Satyagraha

"Parts of Satyagraha make perfect sense but, on the whole, it never comes close to clicking into top gear. It leaves you more disappointed than angry."

"If good intentions were enough to make good movies, Satyagraha would be a masterpiece. Prakash Jha is one of the few directors in Bollywood who has consistently championed political cinema. His rage at the rotten state of the system has simmered through his movies for nearly three decades. But from the National Award-winning Damul in 1984 to Satyagraha, his stories have become increasingly simplistic, star-driven and heavy-handed."

"Without a doubt, Prakash Jha -- a perennial political complaint box -- offers nothing new either by way of content or style. How you'd like insights and information, from him, which you don't know already. That would amount to excellent cinema, and not just one more star-fuelled trip into a political void. Suggestion: avoid."

"It may be coming from a good place, but it doesn't know where it's going."

"...the end is chaos, very far from the non-violent satyagrah that the film propounds: gun-toting hooligans and cops run around the town, ending predictably in noble deaths and lectures on morality and goodness."

"Showing true Satyagraha has no short-cuts, it also shows solutions glimmering ahead, as ephemeral, yet powerful as a rainbow cleansing the dust."

""Satygraha" conveys the uncontrollable anger and energy of a nation on the brink. For telling it like it is and for creating a compelling film out of the raw material of present-day corruption, the film deserves a standing ovation."

"SATYAGRAHA is an all-engrossing, compelling drama that mirrors the reality around us. In fact, it's yet another brilliant addition to Prakash Jha's credible repertoire, who has created some of the most politically momentous motion pictures. For the splendid drama and the electrifying dramatic highs, I suggest you must watch this hard-hitting fare. Absolutely recommended!"

"Prakash Jha's films tend to be didactic but the unnecessary inclusion of a romantic track just dilutes the essence of the film instead of providing some much-needed respite. The director needs to realize that playing to the gallery isn't always possible. 'Satyagraha' is well intentioned but the effect remains superfluous."

"While the movie does invoke in you some feelings, you do feel cheated that it does not attempt to answer the bigger question."

"Satyagraha solely documents and offers fleeting wisdom. It succeeds at highlighting the problem but fails at achieving poignancy."

"... a weightless film that leaves by a transitory impact on its audiences. Wasting the enigma of such talented bunch of actors, the film with its overbearing story and its erratically structured plot lacks the much needed blaze. Emerging as a warped product of political correctness with an unconvincing climax, somehow the entire product had the stench of unbearable staleness. It wasn't a terrible film, just not the promising Prakash Jha venture you might have wanted to watch."

"Getting out of the hole that you dig can become very difficult when you mix real life events and fiction and the film flounders in the climax. While there are a few poignant points and moments on the face of it but if you dig deeper there are plenty of flaws in the screenplay."

"Satyagraha is neither compelling, nor gripping. Unlike Jha's other hard-hitting political dramas, this one is too light and monotonous. The movie goes on and on with a poor script, at times testing your patience. Nothing can spare you in Satyagraha, until it concludes and you get a breather finally!"

"More whimpering than a roar, this movie unfortunately induced yawns instead of any feeling of rebellion."

"Though Prakash Jha has his heart in the right place when it comes to politically-themed films, it's not enough to reward this Satyagraha with anything but 2 stars."

"Producer-director Prakash Jha has his heart in the right place as he once again chooses a topic -- in this film's case corruption -- that is singeing the country more than anything else today but delivers a potion that is but a terrible hodgepodge of Arakshan, Rajneeti and Gangaajal."

"If one focuses on the overall making of the film, it is looks to be a dramatized version taken frame-to-frame from reality and painted on a canvas with a hope that the system will change and the citizens will be instrumental in bringing about this change."

"Unfortunately, Jha's revolution this time round ends up unforgivably long, inadequately scripted and way too superficial to merit applause. Yes, there are moments of optimism, but those are far too few to evoke any real passion."

"Satyagraha is an exercise in extreme self obsession. Because Prakash Jha just doesn't want the film to end! It goes on and on till you start hallucinating Ajay Devgn's moustache as a sinister, blood sucking alien and Amitabh Bachchan starts looking like a mummified pharaoh."

"Satyagraha is an average fare but its business at the box-office will be below average due to the below-the-mark start and lack of universal support, especially lack of youth support. Although it is contemporary and entertaining in parts and also has an emotional under-current, its convenient screenplay and too idealistic characters would mar its box-office prospects by limiting its appeal. Business in big centres and multiplexes will be better than that in smaller centres and single-screen cinemas."