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Posted: 19 years ago

#21

Rang De Basanti goes to US varsities

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti grows bigger by the week, if not the day. Now the director has taken the film on a tour of the US universities.

"It's a 10-day tour and I'll be joined by A.R. Rahman," said Mehra who was to go to the university in Eastern Michigan to interact with the faculty, students and academicians, discussing and analysing the film. Ohio and probably Miami are also part of the tour. There's no doubt Rang De Basanti has gone way beyond borders. "I'll have to agree with that. One of the themes that they want to discuss during my US visit is how the film has connected with the youth all over the world. I must say I am humbled by what's happening to Rang De Basanti, though I am still very shy of acknowledging its impact," Mehra said.

Judging beauty contests and signing autographs still make him very selfconscious. "I am here to make films, not behave like a star, or be treated like one." The introspective director is readying his next project. "It will most probably be Delhi-6, an autobiographical look at my childhood and young days at Delhi's Chandni Chowk. "I need to do something intimate and inward-drawn after Rang De Basanti before I go on to my other more epic projects Paanch Kaurav and Bhairavi."

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#22

ARRahman's music is apt, as always, whether conveying a mother's grief or the devil-may-care attitude of these friends. Prasoon Joshi's lyrics capture the mood of the film as it moves from 'who cares?" in Paathshala,

Na koi padhne wala na koi seekhne wala
Apni to paathshala masti ki paathshala
I am rebel
Lose control

to the awakening in Roobaroo,

Ae sala
Abhi abhi hua yakeen ki aag hai mujh me kahin
Hui subah mai jal gaya suraj ko mai nigal gaya

Are there some flaws? There are a few. I felt that even for middle-class Delhi there was an over-emphasis on Hindi/Punjabi. While it probably makes the film more marketable to all, I'm hard-pressed to think of any college student in north India, particularly, who doesn't reflexively speak Hinglish, but in Rang de Basanti' Delhi, you hardly even hear an "ok" in a sentence. While it's plausible that Sue would go overboard and learn Hindi before going to India, I wondered why none of these supposedly hep college kids would ever speak to her in English, yet they sing "Lose control." Also, the love story between Aamir Khan's character DJ and Sue seems to be inserted in the plot for no real value. This hang-up he has for acting with Brits (male or female) is getting a tad old. One has to wonder what it is and when this phase will be over. Finally, some of criticized the climax as unrealistic and over the top. I'm not one of them. To those who feel it could never happen, I suggest they look back to the Vietnam War era protests on campuses in the US: a sit-in in an administrative office, taking over any piece of property that was considered to be part of the 'establishment.' Then look at the resulting violence against the protesters. Sadly, not only can it happen, it has. In every generation.

Rang De Basanti (2006)

Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Music: AR Rahman
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi
Cinematography: Binod Pradhan
Executive Producer: Adam Bohling

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#23

I watched the movie yesterday with my family. Posting a mini-review and will try to make it spoiler-free.

Here's a little synopsis from the official website for those people who don't know what the movie is about. And I added some bits of my own to it.

A young English-Film-maker Sue (Alice Patten) comes to India to make a documentary drama on Bhagat Singh and his contemporaries during the freedom struggle. After failing to gather funds for the film, she decides to recruit students from the Delhi University.

She finds finds DJ (Aamir Khan), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), Karan (Siddharth), Laxman (Atul Kulkarni), and Sonia (Soha Ali Khan).

Sue's film makes DJ and his friends stop and stare at themselves for being the actual descendants of these great men and never recognizing and celebrating their courage and spirit. That is where the story of Rang De Basanti begins…

I should start off this review by saying that Rakesh Omprakash Mehra has really created a masterpiece. That is exactly what I felt after watching the movie. The theme of the movie, which is to do something for your own country, is the same as Mangal Pandey: The Rising, Swades, and many other Bollywood patriotic movies. What makes Rang De Basanti different from these other movies I pointed out is the way the story has been presented to us. It has been presented in a very unique, and a refreshing way.

I had some pretty high expectations from the movie when I first listened to the music of the film. A.R. Rahman is the music maestro. I love all the songs, but the ones that I can listen to over-and-over again are Roobaroo, Khalbali, and Paathshala. As the introductory credits rolled, a different version of Khalbali starts, which was rocking. My foot started tapping. I hope they release the background music of Rang De Basanti, just like they did for Swades which by the way, also had the music by A.R. Rahman.

