Chakravyuh - A War You Cannot Escape but A Film You Can Escape.

Prakash Jha, after his last bombarded venture Aarakshan (Reservation) again tries to depict a major problem of our nation in the Mahabharat-style. It is the Battle of Kurukshetra where Pandavas (the naxalites) are fighting with their own cousins, the Kauravas (the government) and just like Arjuna's brave son Abhimanyu gets stuck into a Chakravyuh formed by Drona, the leader of Kauravas. Chakravyuh is a film highlighting the issues of 'Naxalites' which is one of the major problems that India is facing today.

Adil Khan (Arjun Rampal) is the SP of Bhopal who is transferred to Nandighat ("gram"), the centre of Naxal influence to take hold of the situation. He is depicted as the Kauravas' leader who tries to destroy the Pandavas. Kabir (Abhay Deol), Adil's long-lost and only friend comes back and suggests to join the "naxal-army" and provide clues to the police who is unable to locate the naxal-leaders. Kabir joins the naxals and get to know their problems and sympathise with them. When the naxal commander-in-chief Rajan (Manoj Bajpayee) is arrested, Kabir realises that the naxals are fighting for their right and becomes their leader. He is shown as Abhimanyu who is stuck in a Chakravyuh and could not come back. The rest is the face-off between Adil and Kabir, both are diligent in doing what they think is right.

Prakash Jha used this Mahabharat symbolism in Raajneeti too where he succeeded and the film got huge appreciation. There isn't an iota of doubt that Jha is the best in his type of game and no one could even touch that level in the political-thriller genre. He mesmerises you with his uncanny style of filmmaking which is very much appreciable. The problem with the film lies in its writing, an uninteresting screenplay, an obvious flashback and a set of cliched dialogues looks terrible in a film with such a powerful subject. The music of the film is below average and so is the loud emotionless background score. The editing could be a bit crisper so as to engage the audience till the end. Arjun Rampal does justice to his role and looks cool (and sometimes gives rather cold expressions), Abhay Deol is natural as always and outshines, Manoj Bajpayee needs no words of appreciation but his role is undefined, Esha Gupta is average, Anjali Patil shows her acting talent (or the gold medal from NSD) and gives a brilliant performance, Om Puri is good in his short role so is Kabir Bedi and S.M. Zaheer.

When a general (not reserved) person among the audience enters the theatre to watch a Prakash Jha-film, the expectations are Damul, Mrityudand, Gangaajal, Apaharan and Raajneeti. Chakravyuh is not a great film like Jha's previous ventures, it's just a decent attempt and a neutral view of the naxalite problem in India (though the friendship angle is just not suitable for explaining this kind of cinema, but yes an angle is necessary so why not this). Chakravyuh, as a Prakash Jha-film disappoints.