Power packed, immense, relevant, at times funny and surprisingly refreshing........that’s how I can sum up Rang de Basanti.(RDB)
Now I am not an avid Hindi movie fan….. my sincere apologies to people who think that this makes me less Indian…. (I can’t help it, Hindi movies are boring and long, and in most cases I have already seen the Hollywood movies from which they are copied from!)…….
Last year I had been to movies like Shabd and Hulchul, and that’s when I said to myself, “That’s enough. No more Hindi movies”.
Surprisingly now, after a long gap, there I was buying tickets in advance for RDB.
Not because of the hype it created, but for the reviews that I heard.
And well I am happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed.
Well, the story lived up to its reputation. The performances have been power packed with some top notch acting by the not so famous actors. To me, except for Aamir Khan, the movie has no other superstar (meaning one who has given more than 5 hits in the lead role). Nevertheless there was no hint of overacting nor was there any instance where the emotions were flowing like a running tap. The humour never seemed to go overboard. In going with the current trend of Aamir Khan movies, his actress had to be a British one, and I found her to be better than the previous ones.
Music from A.R.Rehman, as always, was just too good. I find it hard to stop myself from singing the songs, especially the title track. The background score was equally good.
The story is very much relevant to the current political situation in the country.
Pardon me when I say that I don’t get inspired by hearing the stories of extraordinary courage and unmatched sacrifices that our freedom fighters have done so that their future generations, us, could enjoy the fruits of liberty. I am sorry, but what they did was relevant in their times, something that was inevitable. But that does not free us from our responsibilities, towards our nation, towards our fellow countrymen and towards ourselves. We, the representatives of a Corporate India, are so much engrossed in boasting about the strides that we have taken towards realizing the dream called India 2020, that we have forgotten the true message, “ A Country is never perfect, it has to be made perfect.
The society and the overall system will need reformations, and in order to do that we will have to get our own hands dirty”. But no one wants to do it. We imagine shaping the future of this country through the cozy confines of our air conditioned cubicles, trying to look at the world through the green tinged windows, much like the virtual reality of The Matrix.
But then we also have someone like the late Manjunath who come across from time to time to awaken us, to make us stand up to our principles, to remind us of our moral responsibilities. Why do we always need someone to inspire us to carry out our duties towards the nation? Shouldn’t it come natural? Agreed I said that our freedom fighters did something that was inevitable, but it must be taken into account that they didn’t need any stories of courage to get inspired, they were self motivated to achieve one and only goal – Total Independence. That’s what makes them great. Perhaps Manjunath had realized this, and it is high time we do too.
Back to the movie now…
The movie is refreshing in many ways:
The first that comes across is the juxtaposition of the events from the past and present. The editor’s skills have to be applauded here. A job well done.
The second is the kissing scenes. Finally there is some director who thinks that the Indian viewers is a matured lot. (I am sorry if there have already been instances in other movies, I missed them you see)
The third is the end….. It is not the usual vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce kind of ending…. Imagine the end of Kal Ho Na Ho, where Priety Zinta says that she loves only SRK and that she will remain unmarried for the rest of her life, no matter how much Saif loves her or the end of Dhoom, where John Abraham’s final plunge is not a leap to death, but to freedom. Like he drops into an ocean and gets away…. But no…. we audience always wanted those “Lived Happily Ever After” kind of ends.
Though I must say that was the only part of the movie which is flawed. For God’s sake, they are showing the NSGs, known popularly as Black Cats. They are the elite of the elite. They are to India as the Delta Ops are to US. So an action as irresponsible as the one shown in the movie is just too impossible to warrant a NSG action, especially when they are showing the whole event to be telecasted across the whole country. And one more thing that I must say here, you don’t have to be a martyr to bring out a radical change in the mindset of the people. Agreed Manjunath had to give up his life, but the circumstances were different. They won’t always be like that. In today’s world with powerful tools as the Media at your fingertips, it is very easy to put your point across. You just need to have the right thing in you.
Anyways, all in all a good movie.
The tagline of the movie says “A Generation Awakens”. It did in the movie, in reality though…I seriously doubt. Inspiring…. Maybe not, but thought provoking…definitely yes….
If I ever happen to be in a situation like the one in the movie, I wouldn’t pray for God to make things easier for me, I would just pray that my courage does not fade.
Regards
Gaurav S. Dandekar
P.S. : Please do not consider this as a review of the movie. These were just some of the thoughts that sprung into my mind after watching the movie.