Performances were brilliant. Who ever says that this is an Aamir Khan movie all the way is wrong because I believe every actor did a fabulous job. Siddharth, the new-comer who played the role of Karan, in my opinion, was the best. He stole the show from everyone. In fact, the whole climax revolved around him. Sharman Joshi had a great role as well. His comic scenes with Aamir Khan are hilarious. These two actors had a great chemistry. Kunal Kapoor, Atul Agnigothri, Soha Ali Khan, and Alice Patten very really, really good in their own roles.

One more thing that I would like to add is that the cinematography was first-rate. Just excellent.

Basanti means sacrifice, and if you notice it's highlighted in yellow in the movies' name. The colour, yellow, represents sacrifice and freedom. The people who have seen this movie should've noticed that some of the scenes also shown a little yellow-ish. And in the end, the green fields that all the protagonists used to visit turn yellow as well. I don't know if anyone of you noticed these little details, but I just thought I should mention them because they're cool. These type of little details do matter in a movie.

I think Rang De Basanti is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's good entertainment. Good entertainment is when you walk out of the theatre with a smile on your face. I will definately buy the DVD when it comes out, but I probably won't watch the second half as it's gets too serious and depressing for me. The movie is recommended to everyone from me. :)

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#24

Rang De Basanti

Language:HINDI
Director:Rakyesh Mehra
Producer:Rakyesh Mehra, Ronnie Screwvala
Cast: Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kunal, Soha Ali Khan, Alice Patten, Waheeda Rehman, Atul Kulkarni, Om Puri
Music: A.R Rahman
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi
Cinematography: Binod Pradhan
Screenplay: Rensil DSilva
Story/Writer: Kamlesh Pandey
Action: Allan Amin

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#25

Rang De Basanti is more than just another patriotic film

'Rang De Basanti'

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Rang De Basanti

Rang de Basanti is more than just another patriotic film; it deals with several issues, ones that lead to the awakening of a generation. It gives a brief background of the historical events that have led to the freedom of our country. It shows us how some common youngsters became great historical figures. RDB brings to life, the famous Jalianwala Baug massacre, the Rowlatt act, etc, events in our history which we have only read about in history textbooks. It gives us a sense of pride in our history.

There's also the issue of rampant corruption in politics and administration depicted in RDB. It shows how corruption at high levels can affect people from all strata's of society, and how in this case it affects a few college students. The movie has also depicted that love, brotherhood and a common goal can transcend all castes and creed. It stamps out the long standing myth, that Muslims are not part of our history. RDB has also managed to capture the spirit and essences of the vivacious seek community.

There's also the issue of sparking an awakening in today's youngsters. The movie wants to make an impact on people; it desires to motivate its viewers. It encourages people to get involved in society and not be selfish by thinking of only themselves. It propagates the concept that each person has a responsibility to society and only when all of us shoulder it; will life get better.The core message of RDB is that youth should get involved in mainstream politics and administration. They should not sit back and complain how things are not right and instead of pointing fingers and blaming others, they should get up and start correcting what is wrong. This, according to acclaimed actor Aamir Khan is the main agenda of RDB.

It also teaches one not to take oneself too seriously all the time, one need's to learn to laugh at oneself and always look on the brighter side of things. This is clearly reflected in attitude of these young guns who lighten up the movie, with there fun loving personalities. Rang De Basanti is full of social messages; it's up to the viewers to pick them up and do something about them.

Rang De Basanti is an absolute must watch.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#26

The excitement an Aamir Khan starrer generates might have suffered a bit after Mangal Pandey. But, with Rang De Basanti Aamir has struck back with full force. But the movie doesn't rely on Aamir's acting alone. Powerful performances by all other actors – especially Siddharth, Soha Ali Khan and Atul Kulkarni – make Rang De Basanti a great movie to watch. Technically – direction, cinematography, editing, music, etc. – the movie scores high in all departments. But, finally, it is the story that glues you to the seat.

A group of five delightfully mischievous college students – DJ (Aamir), Karan (Siddharth), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), and Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) – are front benchers in the Masti ki Pathshala. Beer drinking competitions, wheelies, and driving around Delhi in the night are only some of the crazy things they do. They are far from any notions of patriotism or desh seva. "Yeh system ko badal ne jao, toh system tumhe hi badal deta hai", they say.

