100 Writeups

Rang De Basanti

Cast – Aamir Khan, Om Puri, Atul Kulkarni, Siddharth Music – A.R.Rehman Directed By - Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra Imagine two parallel stories from different ages running side by side and merging into one universal theme – revolution. The sheer audacity to compare a bunch of yuppie rebels without a cause with extremist freedom fighters and yet managing not to make this seem blasphemous! Rang De Basanti keeps you interested through the entire runtime of 157 minutes. But what could have been a great film ends up as a great idea. Sue an English filmmaker wants to make a docu-drama about a group of Indian freedom fighters. Her auditions to find the right cast miserably flop. As she befriends a circle of mostly college boys she realizes in flashes that this group could be her cast. While all seems pleasant on the outside most of the gang have different insecurities. Karan (Siddharth) for instance does not see eye to eye with his super rich father. DJ (Aamir Khan) conveys in an emotional outburst why he still hangs out with college guys. An unexpected event in the second half turns the lives of the primary characters topsy-turvy. This incident acts as a catalyst for them to take on the corrupt system .The movie starts slipping this point onwards and sort of becomes like a Shankar film (Indian, for instance). As Karan announces over the radio why the group decided to assassinate a senior politician, and urban youngsters react in national T.V. in favour of their action, one gets that sense of dejavu. While most characters are well etched out, the ones which I could relate to most were those of Siddharth and Atul Kulkarni.The screenplay is fabulous though at times the comparison of these rebels to our freedom fighters seem absurd. The music by our very own Rehman perfectly blends into the story and background. The whistle as his name flashes in the title credits is more than what even Aamir Khan gets!We are proud of you man!The promo of Rang De… reads 'a generation awakens'. They may have might as well made it ' a generation awakens to anarchy' - as that’s how the film comes across in the tragic finale at the All India Radio. - - - - - This is the 100 th writeup in my site.I would like to thank my family,friends and everyone else who has been reading what I write and encouraging me.