like a fresh breath of colors but still not a rainbow

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2006)

(Note - may contain spoilers! )
RDB is a different movie, contemporary in it's screenplay, music and theme. Patriotic movies more often ignite the spirits within you, some question the System, some question the people. But none has suggested a solution, a realistic solution, not a hypothetical projection of a historic depiction.
This movie attempts to recreate the aura, psyche of Bhagath Singh and Azad's troupe in modern day era. It simply is a rendering of the past in the present context. It doesn't try to tell you whether Bhagat Singh is right or wrong or whether what the 4 college guys did is right or wrong. It just says - "This is what happens, when some people stand up and believe in what they fight. This is whats gonna happen to any youth in this country if the Government continues to BS around and no you don't need no Al Qaida to do, just normal people can".
Whats the result?
Instead of a History Channel on Bhagath Singh, you get a contemporary rendering of the characters in present day India with a seemingly interleaving screenplay of past/present. Most biopics on Bhagat Singh tried to portray as him as an extra ordinary person and simply repaint history without telling the psyche and the circumstances. I think thats why this movie deserves a great applause by rendering a difficult subject wrt the present people, people like you and me who never thought of execution of the thought.
The cast is first rate. After a long time, you will feel that a popular Hindi cinema has no stars, just characters.(I can only remember Lagaan, Swades, DCH close to this in terms of characterisation in the recent past). AR Rahman, brilliant.Its sad to see so many good movies with his good music do not get the attention that he truly deserves.
Well, here comes the down part. The first half makes you completely fall in love with this movie and just when you start building expectations ... the movie fails. Starting with the protest of Ajay's flight accident, assassination of Defense Minister (quite cool eh? Didn't know that you could just shoot a minister point blank and still nobody can figure out who the killer is. Quite stupid), to the insanely gruesome mass shooting towards the end, this is where you start to feel that the director is using too much of liberty and insisting you not to use your brains.
Watch out for some of the best moments - 1) When Amir cries for Madhavan at the dinner table, telling how useless, helpless he is. Brilliant acting. I always consider a tragic scene as extremely difficult coz you just don't cry seeing the actor cry, but if it gives u a millisecond of gasp- he deserves an applause. 2) when the 4 buddies remove their shirts and wave across a fighter plane just grazing on their above. Wonderful poetry! Also shows that you don't have to have great bods to remove the shirt. It could still look great. 3) last scene with Siddharth / Amir when they're smiling to glory ...
Acting is great ... no one has screwed up in any dept. However the last 1 hour is a bit amateurish and could have been avoided with more sophistication. Like all those movies which try to say something about patriotism, this one brags about it too, yet in a different subtler "warning" tone. But my point is
"what do we do now. Do you have a solution?"
When will we see a movie which could bring us hope, which addresses the Issues and brings out the execution in reality? Opinions like these will come and go but the Problem still remains
the bottom line 8/10 - Brave attempt on cinematography, music, screenplay, casting and storytelling of 6th class history. Ironically, the premise of the movie should have been told in writing by the director towards the end, saying its just a ironic depiction of the past and not the moral of the story. Unfortunately for some viewers the message could be deceptive as its very very subtle.
Swades on the other hand could be realistic, it hits you hard, very deeply with a message