| Directed by | Prakash Jha |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Prakash Jha Ronnie Screwvala[1][2] |
| Written by | Screenplay Anjum Rajabali Prakash Jha Story Prakash Jha |
| Starring | Ajay Devgan Ranbir Kapoor Arjun Rampal Manoj Bajpai Katrina Kaif Nana Patekar Naseeruddin Shah Sarah Thompson |
| Music by | Wayne Sharpe Pritam Aadesh Srivastav Shantanu Moitra |
| Cinematography | Sachin Krishn |
| Editing by | Santosh Mandal |
| Distributed by | Prakash Jha Productions Walkwater Media UTV Motion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 4, 2010 |
| Running time | 167 minutes[3] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
The film begins with a flashback into the life of Bharti Rai (Nikhila Trikha), the daughter of Chief Minister Ramnath Rai (Darshan Jariwala). Influenced by leftist ideology, she rebels against her father and joins the rival party of leftist leader Bhaskar Sanyal (Naseeruddin Shah). Bharti develops an illicit relationship with Bhaskar, who, guilt-ridden over taking advantage of the younger woman, leaves for parts unknown, having unwittingly gotten Bharti pregnant. Upon the child's birth, he is abandoned in a boat by Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar), Bharti's brother. Bharti later marries Chandra Pratap (Chetan Pandit), the younger brother of Bhanu Pratap (Khan Jahangir Khan). Bhanu leads the Rashtrawadi political party. The government in the state collapses and Bhanu suffers a stroke. In the hospital, he hands over power to his brother Chandra and to Chandra's son, Prithviraj Pratap (Arjun Rampal) — sidelining his own son, Veerendra Pratap (Manoj Bajpai). Veerendra, who believes power is his birthright, demands his uncle's position, and after being rebuffed, enlists support from a Dalit leader, Sooraj Kumar (Ajay Devgan) — who, unknown to both, is Bharti's abandoned son.
Veerendra with the help of Sooraj, has Chandra assassinated in his car, while he is returning from the airport after seeing off his younger son, Samar Pratap (Ranbir Kapoor). In an ensuing drama, Prithvi is arrested by police under the influence of Veerendra and put on trial for a case of raping a woman party worker (Shruti Seth). Samar comes to the rescue and promises that if all charges upon his brother are dropped, his brother will resign and that he is ready to move with his family to the U.S.. Veerendra agrees but the newly released Prithvi begins rallying public support despite his resignation from the party. After Bhanu officially expels Prithvi, the latter splits from the Rashtrawadi party and contests elections under "Jana Shakti party", a new party with Gopal as his mentor and Samar as the executive. Meanwhile Samar's American girlfriend Sarah (Sarah Thompson) arrives in India to see the situation. To raise funds for the new party, Samar shrewdly ensures Prithvi's marriage to their childhood friend Indu (Katrina Kaif), the daughter of a powerful businessman.
The film gets murkier with both sides trying every trick to ensure their victory in coming elections. Allegations and counter-allegations are made. Subsequently, Samar uncovers that the real murderer of his father is Sooraj and Veerendra, and decides to take revenge. On the other hand, Prithvi executes the former police officer, who had arrested him and the woman worker at a farmhouse. This infuriates Veerendra and he hatches a plot to assassinate Prithvi. A car bomb kills both Prithvi and Sarah, who was to be dropped at the airport in that car. Devastated by the loss of his brother and girlfriend, Samar decides to retaliate. He suggests Indu to take the reins of the party and arranges the election campaign single-handedly.
Meanwhile, Sooraj is revealed to be the first child of Bharti, who implores him to join his younger brother Samar. Sooraj refuses to part ways with Veerendra and asks his mother to leave. Exit polls predict a victory for Indu's Party and on the counting day, Samar lures Veerendra and Sooraj to an unused factory by spreading a rumor about electronic voting machine being hacked. Veerendra and Sooraj fall in the trap and Veerendra gets shot by Samar and his men. Sooraj requests Samar to leave him and Veerendra till they reach the hospital, but Veerendra dies on the way. Gopal prompts Samar to shoot Sooraj who questions the morality of the act. But Gopal convinces him to take the revenge. Samar shoots Sooraj and takes the revenge for the destruction of his family.
Later the election results are declared, and Indu emerges with majority and is made Chief Minister. Samar is seen asking forgiveness and attempting reconciliation. Explaining his decision to return to America, he reflects that he always wanted to stay away from politics as politics is a game that brings out the "inner devil" . Indu is also revealed to be pregnant with Prithvi's child, while Samar leaves India to look after Sarah's mother and settle there.
Box office
The film recorded an opening of nearly Rs. 10.50 crore net on its first day.[17] The film had the second biggest Friday opening in India after 3 Idiots, and the biggest Friday opening in the first half of the year, beating Kites.[18][19][20] In Australia and New Zealand, Raajneeti beat the opening weekend record set by 3 Idiots.[21] It collected Rs. 34 crores at the end of the weekend and set a record for biggest weekend in the first half of the year, beating Housefull.[22][23] Overseas, the film opened to weekend business of $2.25 million.[24] It showed no major decline in business on Tuesday and collected Rs. 5.85 crore.[25] At the end of the first week, the film collected Rs. 54.75 crore and set a record for biggest week in the first half of the year beating Housefull; overall it is on the third position after 3 Idiots and Ghajini.[26] Raajneeti sustained well in the second weekend and collected Rs. 16.25 crore.[27]
In the U.S., the film played well for a limited release, noted Ray Subers of BoxOfficeMojo.com, grossing $850,244 on 124 screens its opening weekend, "which was good for first among limited releases and 11th place on the overall weekend chart." He specified that Raajneeti "became the third Bollywood movie this year to lead all limited releases in its first weekend," following My Name is Khan and Kites.
