The sequel to Sarkar takes the story of Subhash Nagre ( Amitabh) forward, with son Shankar ( Abhishek) having been anointed his successor. It wastes no time in any re-caps : just one brief scene flashes back to the previous film, where the dead elder son (Kay Kay) is shown. That one laid the ground for why there is an extra-constitutional authority in Mumbai ; here Nagre, who is the thinly-disguised alter-ego of the real-life Thackeray, `gives permission' to an NRI billionaire ( Victor) to set up a power plant in rural Maharashtra. Echoes of Enron are completely intended.

The billionaire's daughter Anita Rajan ( Aishwarya) is the points person on the project, and through her hazel eyes we see the `raaj' of Sarkar: the absolute power he wields over politicians and police and goons, and how his son sets his sights on bigger things. Some of the proceedings are very RGV—the ultra-tight close-ups gobbling up the whole frame, the swelling background score (not as overwhelming as it usually can get in his films, thanks be), the faces of the bad guys all look very familiar.

But the film does deliver some surprises, and that's why it's much better, and tauter, than the first. The intrigue is sharper. So is the acting . Amitabh, dressed in black kurta-lungi and double rudraksha, is played to his strengths, as is Abhishek, who doesn't have Kay Kay this time around to overshadow him. Best of all, RGV keeps Aishwarya in check, in chic power-suits and chignons, giving her lines which belong to a character, not a star.