Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Rang De Basanti...

Last weekend was no different.
Absolutely.

For a simple reason that I was not allowed to do anything. If weekdays are eaten up by office parasites, weekend is eaten up by classes that I take up to prepare for a prospective MBA degree, a dream well dreamt.

Came to the office on Monday and it was the day I had to deliver all the PAM related changes for the Build.

Ok Now.

PAM. This is Product Authority Matrix and is utilized extensively in our project which is an Internet Banking Solution for a tier1 Bank of Australia and New Zealand. And hence the name. ANZ. Huhh!!

And now about myself. I am called PAM Boy. Some people affectionately call me PAM Champion, well I don’t accept that compliment, and neither do I reject it. After all where does it fit in?

So, I and Sandip delivered all the sources to the clear case and our job was done. Atleast for the time being and the relief was immense, I felt like exorcising some ghost from my body and hence cleansing my soul. That kind of a thing PAM was for us for the last 2 months or so.

I left quite early from the office and reached my home near Forum at around 8:00 pm. Everybody was at home. Rachit after just finishing his IIM L& K interview, relieved, was as usual glued to the Newspaper and NDVT 24x7. I have no reason not to mention Barkha Dutt being his favorite. Interestingly, same day we saw a Reporter called Bahar Dutt on CNN IBN reporting the story of the proposed wipe out plans of seasonal SARAS habitats from outskirts of Lucknow in a bid to construct International Airport, thanks to Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh! When they can’t take care of the Humans, obviously we can not expect them to care for Migratory Birds; after all they are migratory (with all the sarcasm I ever intended)!

Antipathetic behaviors of few politicians as shown in the report only intensified the respect for the female Reporters in my friend’s heart. No wonder we kept discussing inconsequentially about Bahar Dutt being Barkha Dutt’s sister for a little long time before I decided to visit Fabmall in Forum for purchasing some utility Items for myself. I went alone with the usual alacrity, with a Cinthol Old, Axe Deo, Old Spice After Shave Splash and a Tooth Brush in my mind. And indeed the eye warming sight of the cheesy Forum junta, though of late I have lost the interest as the girls look more masculine to me and the guys, the opposite!

I purchased all my items, had to cancel the first transaction in the middle, as I wanted to add a pack of chewing gum to the lot at the very last moment. People next to me in the queue were passing on winces at me, and getting a longer stare in return. It took me 7 minutes to purchase my stuffs at Fabmall at 2110 Hrs and believe me no one leaves this mall so soon, so I thought of taking sometime out to check the multiplex on the top floor. The posters of Forrest Gump and Life is Beautiful, engraved on the wall beside the Gold Class entrance of PVR, look just amazing and makes me nostalgic every moment my sight makes a contact with them. I went to the booking counter of the PVR Classic and asked the booking personnel if there is any show of RDB at 2200 Hrs, as the Samsung display screen above the counter looked very neutral to me, neither showing in BLUE (means tickets are all sold!) nor in RED (meaning few are left!). I was elated to get the reply in affirmative, and I was not to waste any moment in getting a ticket for myself. Though, I have rarely seen a movie alone in a multiplex, but for RDB, everything was acceptable, even without being Love or War, but being both!

Movie was late by15 minutes, so I could enter only by 2220 or so! Took my seat at D-20.They started with the usual AIDS related documentary for 2-3 minutes, boring to death, and then some fireworks with the trailer of Chingari, wherein Sushmita Sen is playing role of a whore with mind-blowing boldness in her voice and shimmering radiance on her face. Let me not reveal anything else except that Mithun is back, clad in red with a smeared forehead in the role of a king (though not very clear).So watch the movie on your own risk. 

I was almost out of my nap, just when RDB started. Well RDB stands for Rang De Basanti, in my view the movie which carries clear reflection of comtemporary society and reminiscence of the part. At the outset, the movie kick starts with sepia screen with images of revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajguru et al in the Prison and the British Officer Mr. Mcauley scribbling the moments of truth interspersed with his feeling for the Indian Revolutionaries and their noble objective, calligraphically in his diary. He writes among other intriguing observations:

There are two kinds of people…
First are the one who go to their deaths screaming…
Others are those who go to their deaths in silence…

But today I saw a third kind…
People who go to their deaths dot dot dot…


Right next, comes Sue Mcauley [Alice Patten], a scene in London, reading her grandfather’s diary – Mr. Mcauley. She seems to have undergone a deep impact by the freedom struggle of the Indian revolutionaries, and so she decides to move to India to make a documentary, even after her plans were scrapped by a London film agency, making her devoid of any fund which was required for the documentary. But her love for the Land of Chandrasekhar Azad or rather Azad himself was unabated, and she comes to India unlike the Britishers came centuries ago.

