Sarkar Raj is a sequel to Sarkar and so does not even make an effort to distinguish itself from that title. It is predictable to the last silence, but in comparison to his earlier disasters, Ramu manages to redeem himself. Thank God!

The story starts of couple of years after the sauve son (Abhishek) has taken over the mantle of Sarkar and the proud papa (Amitabh) is beginning to enjoy his ‘retirement’. However, trouble enters paradise in form of a power plant project that divides Maharashtra on the lines of urban development and farming sacrifice, whose CEO is Anitha Ranjan (Rai).

The tussle for power and the repercussions of wanting it is a continued theme and therefore it is nothing that you haven’t seen before.

Ramu continues his love affair with shadows and sepia and as usual manages a great ensemble cast (it is not the Bachchans I am talking about). Names like Govind Namadeo, Sayaji Shinde etc are part of this but it Dilip Prabavalkar shines through his 15 minutes (literally) However Rajesh Shrirangapore portrayal of social activist is like a cartoon who’s lost his marbles!

Coming to the Bachchans, the beta-bahu pair have delivered competent performances but it is ofcourse the Amitabh who shows you why he is the baap.

Some slick editing and a haunting background score are definitely to be mentioned. All in all, Ramu manages to get us to believe in is his talent once more . You just wish he hadn’t tried to fall into the obvious pit and introduce a romantic angle between Abhishek and Aishwarya. So hackneyed that you did not expect it from a director who does not do conventional. A one time watch