But DJ finds it very difficult to say "No" to Sue, a British filmmaker, who wants to make a movie on Indian revolutionaries – Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Afsakhullah, and Ramprasad Bismillah. And he pulls in the others. So, Sue, starts making the movie with a bunch of guys who couldn't care less for the characters they are about to play. This movie within the movie does not wallow in patriotic sentimentality. Instead it concentrates primarily on the fearlessness with which the 23 year olds walk to their death.

Meanwhile, Ajay (R. Madhavan), Sonia's fiance, dies in a MiG crash. The Defence Ministry, instead of accepting that the MiGs are outdated, claim that Ajay was an irresponsible pilot. This sets the wild bucks on a path from which there's no turning back. A peaceful dharna to protest against the Ministry's lackadaisicalness turns violent when the police lathi charge the group. Of those injured is Ajay's mom, who slips into coma."Ab kya karien?", asks Sukhi. The incident affects the group in a way where they can no longer be carefree – they have to take a stand on matters. The clock is turned back as the six get into the shoes of the characters they play in Sue's movie.

By setting the story in contemporary India the movie moves away from any historical melodrama and manages to raise poignant questions. What did Bhagat Singh want when he threw those bombs in the Parliament? What made these guys, in the prime of their lives, sacrifice their lives smilingly? But once these questions have been raised, the movie slips into the usual Bollywood formula: the youth across India get inspired by their act and promise to act on similar lines

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#27

'Rang de Basanti': Unpeaceful resistance in Delhi

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left to right: Atul Kulkarni, Siddharth, Aamir Khan and Kunal Kapoor

By DOLORES MCELROY for The New Mexican
April 7, 2006

Bollywood musical epics may not be the first place one would look for meditations on violence and resistance, but Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's film, Rang De Basanti (Paint it Saffron), offers just that. The film traces the stories of a group of fun-loving university students in Delhi, India, who come to murder the country's minister of defense.

Though the film's glorification of vigilante justice could disturb some viewers, Rang De Basanti is a thoughtful, vibrant, and lively story of how ordinary people are pushed to take extraordinary actions.

This story of modern India begins in Britain. English filmmaker Sue McKinley (Alice Patten) is planning to make a docudrama based on the experiences of her grandfather, a British lieutenant stationed in India during the 1930s and charged with the task of executing five Indian freedom fighters. His impressions of the men, including his admiration for them, are documented in his diary, and it is their stories that Sue seeks to dramatize.

When Sue's production company fails to take on the project, she travels to India alone without funding, crew, or actors. What she does have is two years of Hindi night classes and every intention of making her film. Sue arrives in Delhi and meets Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), who champions the project. Sue casts Sonia's friends -- students she meets at a drinking contest at a reservoir -- as the revolutionaries in her movie.

The friends provide a cross section of Indian society. There are DJ (Indian superstar Aamir Khan) who graduated five years ago but hangs around his alma mater to continue his life as ringleader and ladies' man; Karan (Siddharth), whose wealthy, politically connected father wants to get him out of India and into an American university; Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), a Muslim whose family disapproves of his wild Hindu friends; and the goofy Sukhi (Sharman Joshi).

These four are poster children for the Westernized, apathetic MTV generation that knows and cares little about politics. Dance montages, pop music, and sequences of drunken driving and motorcycle riding are edited with a techno throb. The friends forever frolick and josh; they wake up outdoors on cots in a lush paradise, eat, romp, get drunk -- and then do it all over again.

During their reservoirside revels, which include a Bollywood dance break (the movie stops short of spontaneous singing from the characters, but lyrics like "Lose control" and "I'm a rebel" play behind them on the soundtrack), the merry gang is harassed by Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), the leader of a fundamentalist Hindu group who is anti-Westernization and anti-Muslim. In a heavy-handed plot device, Laxman Pandey is cast as one of the film's revolutionaries.

Adding even more ham to the fist are the historical scenes from Sue's film, which are interspliced with the modern-day narrative. But no matter how jaded you are about the delivery of the message, its point is both moving and alarmingly relevant: the members of this supposedly lost generation are now identifying with the selfless sacrifices and idealism of their historical counterparts.