Soha Ali Khan (Sonia) introduces Sue to her friends who are none other than the Gems of the movie. Let me give you a glimpse of them one by one.

DJ (Amir) – I don’t need to comment on him. He is great in his own right, yet again!

Karan (Siddharth) – I had seen him in Boys, a Tamil movie in my college days and I was impressed with his acting and persona that he carries. Well here, he is the master, playing the most important role in the movie with true depiction of the character that he portrays. Dude in real sense, with a wonderful smile and an air of dignity around. Check out the way he cuddles himself in the movie, his watches et al. Let me re-iterate, he is amazing!

Aslam (Kunal) – This dude came in Minakshi and I saw him only in one of those songs Chinmamma Chilakkamma, as watching the movie I thought was inconsequential. But here, people say, he is lovely. I too love his acting. The role he plays in the movie is that of a Muslim college student, whose parents are always chasing him away from his Hindu friends (rest of the gang), and the way he defends himself, will keep you whispering about him right on your seat, then and there! His natural acting is his strength in the movie; rest just follows the suit.

Sukhi (Sharman Joshi) – He is the coolest of all. Freaky, a party animal kind of character. Drunk and falling is what I call him. He portrays Rajguru in the documentary that Sue makes.

Lakshman (Atul Kulkarni) – His role is definitely un-usual, though started in the same negative andaaz, he eventually befriends the rest of the gang to play Ram Prasad Bismil. Other wise, he plays the role of a true nationalist.

Soha Ali Khan and Madhavan are equally magnificent. They depict probably the purest and shortest love story in modern Hindi cinemas, no lewdness, and no skin show.

Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra with his noble vision tries to juxtapose two different era of Indian Society brilliantly. One was the era of Indian Freedom Struggle where the country was ruled by the Britishers and the other one is the modern era of hedonistic politicians who tear the motherly flesh into bits and pieces to satisfy their own ego.

First half presents a glimpse of cynical youths who are list bit bothered about the country and lament the law and regulations prevailing in the country. The movie then paces fast, as Sue with the help of Sonia convinces other five to act in her documentary which they first deny outright, but later on as the feeling of freedom struggle starts swathing them, they accept their roles mirthfully. And hence started the Magnum Opus of a Hindi speaking English lady, the India and the Indians beckon the world!

The movie takes turn, quite abruptly in the second half, when the idealistic Madhavan, a pilot by profession dies in a plain crash, flying the defected MIG 21 over Ambala City. All hell broke loose when Sonia and Co. heard about the news, and they decide to take revenge from the Defense Minister who blames Madhavan for the incident.

What happens next was the most unexpected, and reveals some loosely coupled ends in the movie. Amir and Siddharth kill defense minister and all of them go live on All India Radio to confess their crime and defend the allegations against their dead friend.

But, what is special about the movie is the metamorphosis that these guys undergo before they indulge in the making of the documentary and putting themselves under the aegis of the characters like Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajguru, Azad and Bismil. The beauty lies in how they transform themselves by the reminiscence of their past, that too all by an English young lady. It’s only satisfying to see them emulating the heroes of the past in their lives of the present, and use their energy in an attempt to change the society.

From Sarfarosh to RDB, Amir has done a tremendous job of bringing out the history of the country to the youths. First playing the role of an ACP, then fighting with the cruel Britishers in a game of cricket, then bringing back the moments of pre-independence era in Mangal Pandey and the RDB, wherein a Britisher herself, felt the pain and the courage of the Indian freedom fighters, attempts to pay tribute to the great heroes. What happens as a result of that is nothing short of an awakening of a generation!!

The Lyrics, the music, the actors, the acting, the fun, the romance, the love, the respect, Mr. McCauley’s observation, the tragedy, the change, the awakening! Go and watch it.

2 comments:

Niraj Kumar said...

Thanks Arimon and welcome here!

Bhushan said...

Review is good... But it would have been the best, had you taken me with you to watch the RDB... You #$%$ watched it alone... Koi baat nahi.. keep it up...