# Sarkar (2005 film)

Sarkar (transl. Leader) is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language political crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kay Kay Menon, Katrina Kaif, Tanishaa, Supriya Pathak, Kota Srinivasa Rao, and Anupam Kher. It is the first installment of the Sarkar film series.
Sarkar is an unofficial remake of The Godfather and spawned two sequels: Sarkar Raj, which was released on 6 June 2008, and Sarkar 3, which was released on 12 May 2017. Sarkar was premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival. The film is preserved at the American Academy of Motion Pictures library.

## Plot

Subhash Nagre, who is known by his followers as Sarkar, lives in Mumbai. The opening scenes show a rape victim's father approaching Sarkar for justice (which the corrupt law and order system has failed to deliver), which Sarkar promptly establishes by having the rapist beaten up by his henchmen. His son Vishnu plays a sleazy producer who is more interested in the film actress Sapna than his wife Amrita. Sarkar's other, more upright son Shankar returns from the United States with his love Pooja after completing his education there. Pooja's doubts about Sarkar's image eventually cause Shankar, who firmly believes in his father's righteousness, to break up with her.
One day, a Dubai-based don, Rasheed, tries to strike a deal with Sarkar; he promptly refuses on moral grounds and also forbids him from doing it himself. Rasheed tries to eliminate Sarkar's supremacy with the help of Selvar Mani, Sarkar's former associate, MLA Vishram Bhagat, and Swami Virendra. Meanwhile, they trap Sarkar by assassinating a righteous, upright, Ahinsa political leader and an outspoken critic of Sarkar, Motilal Khurana, and frame Sarkar for the murder. Everyone, including Vishnu, believes that Sarkar is guilty, but Shankar has deep faith in his father. Sarkar is arrested and imprisoned. Shankar now takes over the position of Sarkar temporarily. On learning of a plot to murder his father in prison, he approaches the police commissioner and asks him to arrange stronger security for his father, only for the commissioner to mock Shankar and his father beside not providing protection. Shankar gets a feeling that the police commissioner wants Sarkar to get murdered. Shankar and Khansaab, one of Sarkar's men, try to ask Mani for help to prevent possible murder, but Mani ultimately betrays them when he reveals that he is in an alliance with Rasheed. Rasheed prepares to kill Shankar and Khansaab, but only Khansaab is killed when he decides to sacrifice himself for Shankar. By the time Shankar reaches the prison and appropriate action is taken, the attempt on Sarkar's life is already made. Sarkar is later acquitted. He remains bedridden as Shankar takes on Sarkar's enemies.
Meanwhile, Mani, Swami, Vishram, and Rasheed try to convince Vishnu to murder Sarkar. Vishnu was previously expelled from Sarkar's house because he had murdered the actor who was having an affair with Sapna. Vishnu returns home pretending to have repented. When he approaches Sarkar in the dark of the night with the intent of murdering him, Shankar foils his plan and later kills him. Shankar eliminates Rasheed, Vishram, and Selvar Mani. He also succeeds in making Swami his puppet. Shankar has also realised that Chief Minister Madan Rathod was really behind everything; Rasheed and everyone else were merely pawns. This results in legal action against Rathod. The closing scenes show a woman approaching Shankar for justice to a fake encounter of her husband by the police and calling Shankar the Sarkar, while Subhash is busy with family.

## Cast

* Amitabh Bachchan as Subhash Nagre alias "Sarkar"
* Abhishek Bachchan as Shankar Nagre, Sarkar's younger son
* Kay Kay Menon as Vishnu Nagre, Sarkar's elder son
* Supriya Pathak as Pushpa Nagre, Sarkar's wife
* Katrina Kaif as Pooja Chauhan, Shankar's girlfriend (dubbed by Mona Ghosh)
* Tanishaa as Avantika, Shankar's wife
* Rukhsaar Rehman as Amrita Nagre, Vishnu's wife
* Anupam Kher as Motilal Khurana
* Kota Srinivasa Rao as Selvar Mani
* Zakir Hussain as Rashid
* Raju Mavani as MLA Vishram Bhagat
* Jeeva as Virendra Swami
* Deepak Shirke as CM Madan Rathod, Sarkar's best friend and confidant
* Anant Jog as Police Commissioner
* Ishrat Ali as Khansaab
* Saurabh Dubey as Pooja's father
* Ravi Kale as Chander, Sarkar's right-hand man
* Virendra Saxena as Girl's father
* Carran Kapoor as a hero in Vishnu's film
* Nisha Kothari as a heroine in Vishnu's film
* Narendra Sachar as IG Police
* Mangal Kenkre as Shoba
* Shivam Shetty as Bhushan
* Chintan Atul Shah as Shivaji Nagre alias "Cheeku", Vishnu's son and Sarkar's grandson
* Gautam Shetty as investigating officer

## Production
### Development

Sarkar's director Ram Gopal Varma was deeply influenced by the Francis Ford Coppola's Hollywood classic The Godfather (1972), which he mentions in the opening credits of the film. He changed the film's setting to modern-day Mumbai.

