Raajneeti

Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times rated it 3/5 and said, None of the actors assembled on stage let him (the director) down; right from an unusually inspired Rampal to his powerful, polar opposite Bajpayee. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India rated it 4/5 and said, The film basically anchors its plot in two classic tales The Mahabharata and The Godfather to create an engrossing diatribe on Indias political system where democracy may prevail, but not in its purest form. Anupama Chopra of NDTV rated it 3/5 and said Jha creates a real sense of the machinations and sordid deals that fuel politics but then hobbles it with outlandish twists and some decidedly filmy moments. Rajeev Masand of IBN said, Raajneeti is thrilling and gripping for the most part, even though it does lose steam in its final act. For the superb acting, and for the exciting dramatic highs, its a film I recommend you do not miss.

Rachel Saltz of The New York Times said, [T]he film full of romance, intrigue and fraternal strife is too diffuse to score political points. Or to have much impact. Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times found that while it aimed for something trenchant about thwarted destiny and ugly ambition in modern Indian democracy, it mostly winds up with a convoluted and tonally awkward Godfather rehash, with nary a character worth rooting for and that Kapoors performance is stony rather than calculating. Frank Lovece of Film Journal International said, More pulpy than political, this Godfather-ripoff Hindi electoral drama is a candidate for oblivion in U.S.

theatres. [I]t all eventually becomes so ridiculous and over-the-top violent that there is nobody, nobody, to root for.