A Different look at Patriotism...

Rating: 10/10 (27 January 2006)

Welcome to 21 century Indian Cinema.. aka Bollywood,
Rakesh mehra's 'rang de basanti' is different. Its 'patriotic' and 'cool' at the same time. Something very hard to see nowadays since most bollywood directors don't experiment enough. Rang de basanti makes you feel patriotic in a way you have never felt before...
The story starts off with Sue (Alice Patten) quitting her job and coming to India to make a documentary on the Indian Freedom Struggle during the 1920's. To find the perfect cast for her documentary helping her is Sonia (Soha Ali Khan).
After a lot of bad auditions Sue finally finds her perfect cast. A group of young Delhi University students who have no aim in life.. Leading this group is 'DJ'(Aamir Khan) who turns in an excellent performance yet again. The first half of the movie shows us how the cast comes about,their lives and their stories. It follows these group of young students visiting different parts of north India for filming the documentary. The picturisation is BRILLIANT 10/10.. From the Gold Temple in Amritsar to the Punjabi Bhangra Group, it all makes you want to be there.. (Very good way to promote Indian Tourism). The first half tells you about Indian History in a way you have never been told before. The movie (first half especially) has this funny 'Delhi' college student comedy feel to it which is excellent because its 'unexplored territory'. Although there are parts where Aamir Khan brings the same brand of humour (ala Dil Chahta Hai), But it still makes you love every bit of the movie. R.Madhavan is a pleasant surprise.He plays Ajay, the patriotic Indian AirForce Pilot who is in love with Sonia(Soha Ali Khan).
The second half of the movie is completely different. It tells us about the well documented 'MiG' Indian airplanes controversy and shows us how an incident in the lives of these young men changes the way they think and feel about their country. The second half is more serious and conveys a very strong message. The reason this movie is so different and so much better than most other patriotic movies is because you don't know what hits you. The subject of the movie is so serious ,that it had to be told in a way so that the audience don't get bored. And you certainly wont get bored watching RANG DE BASANTI.
The ending was surprising and yet necessary. Surprising because it was so different from the first half and Necessary because it makes the story so much more Believable. Aamir Khan is perfect as Dj and the rest of the cast Kunal Kapoor as Aslam ,Sharman Joshi as Sukhi and Atul Kulkarni as Laxman Pandey have all done very good jobs. The surprise packages are Soha Ali Khan and Siddarth who have done a very formidable job considering the talent surrounding them.
All and all this one's definitely worth a watch.. 9/10