Sunday, January 29, 2006

Rang De Basanti

As the screen fades out and the titles begin to roll you step out with a weird feeling with your mind heavy with the gravity of what you have witnessed and that's when the full impact of what you have seen in the last 2 hours 40 minutes kicks in. The feeling's akin to being punched in the stomach with all the air knocked out of you. Only this time its the air of indifference and nonchalance with which you have always thought about words like nationalism and patriotism . The movie will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will threaten to explode that lump that shall be your constant companion in the second half of the movie, hell it will even make you more Indian. If not then you have lost a part of you that will never ever return unfortunately for you.
The first half is a non stop ride of fun and laughter where in you will see a brand of humor not seen since Dil Chahta Hai. The director takes you on this fun trip while introducing all the characters ensconced in their happy go lucky lives while he hits you hard in the second half with a change in the tone of the movie that reaches a crescendo in the climax of the movie. Aamir is going to need a new box of superlatives to describe his performance and proves conclusively that no other Bollywood actor can make you laugh harder or cry louder. The rest of the cast matches step to step with him putting in career best performances etching out an ensemble performance not seen since Lagaan. I will not like to disclose any more about the movie because I want every one of you reading this to watch this movie. As I left the movie hall in a state of daze without uttering a word for 5 minutes I was probably left with more questions than answers. And for once I was very very grateful to the movie for that.

18 comments:

Jinguchakka said...

I know the feeling. It's only 48 hours since I had it.
No contrived situations for songs. Main role is not the hero (Aamir) but another person (Siddarth). Some slick editing. And everyone who reads papers can connect to all the incidents, the initial disclaimer that it's all in the imagination notwithstanding.
Man! That's why I am afraid that this film will flop. They did that to Swades. After Swades, this is one movie which I loved from the beginning to the very end.

Anonymous said...

Awesome Awesome Awesome!! Got no other word to describe it.

Point 5 said...

Oh my gosh !! I just finished publishing my post and then turned to ur page and I c the same title. I refreshed my page again to check if there is something wrong..

Anyways, I like R de B...but I think the approach taken by the kids to tackle the MIG problem sets a very wrong example for the youth of the country...

Mridu said...

Just stumbled on to your blog...I like everyone who likes Rang De Basanti:):):):):):):)

totti said...

machaan! where did you go watch it da? new jersey???? i need to go..this week :((((((((((

Subash said...

I saw it too last weekend (Totti - in NJ). I thought it was a very well made movie and I went through almost all of the emotions that you have talked about. Except, I couldn't laugh after a certain point in the movie. I just l ost the ability. The first-half was so splendid, I thought just that part on its own is ___ award worthy (fill in the blank). The most heart-wrenching for me was when the Bismil character auditions and quotes "sarfarosh ki tamanna". What delivery!!!!! Spectacular. The ending looked put togother in a rush, trying to tie up the loose ends but I still recommend it. Yep -- On the way back, All i could say was, "Acha hai" and nothing else. I was empty inside. The movie took out everything that was in me. Splendid.I was kind of mad when "saare politicians ko goli maaro!" was said in the movie, the crowd applauded. I couldn't understand that. Politicians do not magically appear from a far away planet, they have come from amongst us. Infact, it reflects poorly on us when such scoundrels become ministers and MPs etc. One of my all time peeve is -- The upper-middle class of India complain about the political system, the politicians etc but when it comes to voting, Upper-middle class cast the least % of votes in almost any election. So, let's get off our asses and change ourselves before we ask for changes in anyone else. We owe it to all the Mahatmas Gandhis, Bhagat Singhs, Jhansi Ranis, Satyendra Dubeys of India.
"Change comes from within - MK Gandhi".

Casablanca said...

Everyone is talking about this movie, and I'm dying to watch it. Unfortunately for me there are no hindi theatres in Hong Kong :( :(

Rohan Kumar said...

@Jinguchakka If this movie flops then Indian audiences simply dont desrve suh good movies and it will be our loss, Swades happens to be one of my favorite movies too

@ad Awesome Awesome indeed

@Pointy I noticed ou said that even Bluffmaster was better than RDB, dont quite agree as Bluffmaster isnt even a patch on RDB in terms of either style, content or performances wise. Also I think the extreme means actually conveyed how desperate and driven the individuals were to set things right

@Mridu The feeling's mutual :)

@totti Go asap and dont watch it on pirated cam print, this movie doesnt dserve that sorta treatment

@Subash Agree with all of your views and comments on the movie and I believe Gandhi's actual quote was "Be the change that you to see in the world"

@Demi Goddezz Yes you should at the first given opportunity

@Casablanca See it and in the movie hall only plzz

@Ronjita Hey there, I frequent your blog quite frequently via the rediff website, nice to see you drop by

Koi Pahailee said...

seems like i should watch this one...
will certainly do if so many blogs keep talking (read as writing)about it like this

KM said...

ive read 4 different reviews of this movie...from indian bloggers!
and all different!
im gonna wait to see it myself!

Susu said...

damn it!! all of us at aisle 5 are anxiously awaiting the advent of RDB onto the www somehow... hope the movie does not condemn things like pi**cy and really hope that I get to watch the movie sometime soon...

Madame Mahima said...

i guess im gonna become another indian blogger who blogs about this movie now :P

Anonymous said...

indeed a good movie... but the second half was full of questions like "is that possible"?... i mean is it really possible for a neta to dare utter words against a jawan?? is it possible for a party to go unscathed after lathicharging the family of a martyr??..when you make a movie that preaches reality.. u shud be more thoughtful while presenting facts..still all in all awesome movie :-)

totti said...

dude, you still around ? :p

Rohan Kumar said...

@Koi Pahailee See it to believe it :)

@Khizzy ANd not on a pirated dvd plzzzz ;)

@Susu Dont wait anxiously for a stupid cam print drive down to nj or pitt to watch it for feeling the full effect of this one

@Mahima Cant wait to read abt your take on it

@Anonymous In someone's famous last words "still all in all awesome movie :-)" :)

@totti Nopes aptt hunting in nj currently :(

ligne said...

You have said pretty much what i felt about the movie.
I liked the direction..but there were parts when i felt that the director had left it loose carelessly :(
movie philosophy by itself is something which am so not in agreement with that i left the theater fuming.

M (tread softly upon) said...

Hey Rohan....I guess you've started your new job. How's it going so far? Good luck and keep us posted.

Rohan Kumar said...

@ligne The movie's philosphy can be described in Gandhi's famous words 'Be the change you want to see in the world'

@M Yup job's started and the new post details how it's been till now for all of you and for the safekeeping of my memories for myself for later :)