1st February 2006

It was Jan 30th, 11:20PM. I get a call from Satya, my talented colleague who works for Jagan. It must be something important, I thought before answering the call, he never calls late, him being the early to bed-early rise type... Indeed it was!, “have you seen it?”, were his first words. For a while I did not understand what he was talking about, then came the pointer, ‘Rang De Basanti’. “of course not!”, I replied. “See it, you are gonna love it! and we will talk later”, he cuts the call promptly.

Jan 31st, 2PM. I was in Screen 4, Prasads IMAX theaters. Barely few minutes into the Film, I was made to recall Roger Ebert’s thoughts when he was watching Kubrick’s ‘2001 Space Odessey’ at Cannes, “we are watching something very significant”. 2001 Space Odessey was a very complex Film even for Film lovers, it broke so many grounds that people wrote reams of stuff about it later, discussing. It was so complex that one Studio head apparently stood up midway through the first screening and famously said “can someone please tell me what the f*** this is all about?”.

‘Rang De’ is very relevant and significant but it is also very simple to understand, and there lies its beauty and genius. It is my stand that I do not critic Films in public, I am mortified at the thought of effecting its’ market, not that it really matters when an insignificant entity like me writes. However, I am compelled to write about it after absorbing its brilliance, its raw energy, its spirit and the craft with which it is made. I write about it because it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.

Just 5 days ago, a very significant day came and went by without any of us really noticing it. It was Jan 26th, our Republic day. Two days after it, Deccan Chronicle has done this testing survey where they played our National Anthem at many pubic places to see how people respond. Very Sadly, they reported that people hardly even stood up in its honour. Very sad indeed! We, Indians, have become so pathetically apathetic that we do not even take our freedom seriously anymore! We just take it for granted! It is so painfully unbelievable. Rakeysh Mehra took that as the central point of the Film and shot it. Boy, did he shoot it or what? You can watch the Film just for the style, forget about the content. It was like watching Picasso at work. It was beautiful, liberating, uplifting all at once. It was magical.

At the very base of it, it is a story of public standing up for issues they feel strongly about. What interests me so much about this Film is the way Rakeysh makes his point. Rakeysh takes the British Raj era and intersperses it with current times. Those were hard times, India was being ruled by the British, brave and strong measures were needed to drive the British out and get freedom. Youth in the form of Bhagat Singh and others showed the way. Bhagat Singh strategises with Azad to bomb the Assembly Hall. Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt dropped the bomb on the Assembly floor and waited in the gallery until they were arrested. Courting the arrest and generating propaganda while being on the trial was their strategy. ‘The deaf had to be made to hear’, Bhagath Singh and Azad converse! In a letter to SukhDev, Bhagat singh writes that he is preparing himself for the supreme sacrifice. And he does so with his head held high, in peace. Fast forward to present day, these are equally difficult times, and in an inspiring move, Rakeysh Mehra reruns the Jallian Wala Bagh scene with the corrupt current Defense Minister replacing General Dyer, ordering his men to fire at his own Indian public; Every thing else is the same in the scene, emphasizing that nothing has changed except the skin color of the men in power. That is just mind-blowing. And by making his 5 male protagonists in the present era make the same kind of sacrifice as Bhagat Singh and others did, Rakeysh is emphatically telling us that equally brave and selfless measures are needed even in these current times to pull the country out of this pitiful mire it still finds itself in. And THAT is a gigantic statement and he makes it without ever so resorting to preaching.

It is fascinating to see the parallels. When the British ordered Simon Commission to see the possibilities of India ruling itself, Bhagath Singh, Azad and others along with Lazpat Rai held protests saying ‘Simon go back’, as there was no Indian representation in the panel. In the consequent lathi charge, Lazpat rai, a frail old man, got badly hurt and later succumbed to the injuries, dying. Despite their differences in the ideology(with Lazpat Rai), Bhagat Singh, Azad and his men vow to avenge his death and they succeed in doing so by assassinating Simon and then go into hiding. They say history repeats itself, well Rakeysh believes it too, for the same thing happens even in present times, after Madhavan dies because of the spare parts scam of Migs.

Guys, forget about its significance and relevance to the current times, this is a fascinating Film just for its entertainment quotient. Aamir Khan and the rest of the guys and girls are so much fun to watch that I laughed with them, jumped with them, cried with them and died with them. It doesn’t happen often enough in movies. So watch it, embrace it, get inspired by it. Rakeysh Mehra and all you guys who worked on this Film, guys, take a bow, you deserve it!

Checkout Hari Yelleti's Ticket to Fame articles
Riding The Movie Express
Flirting with Mallika Sherawat
I am Gonna Be Next Mani Ratnam