This is a review of the Hindi movie 'Rang De Basanti'. I wrote it soon after watching it. Publishing it here for a wider audience.
Rang De Basanti: A Gem
Considered just a movie, RDB is a gem. Everything about it is top class. To start with, the taut screenplay and editing and crisp dialogues. There's is not a single jarring sequence, not a scene that's irrelevant. Kudos to Prasoon Joshi (the scenarist) and the editor. Prasoon Joshi, as you may know, also penned the songs. Remember, he's the man behind many successful ads, like the 'Thanda Matlab Coca Cola', 'Log Chloromint kyun khate hain?' and the latest 'Happy Dent'. Surely, he's a man with multiple talents.
Then there is the cinematography by Binod Pradhan. I'd always thought that Ravi K Chandran was the best DoP in India. But, here's competition for him. The shots are all fantastic, to say the least. The use of sepia tone to show the portions of the documentary was a novel idea. The Digital Intermediate technology is put to the best use here. [Shankar can pick up a lesson or two from this one!]
And, now about the songs. Yes, the songs are special for me, cos it's by ARR. But, the integration of the songs into the narration makes a Himalayan difference - both to the movie and the songs themselves. When I first heard the songs, I'd formed some ideas about each of them, like sad, romantic, chill out, etc. But the songs are given a totally different treatment in the movie. Note that none of the songs have the characters lip-synching the lyrics. Instead, the songs are left to play in the background. This magnifies the intended impact. Also, you may feel that when the narrative goes in one direction, the song goes in another. E.g. 'Khoonchala' during the lathi charge, 'Roobaroo' after the confession, etc. Yet, the impact it leaves you with is phenomenal. Remember, in the usual lathi charge scenes, there'll generally be huge, rising violins and chorus. Look at the similar sequence here. It's a slow one [Khoonchala] with a slight romantic feel to it.
I should also mention the spectacular background score. At various points, it switches from silence to heavy-duty orchestra and takes you to a new world!
With this movie, Rakeysh Mehra has announced his arrival. Yes, his debut was with 'Aks', but to me it seemed to have a lot of violence. RDB is to him what 'Lagaan' is to Ashutosh Gowarikar. I'd say his brilliance is best shown in the scene where the commandoes burst open the door to the studio, where Siddharth and Aamir are chatting jovially. The scene is frozen immediately thereafter and what you hear are the gun shots. You watch with a heavy heart....
Rakeysh has successfully extracted the best performance from his cast and crew. The leading ones, Aamir, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Madhavan, Soha and even the debutante Alice Patten have all given their best. Now, imagine Shah Rukh instead of Madhavan and Hrithik instead of Siddharth....yes, they were the ones first offered these roles! Had they accepted it then, RDB wouldn't have been RDB! It'd have been crushed by the weight of these stars. Not that they aren't good performers, but they do not have the flexibility like Aamir to get into the skin of these characters....
That was about the movie as such. What about the message it tries to send out? If you recall, in recent times, there were a few movies which tried to convey a similar message, like Yuva, Swades, Anniyan, Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi, etc. But none of them succeeds like RDB in etching the message of 'Wake Up!' firmly in the minds of the viewers. Whereas Yuva and Swades seemed preachy at times, Anniyan's gloss and other aspects were distractions. I haven't seen 'Hazaron...' to comment on it. In my view, the key factor behind this success of RDB is the way it juxtaposed the past with present. It tells you that what happens today is just a replay of the yesterday. In other words, History Repeats Because You Failed To Learn The Lesson The First Time.
There's so much we, the youth, can do for our country. Violence, it may seem, is the answer. It's NOT. Instead, like Madhavan's character says, you can join the military, civil service...To expand that, let me add that being sincere in whatever you do makes the difference. And, don't forget about the down-trodden. Look at what the richest man in India Azim Premji is doing for them through his 'Azim Premji Foundation'. Look at the Murthys, the Tatas...whatever little community service you can do, do it...Let's make this country the Heaven on Earth.
Then there is the cinematography by Binod Pradhan. I'd always thought that Ravi K Chandran was the best DoP in India. But, here's competition for him. The shots are all fantastic, to say the least. The use of sepia tone to show the portions of the documentary was a novel idea. The Digital Intermediate technology is put to the best use here. [Shankar can pick up a lesson or two from this one!]
And, now about the songs. Yes, the songs are special for me, cos it's by ARR. But, the integration of the songs into the narration makes a Himalayan difference - both to the movie and the songs themselves. When I first heard the songs, I'd formed some ideas about each of them, like sad, romantic, chill out, etc. But the songs are given a totally different treatment in the movie. Note that none of the songs have the characters lip-synching the lyrics. Instead, the songs are left to play in the background. This magnifies the intended impact. Also, you may feel that when the narrative goes in one direction, the song goes in another. E.g. 'Khoonchala' during the lathi charge, 'Roobaroo' after the confession, etc. Yet, the impact it leaves you with is phenomenal. Remember, in the usual lathi charge scenes, there'll generally be huge, rising violins and chorus. Look at the similar sequence here. It's a slow one [Khoonchala] with a slight romantic feel to it.
I should also mention the spectacular background score. At various points, it switches from silence to heavy-duty orchestra and takes you to a new world!
With this movie, Rakeysh Mehra has announced his arrival. Yes, his debut was with 'Aks', but to me it seemed to have a lot of violence. RDB is to him what 'Lagaan' is to Ashutosh Gowarikar. I'd say his brilliance is best shown in the scene where the commandoes burst open the door to the studio, where Siddharth and Aamir are chatting jovially. The scene is frozen immediately thereafter and what you hear are the gun shots. You watch with a heavy heart....
Rakeysh has successfully extracted the best performance from his cast and crew. The leading ones, Aamir, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Madhavan, Soha and even the debutante Alice Patten have all given their best. Now, imagine Shah Rukh instead of Madhavan and Hrithik instead of Siddharth....yes, they were the ones first offered these roles! Had they accepted it then, RDB wouldn't have been RDB! It'd have been crushed by the weight of these stars. Not that they aren't good performers, but they do not have the flexibility like Aamir to get into the skin of these characters....
That was about the movie as such. What about the message it tries to send out? If you recall, in recent times, there were a few movies which tried to convey a similar message, like Yuva, Swades, Anniyan, Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi, etc. But none of them succeeds like RDB in etching the message of 'Wake Up!' firmly in the minds of the viewers. Whereas Yuva and Swades seemed preachy at times, Anniyan's gloss and other aspects were distractions. I haven't seen 'Hazaron...' to comment on it. In my view, the key factor behind this success of RDB is the way it juxtaposed the past with present. It tells you that what happens today is just a replay of the yesterday. In other words, History Repeats Because You Failed To Learn The Lesson The First Time.
There's so much we, the youth, can do for our country. Violence, it may seem, is the answer. It's NOT. Instead, like Madhavan's character says, you can join the military, civil service...To expand that, let me add that being sincere in whatever you do makes the difference. And, don't forget about the down-trodden. Look at what the richest man in India Azim Premji is doing for them through his 'Azim Premji Foundation'. Look at the Murthys, the Tatas...whatever little community service you can do, do it...Let's make this country the Heaven on Earth.
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