So as my friend (and the editor of my first blog ever) Smiley puts it – Bouquets and Brickbats are most welcome.
Now I am not an avid Hindi movie fan….. my sincere apologies to people who think that this makes me less Indian…. (I can’t help it, Hindi movies are boring and long, and in most cases I have already seen the Hollywood movies from which they are copied from!)…….
Last year I had been to movies like Shabd and Hulchul, and that’s when I said to myself, “That’s enough. No more Hindi movies”.
Surprisingly now, after a long gap, there I was buying tickets in advance for RDB.
Not because of the hype it created, but for the reviews that I heard.
And well I am happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed.
Well, the story lived up to its reputation. The performances have been power packed with some top notch acting by the not so famous actors. To me, except for Aamir Khan, the movie has no other superstar (meaning one who has given more than 5 hits in the lead role). Nevertheless there was no hint of overacting nor was there any instance where the emotions were flowing like a running tap. The humour never seemed to go overboard. In going with the current trend of Aamir Khan movies, his actress had to be a British one, and I found her to be better than the previous ones.
Music from A.R.Rehman, as always, was just too good. I find it hard to stop myself from singing the songs, especially the title track. The background score was equally good.
The story is very much relevant to the current political situation in the country.
Pardon me when I say that I don’t get inspired by hearing the stories of extraordinary courage and unmatched sacrifices that our freedom fighters have done so that their future generations, us, could enjoy the fruits of liberty. I am sorry, but what they did was relevant in their times, something that was inevitable. But that does not free us from our responsibilities, towards our nation, towards our fellow countrymen and towards ourselves. We, the representatives of a Corporate India, are so much engrossed in boasting about the strides that we have taken towards realizing the dream called India 2020, that we have forgotten the true message, “ A Country is never perfect, it has to be made perfect.
The society and the overall system will need reformations, and in order to do that we will have to get our own hands dirty”. But no one wants to do it. We imagine shaping the future of this country through the cozy confines of our air conditioned cubicles, trying to look at the world through the green tinged windows, much like the virtual reality of The Matrix.
But then we also have someone like the late Manjunath who come across from time to time to awaken us, to make us stand up to our principles, to remind us of our moral responsibilities. Why do we always need someone to inspire us to carry out our duties towards the nation? Shouldn’t it come natural? Agreed I said that our freedom fighters did something that was inevitable, but it must be taken into account that they didn’t need any stories of courage to get inspired, they were self motivated to achieve one and only goal – Total Independence. That’s what makes them great. Perhaps Manjunath had realized this, and it is high time we do too.
Back to the movie now…
The movie is refreshing in many ways:
The first that comes across is the juxtaposition of the events from the past and present. The editor’s skills have to be applauded here. A job well done.
The second is the kissing scenes. Finally there is some director who thinks that the Indian viewers is a matured lot. (I am sorry if there have already been instances in other movies, I missed them you see)
The third is the end….. It is not the usual vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce kind of ending…. Imagine the end of Kal Ho Na Ho, where Priety Zinta says that she loves only SRK and that she will remain unmarried for the rest of her life, no matter how much Saif loves her or the end of Dhoom, where John Abraham’s final plunge is not a leap to death, but to freedom. Like he drops into an ocean and gets away…. But no…. we audience always wanted those “Lived Happily Ever After” kind of ends.
Though I must say that was the only part of the movie which is flawed. For God’s sake, they are showing the NSGs, known popularly as Black Cats. They are the elite of the elite. They are to India as the Delta Ops are to US. So an action as irresponsible as the one shown in the movie is just too impossible to warrant a NSG action, especially when they are showing the whole event to be telecasted across the whole country. And one more thing that I must say here, you don’t have to be a martyr to bring out a radical change in the mindset of the people. Agreed Manjunath had to give up his life, but the circumstances were different. They won’t always be like that. In today’s world with powerful tools as the Media at your fingertips, it is very easy to put your point across. You just need to have the right thing in you.
Anyways, all in all a good movie.
The tagline of the movie says “A Generation Awakens”. It did in the movie, in reality though…I seriously doubt. Inspiring…. Maybe not, but thought provoking…definitely yes….
If I ever happen to be in a situation like the one in the movie, I wouldn’t pray for God to make things easier for me, I would just pray that my courage does not fade.
Regards
Gaurav S. Dandekar
P.S. : Please do not consider this as a review of the movie. These were just some of the thoughts that sprung into my mind after watching the movie.
So as my friend (and the editor of my first blog ever) Smiley puts it – Bouquets and Brickbats are most welcome.
