Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh – A Complete Review

TNI Bureau: Prakash Jha’s ‘Chakravyuh’ truly depicts the current political scenario of the country in the context of the Naxalite movement. Like his earlier films, Jha has tried to portray a burning issue of the nation and successfully narrated the story without any bias.

Story of ‘Chakravyuh’ revolves around two concepts, one pro and the other against naxalism. While Arjun Rampal plays the character of a righteous cop named Adil Khan, Manoj Bajpai appears in the character Ranjan, who happens to be the top naxal leader under whose leadership the Naxals have managed to capture significant areas of forest.

SP Adil Khan finds himself in a critical dilemma in the city of Bhopal, stressed with Naxalite rioters. But the most interesting character in the film is Kabir, played by Abhya Deol, who has done a good job. Preset in the backdrop of the naxal-infested Madhya Pradesh, the film can be seen as a social messenger like Jha’s other presentations, but this time he has perfectly narrated the story, though box office collection of the film is not encouraging in the opening days.

The film is a story of two friends separated by ideology and socio-political differences but the output is commendable. Performances of all the characters are outstanding except Isha Gupta, who plays Rhea Menon in the film. Anjali Patil leaves the best impression among the supporting cast.

The film is someway synonymous to ‘Namak Haram’ (1978) where Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were the two friends fighting for their own ideological call. Here in the film, Adil Khan and Kabir are playing the same role, though there is much difference.

The film is not just another film with lot of bloodshed, but it holds a powerful story within it which of course clearly represents voice of the ever neglected class in the country. And in this endeavor Jha has made quiet a good job to display a keen grasp of how the worlds of politics, business and crime intersect in the country, what he calls ‘Chakravyuh’. The title of the film best represents its content.

The item song performed by Sameera Reddy and sung by Sunidhi Chowhan was not required in the film rather it somehow lead the audience out of the story for a while. Sachin Krishna’s cinematography is awesome. He seems to be an expert in the jungle scenes. Editing by Santosh Mandal is good but not outstanding; it could be little better.

On a whole, the film is a smooth ride presenting voice of the discarded class of people in Indian society, (as per the film) and Prakash Jha has made it.

Director: Prakash Jha

Cast: Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Anjali Patil, Esha Gupta, Om Puri, Manoj Bajpayee

Our Rating: **** 4 stars out of 5.