Chakravyuh

<strong>Starring: Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Anjali Patil, Esha Gupta, Om Puri, Manoj Bajpai<strong/> <strong>Directed by Prakash Jha<strong/> <strong>Ratings: ****<strong/> Becket beckons Bollywood once again. The immortal French play by Jean Anouilh was furnished a sensitive renewability by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in Namak Haraam 38 years ago and then again much later by Govind Nihalani in Dev. Now the stories of two friends separated by caste creed and ideology who are torn apart by their irreconcilable socio-political differences, is given a seriously spunky spin by Prakash Jha.

Arjun Rampal will be seen donning the role of the heroic IPS officer S P Adil Khan in Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh and he says this is the most intense character he has played until now. Arjun Rampal’s last film with Prakash Jha was <em>Rajneeti</em> that won him numerous accolades for his brilliant performance.

There will be no stay-order against Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh. In the defamation case filed by the Birla group of industries in the Delhi High Court Jha has won, at least the first round.

No matter how our respected Prime Minister takes it the political song Mehngaai in Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh would make a slanted reference to him. The line <em>Bahut dekhi teri Sardari</em> which was cut out by the Examiming Committee (EC) was earlier this week restored by the Revision Committee (RC). The Censor Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) has two committees, the EC and the RC. And when a filmmaker is unhappy with the cuts ordered by the EC he goes to the RC. This is what Prakash Jha did with his Chakravyuh and got most of the cuts restored.

Trust Prakash Jha’s cinema to constantly raise provocative political issues and instigate the censor board into ordering substantial cuts. We’ve come to know from very reliable sources that Prakash’s <em>Chakravyuh</em> has been ordered six cuts, most of them verbal. The film has been passed with a ‘UA’ certificate, which means underage viewers can watch the film accompanied by an adult.

Composer Aadesh Shrivastava is acutely peeved with his composing colleagues Salim-Suleiman for walking away with the credit for the entire score of <em>Chakravyuh</em>. Speaking from LA where Aadesh is attending to the release of his first international single.the composer fumed, “I had earlier worked with Prakash Jha in <em>Raajneeti</em> over the song <em>Mora piya</em> which was a big success. So I happily agreed to contribute an item song entitled Paro to <em>Chakravyuh</em>. But I am not happy about the way my song is being neglected in the marketing of the music.”

So far, whether it is to do with a warning about smoking or an assurance that no character in a film replicates any person from real life, the Censor Board Of Film Certification has always asked and got a disclaimer at the beginning of a film. Prakash Jha would now like to change that rule. Before his new film <em>Chakravyuh</em> goes to the censors, the filmmaker has requested them for consent to display a claimer at the beginning of the film, owning up to responsibility of having borrowed characters and situations from real life.