Katrina starrer Rajneeti is modern Mahabharata?

By Devansh Patel
Does history repeat itself? Even centuries later, do people carry within them the DNA of age-old fratricidal wars, like some devilishly complex proteins?
As Kurukshetra, Haryana was where thousands of years ago the bloody Mahabharat wars were fought over land and till today, they say, that if you dig hard and long, your chances are that you will find the red soil which was synonymous to the worlds bloodiest battle ever fought on land. It seems to be once again becoming the source of many abominable tales of corruption, of violent revenge killings, murky land deals and dirty politics.
So, the conclusion is that the present begins from the past and present depicts the future. So it is essential for everyone to know the history of our past because every present emerges from the past and despite modifications, the base of all the things remains same.
Come to think of it, Mahabharata is a glorious welter of incident and digression, evoking not just a central story of ruinous war but an array of myths and human archetypes and an animal world a quiver with magic drawn to its transcending themes: man’s joyous awakening to nature and love and duty, the menacing lures of vanity and ambition and war with political degradation.
At least hindsight is a must for those who have no foresight. For the sightless, Dhritharashtra of the epic Mahabharata and the progenies in terms of vision less political parties of today, someone like Sanjaya has to interpret characters, situations and their meanings, for all times to come.
In our grand finale of the first season of the ‘Writers Notepad’, Devansh Patel presents to you a writer par excellence, Anjum Rajabali and his take on his most ambitious project this year – Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti which is highly influenced from the epic Mahabharata. Come; join us in this final battle of the pen versus the sword.
Rajneeti – An ambitious film
A couple of reasons for that, actually. One is that while I’ve dealt with political subjects in a couple of earlier screenplays, this is the first time that I’m tackling a plot that deals squarely with the electoral politics of the Hindi heartland.
When Prakash (Jha) invited me to write Rajneeti with him in 2004, my first reaction was to decline politely, as I didn’t have any useful understanding or even familiarity with that political culture. I mean barring what one gleans from the news media.
However, Prakash knows that territory like the back of his hand – having observed it for decades and now being an active participant in elections there. He assured me that he’d educate me about the ground reality and since he was to co-write it too, he was responsible for ensuring that the script and the film would have a credible political flavour.