Rang De Basanti
I have been out of touch with Hindi movies for almost 6months, and when this movie released I was so eager to see it - thanks to the glowing reviews it got from everywhere.
And, I saw it yesterday - What a crappy movie!
In the guise of character building, the editor has slept during the movie - since when does showing 30minutes of the same thing amounts to deep characterization? Aamir Khan and his friends are yuppies and don’t have much attachments to their homeland - there… it fits in a sentence - but to show it repeatedly over and over was taxing!
All this time the main turning-point-boy Madhavan is nowhere to be seen - the director remembering that he forgot to build this character - drags another 15minutes thro cheesy scenes… only a fool wouldn’t guess what happens next (Hint: his friends enact a mock funeral - just so that the footage/audio track can be reused when he actually dies)
Until this point - no cinematic crime has been overtly commited. But all that is about to change.
So he dies.
What happens next is classic B-grade stuff - cheap tricks, unbelievable turn of events, an absolutely horrible fake climax shootout… its certain that the director didn’t know what to do next his though process must have been something like this
- Oh Gosh! I wasted 12 reels with all my characters fooling around - i need a turning point - hehe.. none will expect this..hehe… kill one of them!!
- make all characters sit on some sort of historical fort (make sure one of them is lying on the edge) on a windy day..and throw in some fake confrontations… and tight closeups… that will justify the volte-face of the characters….
- We need a villain - ok, make the defense minister talk some crap on national TV about a dead pilot - surely he is pea-brained that badmouthing a national hero will get him sympathy among his voters.
- We needed an parallel with British massacre - to the hell with reason, with superslow motion and ar rehman crooning in pain, we can show anything - so make the police beat the hell out of a peaceful crowd sitting in the street.
- Why stop at defense Minster when we can make a politician also his buddy - Get Mr.Mishra (dang it.. I should have named him something to rhyme with Bal Thackeray..and give him some prayer necklace - oh my god I am sooo creative… Tal Bhackery….!) hmm…we need sympathy for Pandey… make his fellow followers kick him on the floor for effect…tea? ok throw some tea on his face too….
- do we have a stereotypical Muslim scapegoat? oh yeah, throw some blood on him, and make his family Pakistani….
- we need more sympathy - hey you… do we have a elderly character we can push into ICU? his mother? perrrrrfect - ok put her in coma… how? give her a heart attack or something… kill her? no no… she has to move her fingers in climax…so just put her in coma… also see if u can get her a family song.. no no.. wait i got it.. tie this black string around her fingers…I am so clever!
- folks, we need more blood - and some sort of wound in the stomach…yes, stomach, so the hero can clutch it while delivering the final lines…that has never happened before!
- we need more bad guys….. we have one defense minister, one politician, we already ran out of police… how about….black cats? great idea!… just give them some crazy order like “there should be no survivors”…ah… don’t be silly…..Aamir wont tell the whole nation on radio that we are trying to kill them….. why? because I didn’t write it in the script… they can’t make up their own lines… can they?
- who gives the order to kill?.. make it some mysterious voice… no yaar.. don’t give make him a Pakistani general… audience are ishmart these days… they will ask logical questions like how can a Pakistani general order Indian blackcats - I don’t want the audience feeling like I am making up all these scenes…. there needs to be some ground rules we need to follow….
- ok now, make his coma mother move her fingers….
- show a TV shop with lots of TVs.. and in each TV there is a different channel… in different channel.. yeah… yeah… I think u get the idea… revolution…!
- what??? we need to end the movie?? oh man… it is only 3hrs…i was just starting to have fun…. sigh.. ok, then show some kid playing in the field… make his hands run thro grains…like we saw in that DVD pichure… gladiator? yeah that’s it..gladeater… then play some happy song… we don’t want the audience remembering the our climaxx… and dont forget to put copyright Om Prakash Mehra… i dont want someone copying my movie… i already burn my fingers once when my Aks was copied by Danzel Washington
*sigh* if this movie is what critics call ‘Intelligent’ they must have the same IQ level as the director Om Prakash Mehra….or seriously starved….
2/5
i think you r kindda of guy who watch movies just for criticisin it…..like judgin a book by its cover…
i m kindda of gal who is never concerned bout my country..and least intrested bout bhagat singh.
but rdb stuck me .. (not the killing idea ) but its comparison that in present world also we r enslaved by political ministers…
just see the proposal 4 reservation for iits and iims….for there own personal motives and aspirations ……they are using us.
P.S :rdb made me a bit patriotic & a bit more aware
Tuhina - Thanks for the comment.
It it works to stir up partiotism - thats great!
my take on this review is purely from a cinematic process and the cheap shortcuts the director took to convey his ‘message’. But if you and others got the ‘message’ - he is sucessful in reaching his audience.
But think about it - did we really need the radio lockdown climax, the police beatings at Indiagate, the cliched corrupt politician, defence minster, ma in coma…etc…
Did u see Hindustani/Indian (1996)? That was partiotic… the simple reason being, Kamal was ready to stick to his ideals when his son was the culprit. It answers the question “How far are you ready to go for your ideals”
It was mirrored in RGB when Sidharth kills his father - but it had zero effect.
of course rang de basanti had a great affect, on which planet do u stay huh??hv u been living under a rock??why the hell did u c rang de basanti??