The young people's wake-up call is the death of Sonia's fianc, Ajay Rathod (Madhavan), a pilot killed in a plane with defective parts bought by a government willing to sacrifice its men to save money. The situation is aggravated not only by the outright denial of this charge by the defense minister but by his spin that Ajay was an inexperienced and irresponsible pilot. During a peaceful rally for Ajay and dozens of other pilots who met similar fates, the police (commanded by the head of Pandey's fundamentalist party) brutalize the participants and batter Ajay's mother into a coma.

The suffering of the friends is clearly illustrated, but what ensues is a high-energy series of events as the members of the group murder the defense minister and take over a radio station to explain their actions to the public. Though they acknowledge that perhaps they were wrong to kill, they explain that they thought it the best way to expose the corruption that so drastically altered their lives; peaceful demonstration got them nowhere.

The endorsement of violence as a last resort and the undeniable glamour of the novice assassins make this a provocative film. Rang De Basanti is a stylish, if overblown, depiction of the way the past persists in intruding on the present.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#28

RANG DE BASANTI Already a cultural phenomenon in India, this reformist melodrama by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra (Aks) uses razor-sharp technique and an eavesdropper's ear for dialogue to update the patriotic fervor of Bollywood's golden age. Mehra seems to be trying to jump-start the idealism of the young movie audience and of the movie industry at the same time. Here, he's devised a premise that is psychologically as well as rhetorically effective, as a group of slackers at Delhi University is hired by a British indie moviemaker (Alice Payton) to portray the heroes of the terrorist phase of the Indian independence movement. The students, whose ranks include superstar Aimer Khan (Lagan), go from rolling their eyes over the rebels' heartfelt rhetoric to imitating those sentiments and then absorbing them into their bloodstream. Khan is at least a decade too old to play even a postgraduate hanger-on, but it's hard to imagine anyone younger bringing as much wisdom to the role, the glimpses of desperation camouflaged by his seemingly cheerful aimlessness. Veteran character actor Atoll Kukri (Chanting Bar) is equally impressive as a Hindu fundamentalist fire-breather, stubborn and angry but not a fraud or a thug. The movie falters only toward the end: Mehra seems locked into a motif of literal-minded match-cuts between the past and the present, and in order to maintain it, he has the newly awakened youthful reformers adopt the violent methods of the revolutionaries — the first actions that seem to have been imposed on the characters by the moviemakers. Luckily, the fluidity and textured authenticity of the earlier Delhi U. sequences stay with us well beyond this programmatic conclusion.

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

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Posted: 19 years ago

#29

Rang De Basanti

Cast:Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Anupam Kher, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Siddharth
Director:Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra

Aamir Khan plays DJ in the film. DJ is a young man who continues to hang around in the University from where he has already passed out 5 years back! Reason? He feels its great to be a part of the University and have a great time with his University mates rather than facing the outer world as it hardly excites him. Other people in this group of youngsters are Karan [Sidharth Suryanarayan], Aslam [Kunal Kapoor], Sukhi [Sharman Joshi], Laxman Pandey [Atul Kulkarni] and last but not the least Sonia [Soha Ali Khan], who loves to hang around inspite of being the lone girl in the group.

Each of the people in the group has an identity of their own and has a different tale to tell. Karan is a man who is emotionally cut-off from his rich family, Aslam is a middle class boy from Chandni Chowk who has a stable mind and thinks hard before he acts. Large part of this comes from the fact that he is intellectually oriented and hence thinks differently. To add to this, he is also a poet and a writer with a rational outlook towards things.

Sukhi, as the name suggests, is a happy-go-lucky boy with only one interest in life - girls, girls and more girls. A young kid with an innocent heart, he is the most loved boy in the entire group. Sonia is a tomboy who loves to be a part of the group and is meanwhile engaged to an air pilot Ajay [Madhavan]. But then it's not just fun'frolic all the time in the group as there is also a man who is a fundamentalist and has a vision to change the world. His tool? Politics. He looks at the brighter side of politics and strongly believes that if used correctly, politics has all the power one may want to make things better!

Life is as usual for each of them when Sue [Alice Pattern] enters their life. She is a young British film maker who intends to make a film about Indian freedom fighters. Her eyes are especially set on people like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad and how they contributed towards India eventually getting freedom. She looks at the group to act the parts in the documentary film she is making.

