A BIG disappointment. Review on Rang De Basanti

With some disappointing events (the Naxal attack in Bihar) already spoiling the mood of the republic day, watching a film like 'Rang de Basanti' added substantially to that. The film starts with a poetic note in the alpha brass voice of Aamir Khan. In the first few minutes it tries to set the mood for some sensational patriotic stuff, but soon after all illusions starts fading off. And, what we are left with in the end is an immature cinema for an equally immature audience.

First things first, this is not a patriotic film (if you thought so) neither it is a thought provoking art which hangs over you. It is a rather an articulation of a foolish idea that might have came to some rich adolescents eager to make a film. A British gal, with Hindi good enough to use the rarest slang, comes to India to shoot her dream project for which she requires actors to play the role of the great revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Azad, Rajguru, etc. after a series of auditions she finally fixes on to a bunch of brats for whom life is like a never-ending DJ party. It may sound humorous, but they remind her of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru ... and then till the interval scores of nach gana, outings, and other dhik-chik dhik-chik stuff continues with periodic clippings of the period film (directly lifted one of the various movies on Bhagat Singh) that she was working on. These periodic clippings fail to make even an iota of sense. It would have been better if the director would have advertised that the viewer should come to the halls after watching one of the well made Bhagat Singh films. It would have saved a good amount of time and energy of the director and the audiences as well. Creating a digital blasphemy cannot justify feeding the remakes of some serious subjects into an otherwise meaningless masti stuff.

Suddenly, in the second half, the death of a pilot friend (Madhavan), initiates some endothermic reaction and blood boils up in the veins of these bohemian bunch of college kids. And like a school kid playing a computer game they went on to kill the defense minister ('coz they were told in the school that it is the defense minister is the only person responsible for any form of corruption in the defense sector). The killing is done exactly in the same manner as Bhagat Singh and company had done some decades ago. The director doesn't even forget to show the upturned bicycle. The story continues further on the same lines (parallel) but with a slight difference. Instead of dropping bomb in the central assembly (probably 'coz they couldn't find one) they go to the ‘All India Radio’ and have a sort of questionnaire with the junta. And finally, orders are passed by the government for a rigorous firing operation around the AIR premises and all the heroes are brought to death. Here comes the end of a cinematic extravaganza with a pathos laden note.

The director takes full liberty in portraying the extremities like ... the defense minister giving a harsh statement against a martyr ... public being lathicharged by the police so severely that an old lady is hospitalized fighting for life ... the college students who might not have ever touched a pistol, acting like professional killers, kill the defense minister in front of his house, escape and get on to their usual mode (enjoying lunch at the college canteen) so quickly. Even a ruthless criminal would have been tensed after killing a cabinet minister. At some points the film seemed like an endorsement venture for NDTV.

Nevertheless, everyone barring the director and the scriptwriter seems to have put a lot of effort in the film. Especially, the performances were up to the mark. Even the low profile actors like Sharman Joshi (sukhi) delivered beyond their capabilities. As for Aamir, it is really a pitiable situation for an actor like him who goes overboard to put life into his characters. The film is not worthy of having Aamir Khan in it. Aamir is probably the best thing the film has. Shaping the character of Dil Jit singh (DJ) so perfectly is something that only Aamir could have done. But like his previous flick (Mangal Pandey) this film is yet another blow to him. The other actors like Waheeda Rehman, Anupam Kher, Kiron Kher, Madhavan and especially Om Puri, as cameos have performed brilliantly. Soha ali Khan too shows a lot of promise. The music (A.R. Rehman) is nice but at some points (esp. the background score in some of the period clips) doesn't gels with the story. The songs kahalbali, and luka chhipi are marvelous, well written and well scored. The film is technically sound with Binod Pradhan setting a benchmark as far as cinematography is concerned. The art director, Sameer Chanda, has worked in tandem with the cinematographer to give feel of Delhi and the surroundings whole through the film. Sameer Chanda as the production designer has worked hard to give a fresh look to the film. Full credits to them. The points where the movie fails is its script, screenplay and most importantly the direction and hence is the result.

Now, the question is whether the film would become huge? ... Well, maybe yes but in small circuits. Rakesh Mehra has been clever enough to capture the mood of the urban middleclass. He seems to have taken some strategic marketing lessons after the debacle of Aks (which was a much better film than this). He knows well that anything served with loud music and discos added with pop (say plastic) patriotism clicks with the audiences that has targeted. The thumb rule is that you have to serve everything ready made and care should be taken that neural traffic during the hours in the dark room should be as low as possible. With the theme so perfectly timed, the film would have been a milestone if he would have taken the pain to capture the real India to which the majority could relate to. But then, it would have been something that Mehra didn't wanted to make. ‘Coz this time (unlike his previous venture) he wanted the cash bells ringing in the multiplexes.