Rang De Basanti....

Last weekend went out to watch Rang De Basanti – alrite – yes it is a Hindi movie and I did go to watch it. Okay, am sure this is a very old movie for most of you – but as far as Buffalo is concerned, went to watch the movie the day it was released! ;-) (After all the show was played only for two days!!!) I did not know anyting about the movie – but all I knew was that it was doing well and my friends were going, so just joined the wagon. Needless to say an Aamir Khan starrer is always eagerly anticipated.

Well – to start with I was wondering if this is yet another of those historical movies, when the movie started off with a scene in the jail where a young Indian is hung to death. Then the shot transfers to a young British film maker Sue who makes a strong case to shoot a documentary and upon being turned down by her superiors, decides to come down to India to film a documentary about the young Indian revolutionaries. She is inspired by a diary written by her grandfather who is impressed by a bunch of youngsters who were ready to face death with a great composure.

She is greeted by Soha Ali Khan in India and immediately joins the gang – 5 of them that include Aamir, Siddharth (Boys, Ayudha Yezhuthu fame). Madhavan also plays a role in the movie as Soha’s fiance. Sue’s challenge is not only to teach these youngsters the art of acting, but also to instill patriotism as each one of them has almost given up on the country. As far as they were concerned, the freedom fighters did their job in the yesteryears – but they still find the country so corrupted and seem to have no hope to revive it.

It is a touch of class by the director to have mixed the characters of the past (who fight for freedom) with the characters of the present (who will be fighting against what the current India is facing). Also a point to note about the director was that he did not get onto preaching today’s youngsters, yet sent out a strong message! The first half is outright entertainer with Aamir doing his usual antics. The movie gets onto a fervent pace in the second half when the movie really gets underway with the real story. The friends begin to realize how much corruption can make an impact on a family, try to protest to unearth more dirty politics playing its role and decide take things into their own hands (now – weather this is something realistic or if this is correct, is a different topic)

The music by AR Rahman is always bliss – he is simply a genius. Aamir was at his usual best and I particularly liked the performance of Siddharth – he was so damn cool. There were many patriotic dialouges that received applauds – unfortunately I did not understand any – so no comments on them! ;-) Overall had a good time watching the movie – going there with no expectations and coming out gratified – gave a good feeling – the movie was worth every penny! Go watch Rang de Basanti!