Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Rang de Basanthi - a zenith in Indian cinema

[Spoilers kept as minimum as possible]

I heard/read so many goodies about the movie that I couldn’t afford to miss it. But then, being a movie connoisseur (as I’d like to call myself :-) ) who loves to hate the so-called youth and teeny-weeny nonsense of movies, I thought enough not to listen to/read in-depth reviews and story-line discussions. And I’m so glad I didn’t.

The last time I saw a Bollywood movie in a theatre was when “Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya” was released. And boy, that movie sucked. Big-time. More so when I started hearing that it was becoming a hit in Indore. I was amazed at how a movie could run without any story-line whatever, and only based on what I’d call bull-shit humour. I guess I’m going to get a lot of flak for this, but I really think that movie was a nadir in movie-making itself. Anyway, the point is: my expectations were pretty low.

And then I saw Rang de Basanthi (RDB). I should say that RDB had it in it to captivate me right from the word-go. The start was beautiful. The first half was funny. The second half was passionate. The music was colorful (as odd as it sounds). The video-editing was breathtaking (I’m into bits and pieces of personal movie-making, and RDB looked like the impossible that I’ve always wanted to do).

The best part, I guess, is the story itself. It takes a genius to give such an offbeat start, digress on and off into history, while keeping the story alive in the present and taking it in a completely new dimension in the end. Honestly, no one would’ve ever thought the movie would have an end like what it did.

Now to some negatives.

As near-perfect as it was, I didn’t like the concept of violence portrayed as a means to justify rebellion. No doubt it worked - it was easy to see that it struck a chord with the mass. The audience suddenly came alive when the heroes took to rebellion. I guess everyone has a violent side waiting to break open somewhere deep down and movies like these are the outlets. It’s been beautifully summarized by Chandoo too.

Critics apart, it’s really the next big thing in Bollywood and, for that matter, in Indian cinema. Just go watch it. If haven’t yet, that is.

7 Comments:

At Wednesday, February 01, 2006 1:02:00 PM, Blogger Manish Saini said...

Can't agree more. The Bold Direction has set the movie apart from all its predecessors in indian Cinema (for me a personal exception would be Dil Se).
True, that the voilence seemed to be unsolicited but the message was clear and loud like never before.

 
At Wednesday, February 01, 2006 1:53:00 PM, Blogger Govar said...

Yeah, Mani Rathnam's classics - Dil Se , Ombay etc included - are a class apart form their own. I don't see any comparison however. All of these are geniuses in their own genre. :)

 
At Wednesday, February 01, 2006 5:29:00 PM, Blogger God Krishna said...

yeah... perfect summary of the movie but RDB seems to be a hit only in Class A theaters and it is moderate here in Chennai.......

Your blog is cool... nice stuff u have here... this is the first time i am checking out ur blog and it most certainly is not gonna be the last time... keep up the good work

 
At Wednesday, February 01, 2006 8:49:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I totally agree to it govar...few movies that have touched us in the recent past are black and page 3. I was just watching mein meri patni aur woh. See it...well made

 
At Wednesday, February 01, 2006 9:00:00 PM, Blogger Govar said...

@Krishna: Some name u've got. Anyway, yes, you can't expect much from Chennai for a Bollywood movie. Guess it's going to take some time for that. And thanks for dropping in.


@Sumanta: Page 3, I'm not really sure. It's good, but nowhere comparable to RDB, in my opinion. Guess people differ. :)

 
At Tuesday, February 07, 2006 1:40:00 PM, Blogger J.R. Woodward said...

Sounds like a good movie.

JR Woodward

 
At Monday, March 13, 2006 4:59:00 PM, Blogger Rambler said...

I watched iton last saturday & totally loved it. It was an engaging film. And to select Baghat Singh whose character has been made to film quite few times & make a bold film was just fabulous.

And although it is not recommended, I think the violence was justified. And Aamir is at his best as usual. Can't wait till his nextone with Kajol.

 

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