Rating: ***
"Mera rang de Basanti Chola, mai rang de basanti chola" is a not a jingle from the past. It carries a meaning - its a mantra that many a die hard freedom fighters, the revolutionaries of the early and mid nineties chanted as they waged a battle against the East India Company, and sacrificed their lives as true martyrs for the cause of Indian independece. Sukhdev, Rajguru, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad are just a few names in the roster of such rather unsung heros of the Indian freedom movement. One of the films characters says "I have seen people behave in two ways when faced with death - total silence or utter belligerence. But the likes of Bhagat Singh belonged to either category. These men had an air of sheer normalcy even as if they draped the black cloth around their face before being hanged to death!
Rang De Basanti (RDB) is not yet another movie about the Indian freedom struggle. And good for the director, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the maker of the well received 'Aks', since there have been dozens of such films in the recent past which have failed enormously at the task of invoking any patriotism or appreciation for our freedom fighters. Something which RDB has managed to do - in part. Not very constructively, but it has.
My RDB experience was a mixed one. For when I watch a movie, its not only the characters and the story, but also the execution of the film as a form of art that matter tremendously. And thats precisely the reason why I had a tough time rating this one. While there are several issues I have with the script, I was floored by the production values of the entire enterprise.
As one of my friends aptly described, "Rang De Basanti = Dil Chahta Hai + Yuva". And I would have to agree with him on that front. RDB has an air - the air of DCH youth about it, but has the soul of Yuva. To say that it is a teenager's movie would however be somewhat unjust to the filmmaker. During my research of the idea behind the film, I have come to the understanding that Rakeysh Mehra had a single agenda in the film - inspire with caution. The sense of belonging to India, the feeling of optimism for what the future holds, and the drive to do something to help the nation progress are totally missing in the youth today. Instead, there is hopelessness, and even shame that many Indians feel for being an Indian. I have seen it in campus students for whom the glamour of the West still rocks, and in the middle aged who watch news with a roaring levels of frustration about status quo, and in the sheer nonchalance of the urban middle class. The character of DJ sums it up very succintly - "We have one leg on the future, and another is on the past, thats why we are pissing on the present". But what are we doing about it?
The point is that Rakeysh Mehra does not set out on a preaching mission to change all that. Instead he chooses to narrate a story about a few young people to get his point across. Each one of us can either accept the way things are, or can attempt to change it. The director has illustrated a particularly unsettling situation that this particular group of friends is faced with, and what they do to overcome the same. In the process, each of them is transformed in a way they never imagined. As he has beeen himself stressing vehemently in all the interviews, he does not subscribe to the manner in which these young people reddem themselves. Neither does he believe that it is the solution to the many problems that plagiarize the India of today. But unfortunately, though probabbly unwittingly, he has ended up gloriying the very premise that he set out to refute.
Violence is not the end solution to fight the wrong doers - is what Reakeysh has supposedly set out to showcase. The characters played by the cast of Rang De Dasanti are faced with a predicament. And they choose violence as the solution. Eventually, they end up being a puppet on their own stage. What they achieved is shadowed by what they lose. They fall at the hands of the bloodshed they start to avenge their cause. Still, the audience is never in doubt about the righteousness of these men (and women). The sole reason is that the picture is too black and white. The 'other side' has been painted in total black that screams 'THEY DESERVE TO DIE", and thats why the audience applauds when the gang of friends decides to do away with 'the others'.
That revolutions are necessary to bring about changes and reforms has been proved umpteen number of times by the world history. But the way you bring it about is even more important, for it sets precedents and benchmarks. Each effort, notwithstanding of its enormity or minisculeness, counts. What path we decide to tread is ones' own decision. Rakeysh Mehra set out on a noble mission, but he, just like the characters in his movie, completely misses the point. Instead, he ends up glorifying violence by showcasing the cast as martyrs for some great cause. But his parallels between Aamir Khan and his friends and the legends of Indian freedom struggle result in achieving precisely that effect. Yet, I dont believe that Rakeysh has completely missed the bus. Even with faults in his script, he does manage to bring about one point very strongly - Eacdh of us can be a Bhagat Singh or Chandrashekhar Azad if we believe that we can turn the course of events. That each one of us can bring about a revolution. Only if the script had chosen to showcase the same parallel in a manner that could have fed back more constructively. Nonetheless, full credit to the screenplay for blending in the two sets of stories so well. The transitions that these young men and women go through are shown in such a progressive manner that the viewer automatically relates the two stories without any explicit mention. I would however admit that after a point, the parallelism lost its verity due to the reasons I already talked about.
If you however watch the movie as a narration os a story, Rang De Basanti may not appear so disconcerting though. The stroy is about a few friends - (DJ) Aamir Khan, Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), Kunal (Siddharth), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) and Sukhi(Sharman Joshi), Sonia's fiancee Ajay (Madhavan). Add to the group a political novice youth leader Laxman (Atul Kulkarni). And an outsider who becomes a part of the group - Sue (Alice Patten). They find themselves in a tight situation, and they choose what seems to be the best way out. What happens to these characters is what forms the crux of the story that this film narrates.
Talking of characters, the direction and screenplay desrve full merit. Contrary to popular notion, RDB is not an Aamir Khan film. The film does not belong less to Sharman Joshi or Siddharth or even Alice Patten. Each person has a part to play, and the characters sketch for each is well defined. Aamir Khan, as usual (disregarding the recent Mangal Pandey fiasco), delivers an awesome performance, although he looks a tad too old for the part. The rest of the cast including Kunal Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Alice Patton look their part and lend a fair amount of credulity to the characters. It is a great relief to see that the director stays true to the story and does not veer into any sidetracks or flashbacks on each of the characters. In comparison with the rest of the cast, however, Soha Ali Khan looks very inept. She does not leavy any impression whatsoever. I fail to understand why she is being made into the new generation Sharmila tagore on the block. Anupam Kher, Waheeda Rehman and Kirron Kher have small roles that stay small and to the point. Atul Kulkarni is a fine actor, but he does not have much arsenal in his repertoire. His acting seems to be very sterotyped to his acting style. As I have already stated, all the characters are easy to relate to. And they bring different perspectives to the table about the issue that they are faced with.
Just like 'Aks', that was better known for its 'novelty value' than as a good film, Rang De Basanti is also novel. That does not necessarily translate it to calling it a great film. It is surely an out-of-the-box concept, that has been exceptionally well executed in terms of technical departments like editing, cinemetography and camera work. Chorography is also something that a normal person can rerlate to and it does make you feel like getting up on your feet and swaying with the music. A. R. Rehman, after a long gap, has given a musical complement to the film. On a stand alone basis, the music is not the same scale as 'Lagaan', but it surely does capture the spirit of the film to the core and exudes the same energy and attitude that the Indian youth will surely identify with. The flashback sequences are shot very aesthetically and are set in the right mood, without over-glamourising the locales or the characters. The dialogues are very crisp and appropriate, with very contemporary depiction of the youth in India. Not to mention the simplicity of daily life about them while being witty in many a places.
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra may not have made an exceptional film, but he has done what most directors in Indian films dont - and that is called EXPERIMENTATION. As a film lover and as a critic, I would wish him good luck and surely watch out for his next one. As for Rang De Basanti, it surely is a movie worth a watch! It does not INSPIRE, but it does provoke thoughts, some sort of a rarity with Hindi films. You may agree or disagree with the perspective shown in the film, but you surely would form an opinion, you surely would think, and most likely exclain out aloud. I would say that, for me, it means a good film!
