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 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 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 gets arrested and is 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 Selvar 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, Selvar Mani, Swami, Vishram and Rasheed try to convince Vishnu to murder Sarkar. Vishnu was previously thrown out of 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 darkof 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 Rathore was really behind everything; Rasheed and everyone else were merely pawns. This results in legal action against the Chief Minister. 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.
Sarkar was superhit at the box office and was greeted very well by critics. Critics liked the way the movie indigenised The Godfather and introduced a political angle to it. The actors, particularly the trio of Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Kay Kay Menon, were lavished with praise for their controlled yet intense performances. Abhishek Bachchan in particular, was rewarded for his portrayal as a son who is inexperienced but enters an unknown world so as to save his father. He won the following awards:
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."
Remake
A Telugu remake, titled Rowdy was made replacing the background of Marathi politics with that of South Indian 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 Rs 8 Crores in its full run.
Sequel
A sequel titled Sarkar Raj was released on 6 June 2008 with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and new entrantAishwarya Rai Bachchan. Supriya Pathak, Tanisha Mukherjee and Ravi Kale also reappeared in their respective roles from Sarkar. The film released on 6 June 2008, was critically and commercially successful.
