Movies: Rang de Basanti
On a overcast Saturday morning, I went into the movie hall to watch Rang de basanti (RDB) with expectations running low. The trailers suggested fluff and gloss, sprinkled with content. Movies these days show actors dressed in the Tommy Hilfigers dancing in Dubai, driving BMWs, romancing in the alps, and living in India. The pollution and population are conspicuous by there absence. Even for a fast developing India, it seems a far cry from reality. Another variety of movies contain below-the-belt-and-way-too-loud humor. Obviously, I was apprehensive.
RDB has the right pace from the start. The humor is situational. The movie potrays the color and life of Punjab with the right music. The theme of the movie is the comparison of the Indian freedom struggle with the struggle of the current times. The history is subtly interplayed with the present. The director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra seems to get it.
The gunda'ism, politics, corruption, crippling bureaucracy are things we have to face, and live with in India. As DJ (Daljeet) says in the movie, "there are two ways to live life: To let things be the way they are, and the other is to stand up and face them". I believe that the reason why there are no heroes in India these days is that the cause is not big enough. I can't imagine an Indian plunging for the country as easily as Avner does for Israel (as potrayed in Munich).
However the wrong people seem to rise in RDB. Those guys drink and smoke so much that one would imagine them, as being on a high for life. Their actions seem rash and foolhardy. Everything goes and everything is justified is the attitude potrayed, it seems to be the new mantra for life. This attitude distorts everything from morality to valor.
Overall Rang de basanti strikes the right chords, and provokes thought. However the way India is progressing these days, a pertinent question is whether such an awakening is even called for?
RDB has the right pace from the start. The humor is situational. The movie potrays the color and life of Punjab with the right music. The theme of the movie is the comparison of the Indian freedom struggle with the struggle of the current times. The history is subtly interplayed with the present. The director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra seems to get it.
The gunda'ism, politics, corruption, crippling bureaucracy are things we have to face, and live with in India. As DJ (Daljeet) says in the movie, "there are two ways to live life: To let things be the way they are, and the other is to stand up and face them". I believe that the reason why there are no heroes in India these days is that the cause is not big enough. I can't imagine an Indian plunging for the country as easily as Avner does for Israel (as potrayed in Munich).
However the wrong people seem to rise in RDB. Those guys drink and smoke so much that one would imagine them, as being on a high for life. Their actions seem rash and foolhardy. Everything goes and everything is justified is the attitude potrayed, it seems to be the new mantra for life. This attitude distorts everything from morality to valor.
Overall Rang de basanti strikes the right chords, and provokes thought. However the way India is progressing these days, a pertinent question is whether such an awakening is even called for?
posted by Mohit Gupta at 9:59 PM
1 Comments:
Rang de Basanti was a pure effort for the youth to get off their butts and take notice of the problems, which are hovering our country...and for this radical actions were reqd. The movie makers are not askin the youth to kill ministers like in the movie, but to DO SOMETHING radical before it is too late.
Rakeysh Om Prakash used the right tactics to attract the crowd
cuz believe it or not a chunk of youth did identify themselves wid the ones shown in RDB
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