Rang De Basanti - Movie Review

Review

Yesterday, I saw RDB for the 3rd time in the theatre. O behen de takkey, the reason behind this is not that I liked it very much. The 1st time I saw it was first day first show at 5.00 AM and as I was sleepless throughout the night, it was difficult for me to be completely awake. Second time Vaidya showed me RDB coz it was his b’day treat and on the same day I saw it for the 3rd time coz I had to show it to my mom. So you can understand that the review will be coming straight from my heart. And hey, it is not necessary that my views will be matching yours. But ye DJ ka promise raha that whatever I’ll write most people will be agreeing with me.

It’s not that I only review Aamir Khan Movies but I have a great affinity towards his movies. The genre of the movies, he acts in, is always different from the rests. And accordingly, RDB happens to be the next jewel of his crown.

This story is about a London based documentary film maker Sue (...kar mere mann ko) who comes to India and finds 5 fun-loving youths namely DJ, Sukhi, Karan, Aslam and Sonia and a political activist namely Lakshman Pandey suitable for roles in her documentary film on Indian Revolutionaries. This movie shows how acting in the documentary film makes them realize their responsibilities towards their nation and make them find that the revolutionary inside them has awaken and they assassinate the Defence Minister coz according to them, he’s responsible for the death of Flight Lt Ajay Rathore (Madhavan).

The best thing about RDB is its fantabulous cinematography and outstanding direction. DJ (Aamir) as the stud of the university again stole the heart of the whole nation by his acting talents, charm and dialogues (tim lak lak tey tim lak lak). Sharman Joshi as Sukhi injected some hilarious moments in otherwise a serious movie. Madhavan gets a guest appearance as Ft. Lt Ajay Rathore and as the love interest of Sonia (Soha Ali Khan). The genre of the movie was very originally fabulous due to complete out-of-the-box treatment by director Rakeysh Omprakash. The soundtracks of the movie are more than a hit and this time A. R. Rahman has delivered according to our expectations. Songs like ‘Paathshala’ and ‘Rang De Basanti’ were already a hit before the release of the movie but the song ‘Luka Chupi’ really struck a cord in my heart. For me it is the best song. The scene of the Golden Temple with the song ‘Ik Omkar’ was simply enthralling. And finally, about the dialogues I would like to say just one thing, MINBLOWING. From the humorous talks of Aamir while teasing Sue to the sentimental messages of the revolutionaries to the discussions taken place between Karan and Ajay about the condition of India (“koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota, usse perfect banana padta hai”), all of them will reside in our hearts for quite some time.


But the not-so-good things about the movie are lack of exotic locations, lack of fashion statements, lack of big star-cast and lack of practical thinking. I’m not complaining that they must have shot some songs in Switzerland but at least in India that also near Punjab, we’ve got very kewl locations. May be the director was showing truth of day to day life by making Aamir wear a worn denim jacket (that was less than ordinary) but how come he didn’t show the truth of practical thinking coz nowadays nobody realizes his responsibilities towards the nation and shoots down any minister. And finally I didn’t like Karan and Aslam in the movie coz their acting was down below par and they failed to perform well with such a huge star like Aamir. It seemed that they were there just to fill up the empty spaces.

Also most of the people are comparing it with the hit movie DCH. But according to me there are simply no comparisons. Both the movies are of different genres and for me still DCH rocks. It implemented new style statements and other movies copy them till now. Just think, when you saw DCH, how you tried the new spiked cut and a small goatee. But as far as the style statement of RDB is concerned, there’s nothing that will be copied in the years to come. May be its true that RDB delivered a good message but in the most impractical way. Most of the kids are quite pumped up after seeing RDB. Let’s see for how many days the mania remains.

Memorable scenes for me in RDB:
1.) When an Air Force Officer comes to Ajay’s mother to return his personal belongings and as she opens the door, looks at the officer and is about to collapse and suddenly a part of ‘Luka Chupi’ is played in the background; it definitely creates some magic.
2.) When the Golden Temple is shown and ‘Ik Omkar’ is played in the background, it adds up to the beauty of the panoramic view of Golden Temple.

Best Dialogue for me in RDB:
When Lakshman Pandey tells about Bismil and he quotes the famous poem 'Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna' I listened to it very carefully and it left me mesmerized.