'Raajneeti' hits jackpot at the box office

With 95 per cent occupancy in theatres, the movie's had a great opening weekend

Multiple controversies notwithstanding, Prakash Jha's much-awaited and much-hyped dark political thriller 'Raajneeti' has set the cash registers ringing - courtesy its widely-appreciated content.

"'Raajneeti' (released Friday) is a super-duper hit. The movie is being massively appreciated and will have a definite second weekend run. We have had an average occupancy of close to 95 percent for 26 shows per day and we sold off 4,200 tickets in advance till Sunday," Amit Awasthi, senior manager (programming and operations) of Spice Cinemas, said.

"We have collected a gross of Rs.28 lakh and all shows are full on Sunday (June 6)," he added.

Amit Shah, chief manager (programming) of DLF DT cinemas, echoed the view.

"'Raajneeti' is a must-watch film. The content of the movie is being highly appreciated and it is moving towards being the highest grosser over the weekend for this year till now," Shah said.

"We've had an average occupancy of close to 90 percent and we are running around 15-17 shows in prime properties and around 9-12 shows in other properties. The movie will bring a good second weekend," he added.

Produced by UTV with around Rs.45 crore, the movie has been distributed by Prakash Jha Productions, Walkwater Media and UTV Motion Pictures with over 2,100 prints worldwide.

Inspired by the Hindu epic Mahabharata, 'Raajneeti' takes a behind-the-scenes look at the working of Indian politics and features an ensemble line-up, including the likes of Nana Patekar and Naseeruddin Shah, Ajay Devgn and Manoj Bajpai.

Heartthrobs Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, along with model-turned-actor Arjun Rampal, also play pivotal roles in the movie.

The film was in trouble when it was first denied a certificate by the censor board for Katrina's character reportedly having a resemblance to Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Jha, however, dismissed the allegation saying that the movie is actually a modern re-telling of the Mahabharata.

Some intimate scenes and excessive violence sequences were also removed before the movie was given a U/A censor certificate.

"We've had a very good response till now and most of the shows have been running housefull with an average occupancy of close to 85 percent over the weekend. Everyone has liked the movie and the storyline is pretty strong. Word of mouth publicity is very good," said Jayendra Banerji, vice president (operations) of Satyam Cineplexes.

Deepak Taluja, senior vice president (business and operations) of Fun Cinemas, added: "The movie is going very well and almost all the shows have been housefull with an occupancy of close to 80-90 percent. People are really praising the movie and we are hopeful that this one will have maximum shows in the second week too."

Fun Cinemas is running 11 and 13 shows of 'Raajneeti' for all three and four screen properties respectively.

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Katrina’s role model? It’s Priyanka!

Priyanka Gandhi’s campaign videos helped Kat play a politician in ‘Rajneeti’

Katrina Kaif plays a sober, sari-clad politician in ‘Rajneeti’, and rumours were that the character was based on Sonia Gandhi. It was even being speculated that Katrina’s ‘Sonia look’ in the movie was causing problems for ‘Rajneeti’ events in the political hub of Delhi.

But now it turns out that Kat didn’t model her character after Sonia Gandhi. The influences was of Sonia Gandhi's daughter, Priyanka!

Katrina says she watched a lot of the younger Gandhi’s campaign videos for body language and crowd interaction references. Well, the referencing (or should we say role modelling?) worked, because we think Katrina looks a lot like Priyanka Gandhi in the movie. Just check out the picture of Kat in the ‘Rajneeti’ poster and Priyanka Gandhi in real life, and you’ll see what we’re talking about!

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Ranbir, the green-eyed star

Why is he jealous of Arjun Rampal’s wife, Mehr?

After working with model-turned-National Award winner Arjun Rampal in ‘Raajneeti’, Ranbir Kapoor considers him a "brother for life" and says he loves him so much that he feels extremely jealous of Arjun's wife.

"I have had a wonderful time working with Arjun in 'Raajneeti'. He is my brother for life. I love him a lot. In fact I love him so much, so much that I am jealous that Mehr is his wife," Ranbir said while addressing a press conference at the Galaxy Hotel in Gurgaon.

The two actors were in a fun mood as they stood up and started clapping as soon as their co-actor Katrina Kaif stepped on to the stage. They even banged the table instead of clapping later, and Ranbir kept dropping the cap of a plastic water bottle placed on the dais.

Even Arjun went out of his way to confess his feelings for Ranbir as well as the other cast and crew members of 'Raajneeti', directed by critically acclaimed Prakash Jha.

"I have found a good friend in Prakash, guide in Nana (Patekar) sir, enemy in Manoj (Bajpai), a younger brother in Ranbir and Katrina has been a wonderful person who lets me pull her leg," Arjun said.

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Raajneeti - First Look

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First Look: Rajneeti

Katrina Kaif will be seen in a de-glam avatar for the first time in Prakash Jha’s political drama Rajneeti.

