Wishing for Truth can make Art mundane

Satyagraha, synonymous to its name, does wish for the truth. Prakash Jha, known for his brave portrayal of politics in India, tries his best to show reality infused with melodrama. Having given the audience a gripping entertainment in Rajneeti, it was inevitable Satyagraha will be compared with his earlier work.
Unlike the earlier movie, Satyagraha lacks creativity. For instance, the association of political drama with Mahabharata is not new in India, Mahabharata is the bible of politics, and using this association to the current political situation in India shows ingenuity. Satyagraha falls short of this ingenuity.
Having said that, at its heart Satyagraha is still true to its theme of mimicking reality. This time Jha tries to dig into the Lokpal movement. And he stays true to it. But what spoils the movie for you is the fact that the Lokpal movement itself was so muddled that a movie which would try to be as realistic as possible to it would end up being convoluted.
That's precisely what happened to Satyagraha. Instead of focusing on storytelling, Jha sticks to reality. That's where it makes you as an audience feel the movie was long, repetitive and at some stages just plain boring.
Jha mashes up too many real events such as 2G scam, the murder of civil engineer and the frailty of coalition. This again muddles the already convoluted narration.

Amitabh Bachchan gives you a heart warming performance. His dialogue delivery,even today, is unparalleled. His screen presence would make you forget, for a while, the convoluted storytelling.
The other saving grace in the movie is Manoj Bajpai. When you walk out of the movie you would feel the need to imitate his accent. He does get into your mind by his charm and sly ways. His way of handling every crisis with an evil smile would remind you of "Joker".
The reporter in Kareena does give a very rationalistic performance. However, she fails to give the impression as the comrade of Amitabh's movement. With a heavy make-up coupled with colored hair doesn't give an impression she is part of a democratic upheaval.
Finally, Ajay Devgn does his best, but his character lacks the strength and charm of Karna as shown in Rajneeti. Other characters are not even worth mentioning, their not being in the movie wouldn't have made any difference to the movie. Compare this with Rajneeti, where every character had a purpose and justified presence, one would see precisely why Satyagraha fails. Too many underutilized characters and a convoluted narration makes one yawn one too many times during the movie.

All in all, Satyagraha, as the word suggests, wants to be true and it stays true and gets lost in doing so.