Simplistic but strong.

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2006)

I've been trying to compose this review in my head ever since I left the movie theater. This is a hard review to write because the words and thoughts don't come, and those that do are disjointed and often at odds with each other.
Rang De Basanti is the sort of movie that does that though. In viewing and judging this film, we cannot help but take a good hard look at ourselves. Here are the emotions coursing through my system right now; guilt, shame, anger, elation, warmth, happiness. These emotions are conflicting and are at odds with each other.
But this is the sort of movie that will put you at odds with yourself. This is because there is a little bit of all of us in its characters. Thus, we sense that the things they do (or don't), we may well do (or not do). There is a moment, early in the film, where Aamir Khan's character DJ, explains to us that he should have finished college years ago, but he remains there because on campus people know him, he has a name, he has the warmth and affection of his peers. If I leave this place, he says, I'll disappear into the hordes that have gone before me, and I will be and feel as insignificant as them.
At that moment, I sank low into my seat because he reminded me of someone I know... me. If I were (god forbid) to be plucked from the face of this earth right now, I would have to leave with the knowledge that I have done nothing of note and have had no real effect on the lives of anyone around me. More importantly, in 48 hours, I will forget this soul searching and find myself sitting with my friends, laughing about something that makes no difference to anyone's life.
Rang De Basanti is about a group of characters, all in college, who want nothing out of life. They're adrift in a sea of hedonism and ennui. captured brilliantly by director Rakeysh Mehra. These kids aren't callous; they're only happy-go-lucky and cynical about the state of the nation because according to them "nothing ever changes". This cycle of theirs works just fine until they are presented with a situation whose tragedy is all too real, all too grave and all too personal. They find themselves in a position where "nothing ever changes" is not a good enough excuse anymore. At first, we sense that they do not understand the gravity of what is happening to them. "Humme ki ho raha hai?" says one of the characters in a moment of despair.
This isn't a perfect film. In fact, its far from it. There are some deep flaws but the film is strong enough to work around and in spite of them. The film's politics are simplistic and it paints in broad strokes, but it's still real enough to hit you where it hurts. There are moments of such intense melodrama that they threaten to undo the film, but it is to Mehra's credit that he manages to reel it all in and keep the motor running. This is in no small measure due to the cast, one of the best ensembles I've ever seen in a movie. Their chemistry is perfect. You can't help but feel that if you sat down with this group one evening, you'd hear stories of their experiences as a unit. Atul Kulkarni is brilliant as always, Kunal Kapoor is understated, Sharman Joshi is by turn hilarious and heart-breaking, Soha Ali Khan reminds us whose daughter she is, and Aamir Khan reminds us that yes he may grow his hair and yes he may have a new found media-hunger, but he is still one of the finest actors in the world today. But the film belongs to Siddharth Narayan, in a performance that is always on slow burn, always close to exploding, but never getting there.
Yes, I could easily accuse this film of being dramatic, and its third act of being almost outlandish, and yet I won't. I can forgive the drama because it is all a means to an end, to a strong point that the film-makers are trying to make. They're asking us to take a good, long, look at ourselves. And then they're asking us to do something about what we see when we do.
Rang De Basanti is that it isn't trying to teach us anything new. It merely reminds us of old things we should never have forgotten in the first place.