The film also stars Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar, Ranbir Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai and Arjun Rampal and is an effort on Jha’s part to portray the present political scenario on the country. The story revolves around the present politicians in India. Katrina Kaif who is hailed as the world sexiest woman in 2008 will be seen in her most de-glammed avatar ever. The actress plays a simple minded woman in the black world of politics.

Katrina went through tedious voice modulation classes for the film and is sporting only cotton sarees, with no make-up whatsoever. Hence there was a lot of hullabaloo about Katrina’s character being inspired by Congress honcho Sonia Gandhi but Prakash Jha rubbished the rumours saying, “It’s not true, her character is not similar to Sonia Gandhi or any other politician in the country, once you see the film you will realize that such rumours are baseless.”

A source added, “The shooting of Rajneeti has just commenced in Bhopal as Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpai completed their scenes with Katrina. There are no songs in the film and Katrina’s character belongs from the JSP party. It’s based on the Bhenji politics in the north and could stir up quite a few controversies.”

But then which Prakash Jha film doesn’t create a ruckus? The most surprising aspect of the film will be Katrina being finally judged on her acting talent and that would definitely be worth a watch!

Reportedly the film also stars Vivek Oberoi in a small role, which Salman Khan might not be aware of, what happens once he learns of his arch rival's entry in lady love's film will lead to a chintan baithak.

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Ranbir's character in Rajneeti defines democracy in today's world

Actor Ranbir Kapoor is set to play a US-based NRI who has to suddenly return home to take over his family business, in this case politics, in upcoming film "Rajneeti". Director Prakash Jha says the young actor's character "defines democracy in today's world".

"Ranbir is so excited about his look, dialogues. He needs to play a character who defines democracy in today's world. I wouldn't describe it as a multi-starrer. It's a multi-actor film," Jha said.

Ranbir's role sounds familiar to that of Abhishek Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma's "Sarkar".

Ranbir also has Katrina Kaif as his co-star, just like Abhishek Bachchan did. In "Sarkar", Katrina's voice had to be dubbed although she played an NRI, but in "Rajneeti", Katrina would be seen giving long speeches in her own voice and that too in Hindi.

Her two-minute speech in front of a 10,000-strong audience at a rally in Bhopal for "Rajneeti" has whetted Ranbir Kapoor's appetite for getting right the speeches that he needs to deliver for Prakash Jha's film when he starts shooting in August.

Ranbir doesn't need to learn Hindi, like Katrina did. He just needs to cultivate an accent to sound like an America-returned Delhi boy who suddenly needs to go from monosyllabic rashtra bhasha to full speeches.

"Katrina Kaif is such a revelation. She was so nervous giving a speech in front of 10,000 people. After she gave her speech I hugged her on stage and shouted out to the junta, 'Bhopal ka ticket de de kya?'," Jha said.

Ranbir plays a Harvard-educated US-based NRI who has to return home to look after his mother's political empire. Ranbir won't play the reluctant politician in the usual khadi kurta-pyjama dress code. "Ranbir will be very trendily dressed. He plays a young man of today," Jha said.

Ranbir, who joins the cast later, has been regularly calling and talking to the entire cast in Bhopal.

"He even offered to leave whatever he was doing and join us in Bhopal although his shooting starts next month. I remember one day Ajay, Nana, Arjun and Manoj were working together and missing Ranbir. So in the evening we got together in my hotel room and called him. Ranbir spoke to each of us individually. He wanted to leave everything in Mumbai and join us in Bhopal."

Prakash starts workshops with Ranbir after the Lok Sabha elections.

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Katrina's role has nothing to do with Sonia Gandhi

Film director Prakash Jha on Tuesday (Feb 10) denied that the role played by Katrina Kaif in his "Rajneeti" was based on Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political career.

"It (Katrina's character) has nothing to do with either the life or political career of Sonia Gandhi", Jha said in Bhopal, where he is shooting “Rajneeti”.

There have been media reports that the movie was based on the life and career of Sonia Gandhi and that the character played by Katrina bears an uncanny resemblance to her.

Meanwhile, Prakash Jha also said on Tuesday that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bettiah constituency in West Champaran district of Bihar.
Talking to reporters, Jha said this time he would not contest as an independent candidate but in all probability for some political party.

"I contested the previous Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate but now I will be in fray as a candidate of some political party," he said.

On which party he would contest from, Jha said that he enjoyed good relations with everyone in Bihar, be it Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) supremo Ram Vilas Paswan, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as well as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s L.K. Advani and it is yet to be decided for which party he would contest.

"I am in constant touch with my people in Bihar for the past five years and regularly serving them. As such, the party for which I contest is immaterial. However, it is certain that I will contest for that party which will talk about development and serving people in the real sense", he said.

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