Sarkar Vs Godfather

Late Post

On 1.7 Sarkar completed 17 Years.

Sarkar supposed to be an adaptation of GODFATHER which recently completed 50 years

Even before the opening credits of his movie ‘Sarkar’ Director Ram Gopal Varma credits Coppola and ‘The Godfather’ for influencing his career as a filmmaker, and presents his film as a tribute to the classic.

Both ‘The Godfather’ & ‘Sarkar’ are about a man, working above the law to maintain an elaborate criminal enterprise, while still employing a certain moral code within his kingdom. The story focuses on his downfall due to co-conspirators around him, resulting in his youngest son, standing up to defend his father, and reluctantly taking over the crown.

Certain scenes in both films are exactly alike, with modifications reflective of the industry & culture of each respective film. The opening scene of ‘The Godfather’ shows a helpless father asking the Godfather for justice for his abused daughter, after the courts failed to punish the men responsible. This sequence sets the tone for the character as being a respected and intimidating man who can do things that the system can’t. ‘Sarkar’ replicates this scene exactly, but with more of an intense musical flourish, as is the Indian Director’s trademark.

Sarkar is the tale of crime, greed, family relationships and revenge. Subhash Nagre AKA Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan) rewrites laws. When the system fails to serve justice, people knock on Sarkar's door. Sarkar is an institution and will not shy away from adhering to violence to punish the wrongdoers. Sarkar’s righteousness has gained him a lot of enemies, who are just waiting to strike. Subhash has two sons, Vishnu (Kay Kay Menon) and Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan). While Vishnu is rash and resents his father’s way of handling things, Shankar has returned from the States and is someone who doesn’t aspire to be a part of all this. However, fate has something else in store for all three of them.

Sarkar stars Amitabh Bachchan in the titular role and frankly, no one would have been able to pull off the role as well as he has. Comparing Marlon Brando and Amitabh Bachchan will be a heinous crime here because we know both are just splendid in their own way. While Al Pacino played the role of Vito Corleone’s (Brando) son, Michael, Abhishek Bachchan features as Sarkar’s (Big B) younger son, Shankar.

Sarkar’ is a true adaptation in the sense that is pays homage to ‘The Godfather’, but distinguishes itself from it’s source by embedding cultural variations and setting along with modifications to the story to maximize the dramatic impact for the audience of a different sensibility.

Sarkar was followed by sequels

Sarkar Raj in 2008 and Sarkar 3 in 2017