Rang De Basanti

I’m going to break a rule and talk about the story here – the assumption is that even if you haven’t seen the movie, you would already be aware of the plot (as I was before I saw it this week). Also, this is going to be a long review as the movie provokes a lot of thoughts.

The Story
Sue (Alice), inspired by her grand-father’s diary, written while he was a jailor to Bhagat Singh and co, comes to India to make a documentary about them / their role in the freedom movement. Her friend in India, Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), introduces her to her friends circle - DJ (Aamir Khan), Karan (Siddarth), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi) and Aslam (Kunal Kapoor). Part of the modern, westernized youth of India, they are hardly aware of the freedom struggle or its heroes and definitely do not share the same ideals. Relcutantly, after much persuasion from Sue, they agree to act as the revolutionaries in Sue’s documentary along with a fiery saffron brigade youth politician, Pandey (Atul Kulkarni). As they read the diary and the script, they begin to think about their country, their mission in life (or the lack of it) and gradually they begin to immerse themselves in their characters parts – reality and their screen parts almost begin to blur into one.

Suddenly, the death of their friend Ajay (Madhavan), an ace pilot in the air force and Sonia’s fiancée, in a plane crash, jolts them back to reality. There is a corrupt defence minister, a scandal affecting the MiG’s that Ajay was flying but the official response is swift and brutal, instead branding Ajay as a impetuous learner pilot, brushing aside any questions and crushing any sign of protest ruthlessly with force. Seeing no alternative, they kill the defence minister, but even that does not bring the issue of corruption to the forefront, with ‘foreign hands’ being suspected of the murder and the usual platitudes / paeans of praise being sung for the 'honorable' minister. They announce their hand in the murder and their reasons during a radio broadcast and decide to surrender to the cops, but are instead killed by the corrupt machinery.

The Review
First : The movie is extremely well made, beautifully crafted, I don’t think Rakeysh Mehra (the director) puts a foot wrong in the whole movie. The acting of each and every character (I thought Aamir was outstanding but then so was everyone else, its almost unfair to single him out), the songs, the cinematography (especially the way they capture the heart and flavour of North India) is brilliant. The movie manages to combine the past and present and also rural and urban India all together without confusing us or losing any authenticity.

Second : Few things provoke me more than visuals / stories of the British Raj. Blame it on my sheer inability to reconcile myself with that shameful part of our history – how we let a few people from so far away, take advantage of our foibles and rule over us. How could we have been so stupid ! Any shots of the British ordering Indians around or mistreating us invariably makes my blood boil and I get an even worse reaction when I see Indian soldiers, acting on orders of the British, attacking other Indians. Why ? I had to be restrained from walking out during the first 30 minutes or so of Lagaan and here too, there are parts where I just couldn’t bear to watch…Lala Lajpat Rai get beaten, Jallianwala Bagh etc. If you're like me, be prepared to suffer...

Third : Unlike most movies which sit on the fence, this one makes choices, its characters are sufficiently provoked by the apathy and imperfections of the system to stop the usual idle intellectual debate and actually do something about it. They actually decide to take law in their own hands, to murder someone. They come to this option gradually, naturally, almost logically - its not a classic Bollywood hero seeking revenge and beating up / killing the corrupt neta. Its realistic enough for you to be able to put yourself in their shoes.

Fourth : I disagree completely with the choice made by the central characters – taking law into their own hands / killing the minister etc. Almost every terrorist in the world today is fighting for some cause. If his cause succeeds / comes to fruition, he will become a freedom fighter, else continue to be a terrorist – it’s a fine line. Bhagat Singh is a freedom fighter today only because India gained independence. Hamas is a terrorist organization because Palestine hasn’t. There are some distinctions - killing of innocent people vs killing people in office etc, but they are very intellectual distinctions - both get the death penalty in most nations.

Fifth : However, I agree with the ethos of stop cribbing and do something. There are lots of other things the characters could’ve done – gone to a news channel / kidnapped the minister and made him confess / gone to the air force and found a ‘smoking gun’. There are always options / things you can do, to help make your country better. And in today’s day and age, with the power of media / internet etc, it’s a lot easier to make an impact.


The movie is amazing because it engrosses, charms and provokes you, makes you think, choose a side. And it is laced with extremely funny moments, very strong characters and haunting music / lyrics.
I’m a great believer in the ‘starfish story’ – where a young man on a beach finds thousands of starfish stranded in the sand and starts throwing as many as he can back into the water. An older man walks by and questions what the young man is doing and asking him what difference it will make since there were too many starfish for him to throw back. The young man responded simply by saying that at least what he was doing made a difference to the starfish that made it back to the water. Too often we don’t do something but sit and complain. The beauty of this film lies in the fact that at least its a call to action if not a call to arms. We need more films like these.