Bureau Report

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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Bob Chowdhury

@Qwest

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Posted: 19 years ago

#30

1st February 2006

It was Jan 30th, 11:20PM. I get a call from Satya, my talented colleague who works for Jagan. It must be something important, I thought before answering the call, he never calls late, him being the early to bed-early rise type... Indeed it was!, "have you seen it?", were his first words. For a while I did not understand what he was talking about, then came the pointer, 'Rang De Basanti'. "of course not!", I replied. "See it, you are gonna love it! and we will talk later", he cuts the call promptly.

Jan 31st, 2PM. I was in Screen 4, Prasads IMAX theaters. Barely few minutes into the Film, I was made to recall Roger Ebert's thoughts when he was watching Kubrick's '2001 Space Odessey' at Cannes, "we are watching something very significant". 2001 Space Odessey was a very complex Film even for Film lovers, it broke so many grounds that people wrote reams of stuff about it later, discussing. It was so complex that one Studio head apparently stood up midway through the first screening and famously said "can someone please tell me what the f*** this is all about?".

'Rang De' is very relevant and significant but it is also very simple to understand, and there lies its beauty and genius. It is my stand that I do not critic Films in public, I am mortified at the thought of effecting its' market, not that it really matters when an insignificant entity like me writes. However, I am compelled to write about it after absorbing its brilliance, its raw energy, its spirit and the craft with which it is made. I write about it because it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.

Just 5 days ago, a very significant day came and went by without any of us really noticing it. It was Jan 26th, our Republic day. Two days after it, Deccan Chronicle has done this testing survey where they played our National Anthem at many pubic places to see how people respond. Very Sadly, they reported that people hardly even stood up in its honour. Very sad indeed! We, Indians, have become so pathetically apathetic that we do not even take our freedom seriously anymore! We just take it for granted! It is so painfully unbelievable. Rakeysh Mehra took that as the central point of the Film and shot it. Boy, did he shoot it or what? You can watch the Film just for the style, forget about the content. It was like watching Picasso at work. It was beautiful, liberating, uplifting all at once. It was magical.

At the very base of it, it is a story of public standing up for issues they feel strongly about. What interests me so much about this Film is the way Rakeysh makes his point. Rakeysh takes the British Raj era and intersperses it with current times. Those were hard times, India was being ruled by the British, brave and strong measures were needed to drive the British out and get freedom. Youth in the form of Bhagat Singh and others showed the way. Bhagat Singh strategises with Azad to bomb the Assembly Hall. Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt dropped the bomb on the Assembly floor and waited in the gallery until they were arrested. Courting the arrest and generating propaganda while being on the trial was their strategy. 'The deaf had to be made to hear', Bhagath Singh and Azad converse! In a letter to SukhDev, Bhagat singh writes that he is preparing himself for the supreme sacrifice. And he does so with his head held high, in peace. Fast forward to present day, these are equally difficult times, and in an inspiring move, Rakeysh Mehra reruns the Jallian Wala Bagh scene with the corrupt current Defense Minister replacing General Dyer, ordering his men to fire at his own Indian public; Every thing else is the same in the scene, emphasizing that nothing has changed except the skin color of the men in power. That is just mind-blowing. And by making his 5 male protagonists in the present era make the same kind of sacrifice as Bhagat Singh and others did, Rakeysh is emphatically telling us that equally brave and selfless measures are needed even in these current times to pull the country out of this pitiful mire it still finds itself in. And THAT is a gigantic statement and he makes it without ever so resorting to preaching.

It is fascinating to see the parallels. When the British ordered Simon Commission to see the possibilities of India ruling itself, Bhagath Singh, Azad and others along with Lazpat Rai held protests saying 'Simon go back', as there was no Indian representation in the panel. In the consequent lathi charge, Lazpat rai, a frail old man, got badly hurt and later succumbed to the injuries, dying. Despite their differences in the ideology(with Lazpat Rai), Bhagat Singh, Azad and his men vow to avenge his death and they succeed in doing so by assassinating Simon and then go into hiding. They say history repeats itself, well Rakeysh believes it too, for the same thing happens even in present times, after Madhavan dies because of the spare parts scam of Migs.

Guys, forget about its significance and relevance to the current times, this is a fascinating Film just for its entertainment quotient. Aamir Khan and the rest of the guys and girls are so much fun to watch that I laughed with them, jumped with them, cried with them and died with them. It doesn't happen often enough in movies. So watch it, embrace it, get inspired by it. Rakeysh Mehra and all you guys who worked on this Film, guys, take a bow, you deserve it!

Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago

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