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February 13, 2006

Rang De Basanti (*Loads of potential spoilers*)

"Ek Onkar..." meaning God is one...A haunting prayer, the Golden temple filling the screen - a treat to my eyes and ears. Completely mesmerizing!



Closely linked to this scene - Kiran Kher has a black string tied to her middle and ring fingers and it comes loose and she knows something is wrong...the shadow of concern that crosses her face says it all.


Amir Khan has done a great job, which I have come to expect of him. His punjabi accent is delectable, his flirting skills excellent in this movie :) Love the scene where he calls her "Gulabo" casually and she responds smiling.



And coming to the "she", Alice Patten has done an amazing job! Realistic, charming portrayal of a passionate student caught in circumstances that changes her life!


Siddharth - has a heavy role in this movie that he carries to perfection! Loved the scene where Sharman Joshi (Sukhi) accuses him of using them and he collapses against the rock, his cool, dont-care facade broken by his friend's words. Absolutely loved him in this movie (didnt know he went to DAV too and my batch, '96) - imagine that)!

Madhavan was a pleasant surpise (somewhat like Karthik in Mouna Ragam...). Waheeda Rehman excelled in the scene where she almost trips and falls when the officers stand outside her door, conveying the news that she never wanted to hear.

The first half of the movie reminded me of Dil Chahta He and Bits more than anything else; the second half reminded me of Lagaan and Mudhalvan.

The whole theatre cracked up at the "cow" joke that Kiran Kher delivers to Amir Khan, busy talking to their cow, "Chup kar abhi nahi tho vo kal doodh nahi degi!"

Rakeysh Mehra (Director) and Kamlesh Pandey (Story) have come up with a really innovative theme tying patriotism, history, religion, college life, corruption, love...I can go on. The movie has some flaws, if you want to nitpick (beating up the people organizing a peaceful demonstration, the shooting at the end...) but the good and great scenes more than make up for it. Kunal Kapoor and Atul Kulkarni create magic on screen when they fight and when they embrace. Several scenes made my eyes fill up...

Some movies are such that several days after you have watched them, the scenes, dialogues, music keep playing in your head and its as if you just go about your day floating superficially and the reality is whats in your head...today is one such day for me, Rang De Basanti is one such movie.

Music to dance to, to hum along with for a long time to come - another great job by A.R.Rehman (Luka Chupi, Roobaroo, Loose control - like all of them for different reasons!).

Loved the last scene with Siddharth and Amir Khan, "Saala Nautanki"...and as Sue puts it, "Sometimes the breeze carries with it sounds of laughter..."

"And of tears, beauty, music, passion...and sprinkles on us the magic that only the Indian silver screen can create."

6 comments:

Zeppelin said...

and I am sure you must've forgotten what I asked of you.. :(

Anonymous said...

I TOLD YOU YOU'D LOVE IT :D
And you're right about it going on in your head for days after you watch it. I called it the Rang De Basanti hangover :p

Zeppelin said...

how about "Sue"! kar mere man ko...... i felt that was well thought of.. :) led me to imagine, may be they actually tried it off the set and brought it on.. :)

kamal said...

Ah ha! A blog with lots of pictures.

Unfortunately, I have not seen the movie, maybe in a couple of months :)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely awesome movie and the screeplay was terrific. Again, the songs "Roobaroo" and "loose control" were ultimate and AR Rahman has made a huge difference in the movie.
Vasu

RS said...

arun - i did remember to look out for the lines but now only vaguely remember the lines :)

gg - hangover it is :)

kamal - you missed it man!

vasu - absolutely!

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