a novel concept of a one-day chief minister. A simpleton TV news reporter, in the course of his job, interviews the chief minister of his state who challenges him (reporter) to take over as the CM for a day and show what he can achieve.

The reporter accepts the challenge and not only dismisses the corrupt in the government, but also manages to collect a grandiose amount as sales tax in a single day. In the end, he also gets the corrupt chief minister and other ministers arrested.

The people of the state see a hero in the one-day CM. Mid-term polls are announced and the one-day hero is forced by the public to contest elections. He relents after a lot of persuasion, and is elected the new chief minister.

He continues his crusade to expose the corrupt and bring them to book but has to face a lot of hurdles in the way, including the murder of his parents. Ultimately, he masterminds a plan to book the ex-chief minister who has made life miserable for him.

The film, a remake of the Tamil blockbuster Mudhalvan, has novelty for the audience but the drama has been handled in so simplistic a manner that it looks rather unbelievable.

Firstly, to show that a CM can achieve so much in a single day is too far-fetched and unrealistic. Even if that were taken as a cinematic liberty, the CM issuing dismissal orders to all and sundry raises the obvious questions: who will fill the vacant posts and what is the guarantee that the new incumbents will not become corrupt?

The film, therefore, offers no permanent solution to the problem of corruption. Had the punishment for corruption been shown to be frighteningly severe, it would have made a more dramatic impact on the viewer. Mere dismissal looks too minor a punishment.

After the TV hero becomes the elected chief minister, the only worthwhile new thing he does is the putting up of complaint boxes in every area, a scheme that becomes very successful. The latter part of the film becomes a personal vendetta drama more than a fight against corruption which the film professes to be.

Coming to individual sequences, one of the most important sequences in the film - the live interview of the CM - has been handled very childishly. To assume that a CM is not aware that his interview is being aired live on TV would be ridiculous. Even if it were not live, no CM, caught in a tight corner, would behave the way this CM is shown to behave - he pleads with the reporter to not ask him uncomfortable questions, that too looking right into the camera! Why should the reporter, who is in a mood to grill the CM, listen to his plea? Politicians are adept at handling difficult questions smartly and this CM also does so, but after acting childishly and giving himself out completely.

While all this can be explained as exaggerated reactions, they don't gel with the mood of the film because the issue is too serious to be treated with such frivolity.

Yet another unbelievable aspect is that the TV reporter manages to get sound bytes of the CM so easily - sound bytes which any reporter would die to get!

Furthermore, to expect the CM to be so naive as to openly reveal his evil designs to the conscientious police commissioner is rather silly. More so because on the one hand, the CM is shown as terribly corrupt (he has assets worth Rs. 500 crore) and on the other, he is shown to be almost an idiot! No shrewd and corrupt guy can be so idiotic.

The film's biggest drawback is, therefore, that while some things are too realistic, others are just as unrealistic and unbelievable. So, while the film claims to present reality and tackle real issues, it takes too many liberties wherever and whenever convenient. And this is why the film does not draw the required emotions from the audience.

This is not to say that the film has no positive points. On the plus side are the concept of the one-day CM, the sequence showing the dilemma of the one-day CM when he is approached for contesting elections and the (excellent) final resolution of the dilemma, his elevation almost to the status of God (his abhishek - people bathing him with milk because there's no water at hand), his parents' death in a bomb explosion and his emotional outburst thereafter.

Climax is abrupt and the lack of action in it is jarring. Dialogues are alright except at places where they are fantastic.

Anil Kapoor does a splendid job as the reporter-turned-chief minister. He looks every inch the character he plays and shines in emotional and dramatic scenes. Rani Mukerji acts ably but has a small role. Amrish Puri makes an effective villain but he too gets limited scope.

Paresh Rawal is superb. His simplicity is his biggest asset. His dialogues are very effective. Johny Lever's comedy entertains till it becomes too repetitive. Saurabh Shukla does a fair job. Shivaji Satam is natural. Pooja Batra has no scope. Neena Kulkarni is fabulous as Anil's mother. Sushmita Sen and Ahmed Khan impress in a dance. The rest of the cast lends admirable support.

Shankar's direction could have been much better. His inept handling becomes conspicuous as unrealistic and unbelievable things happen in this serious issue-based drama.

Music (A.R. Rahman) is a major minus point of the film. Except for 'Mitwa' and 'Shakalaka' songs, the other numbers are too boring to be true. Although song picturisations, especially 'Saiyyan' and 'Tu achchha lagta hai', are heavenly and also novel, the impact is half-lost due to the boring tunes. The 'Saiyyan' song can easily be deleted.

Action scenes (Kanal Kannan) are well composed and look rich. The mud fight has special appeal. Computer graphics are superb. K.V. Anand's camerawork is marvellous.

Background score is effective. Production values are too grand. Editing is weak. The film could do with deletion of at least 10 minutes' length. Other technical values are of a good standard.

On the whole, Nayak does not have enough entertainment value for everyone. Considering the high price at which it has been sold, it will put its distributors to losses. The lack of political awareness and disinterest in politics among the general public (except in South India) will endanger its prospects.

In the Overseas territory, its chances are bleak.

RELEASE DATE: 7th September 2001

WRITTEN BY KOMAL NAHTA

Sep	OCT	Dec
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2000	2001	2004