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Sarkar consists of 10 songs composed by Bapi-Tutul & Prasanna Shekhar the lyrics of which were penned by Sandeep Nath.

## Critical reception

Raja Sen of Rediff said that the film "had the potential to be great. It turns out to be passable." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama praised the movie saying that, "Sarkar is without doubt an interesting film. The story, its execution, the performances, the drama… The outcome leaves you spellbound." but criticized the slow pacing of the film and gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5. William Thomas of Empire Online gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Constructed with flair and crackling with intelligence, this is one of the most edgiest and grittiest releases to come out of Bollywood in years."
Abhishek Bachchan won multiple awards for his performance in the film, namely Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male, and IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

## Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
| Bollywood Movie Awards | 10 June 2006 | Best Film | Sarkar – Parag Sanghvi, Varun Sanghvi | Nominated | |
| Bollywood Movie Awards | 10 June 2006 | Best Director | Ram Gopal Varma | Nominated | |
| Bollywood Movie Awards | 10 June 2006 | Best Supporting Actor | Abhishek Bachchan | Nominated | |
| Bollywood Movie Awards | 10 June 2006 | Best Villain | Kay Kay Menon | Nominated | |
| Bollywood Movie Awards | 10 June 2006 | Best Villain | Zakir Hussain | Nominated | |
| Bollywood Movie Awards | 10 June 2006 | Best Editing | Nitin Gupta, Amit Parmar | Nominated | |
| Filmfare Awards | 25 February 2006 | Best Director | Ram Gopal Varma | Nominated | [12] [13] |
| Filmfare Awards | 25 February 2006 | Best Actor | Amitabh Bachchan | Nominated | [12] [13] |
| Filmfare Awards | 25 February 2006 | Best Supporting Actor | Abhishek Bachchan | Won | [12] [13] |
| Filmfare Awards | 25 February 2006 | Best Performance in a Negative Role | Kay Kay Menon | Nominated | [12] [13] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 15–17 June 2006 | Best Actor | Amitabh Bachchan | Nominated | [14] [15] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 15–17 June 2006 | Best Supporting Actor | Abhishek Bachchan | Won | [14] [15] |
| Producers Guild Film Awards | 21 January 2006 | Best Editing | Nitin Gupta | Won | |
| Screen Awards | 11 January 2006 | Best Director | Ram Gopal Varma | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 11 January 2006 | Best Supporting Actor | Abhishek Bachchan | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 11 January 2006 | Best Actor in a Negative Role | Kay Kay Menon | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 11 January 2006 | Best Background Music | Amar Mohile | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 11 January 2006 | Best Editing | Nitin Gupta, Amit Parmar | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 11 January 2006 | Best Sound | Kunal Mehta, Parikshit Lalwani | Nominated | |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Film | Sarkar – Ram Gopal Varma | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Director | Ram Gopal Varma | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Screenplay | Ram Gopal Varma | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male | Abhishek Bachchan | Won | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Performance in a Negative Role | Kay Kay Menon | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Most Promising Debut – Female | Katrina Kaif | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Background Score | Amar Mohile | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Editing | Nitin Gupta, Amit Parmar | Nominated | [18] [19] |
| Zee Cine Awards | 4 March 2006 | Best Sound | Kunal Mehta, Parikshit Lalwani | Nominated | [18] [19] |

## Remake

A Telugu remake, titled Rowdy, was made replacing the background of Marathi politics with that of Rayalaseema factionism. Veteran actor Mohan Babu reprised the role portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, while his son, Vishnu Manchu, reprised the role played by Abhishek Bachchan. Rowdy released on 4 April 2014 to positive reviews from critics, but was a moderate commercial success, grossing approximately 8 crores in its full run.

## Sequel

A sequel titled Sarkar Raj was released on 6 June 2008 with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan (who reprise their roles from the original) and new entrant Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Supriya Pathak, Tanishaa and Ravi Kale also reappeared in their respective roles from Sarkar. The film released on 6 June 2008, was both critically and commercially successful.