Interested in politics? Then go for it... Review on Sarrkkar - Rishton Ki Ankahi Kahani

What a coincidence! I was looking for the movie Sarkar and I ended up renting a cassette labeled ‘Sarrkkar’. Did not even bother to read the fine print that clearly said ‘Part X’. I was so desperate to watch the movie that the minute I saw the title, I picked it up.

The ‘movie’ started with a Zee TV welcome message and I was a bit surprised. Next I hear strange words ‘Kya Socha Tha, Kya Paya Hai’ and then started a song with the same words. Wondered what happened to Ram Gopal Varma and even wondered more what happened to sane MSians who wholehearted recommended the movie.

Curiously, I walked out of kitchen to see what was going on and it was Divvya Sheth moving a pawn on a chessboard and gesturing with pungent eyes. Behind her were standing two young lads, one seemed angry young man and the other calm, composed and mature. I realized, I had rented some Zee TV show named Sarrkkar and not the movie Sarkar.

But the moment I saw that the Original Story Idea was credited to Shobha De, I decided to take a shot at it. And anyway, it had been long since I had watched an Indian TV Show. That saying ‘Blessing in disguise’ was proved correct here. I was pleasantly surprised.

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Storyline:

As the name suggests, the serial is about a family deeply involved in Politics. Head of the house, Priyamvada Devi (brilliantly played by Divvya Sheth) is also the head of the state, the Chief Minister. She is carrying the legacy of her husband Veer Pratap Sinh, who was assassinated and an inquiry is underway to unravel the conspiracy.

Helping her in managing the party and politics are two family members, whom she trusts more than anyone else – sister-in-law Smt. Bharati Devi and younger son Karan Pratap Sinh (Rohit Roy). Helping her in managing the household needs is her elder daughter-in-law Urvashi (Tisca Chopra), married to Kunal Pratap Sinh (Ronit Roy), who has voluntarily decided to steer clear of politics.

Priyamvada Devi’s daughter Kritika (Mouli Ganguly) has her own issues in life and she blames her mother for everything that is wrong in their family.

So far in the story, Priyamvada Devi has successfully defeated a no-confidence motion sponsored by the Opposition. Her elder son Kunal has moved to Bangalore to handle his IT business. Karan is like a spoiled brat and believes in muscle power to retain political dominance. He is in love with an upcoming actress Shweta, and his mother disapproves this relationship.

There are basically two threads interwoven in the storyline. The family saga and politics. Both are interconnected and there are instances where Priyamvada has to walk a fine line to maintain balance between the two and ensure that her family’s prestige is not maligned by dirty politics.

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Cast:

Divvya Sheth is a show stealer. Her ability to express with eyes without uttering a word is simply amazing. The deftness with which she has carried a difficult character of a popular public figure, a shrewd politician and a caring mother is remarkable. Full points to her.

Rohit Roy has nothing new to portray here. I remember seeing a few episodes of that old DD soap opera, Swabhimaan. He has something similar to do here. Shout and scream when things don’t go his way. Ronit Royhasn’t had much scope in the story yet.

Mouli Ganguly does impress; her character has more meat than Ronit Roy (so far) and she has handled it quite well. Tisca Chopra is the surprise package. She is an obedient daughter-in-law and portrays remarkably well.

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Why did I like it?

Often we wonder, how would these public figures be like when they are with family! Does politics really affect their personal lives? Somehow, I am one of the few out there of my age who have some interest in politics. And this serial seems to be fairly close to reality. Backstabbing, deceits, calculated risks, lies, attempts to score political gains on a public tragedy – all these perceived characteristics of politics have been dealt with.

Not for those… who do not like politics at all. Just like Kkusum and Astitva are a big no for me, probably housewives may not like a show with a political backdrop.

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Somehow the story resembled the real life saga of the Gandhi family. You can not avoid imagining Indira Gandhi, Sanjay and Rajeev Gandhi in Priyamvada Devi, Karan and Rahul Pratap Singh. But again, it might have been far fetched on my part to draw an analogy here. I guess they are right when they say ‘politics corrupts mind’! Too much politics probably makes me see conspiracy even in a fictional story.

Watch it if you are interested in politics… This is something different, something better than those nauseating saas-bahu serials.

P.S.: MS seems to have some allergy to word 'divya'. Hence the spelling 'Divvya'