Rang De Basanti - - A Colorful Graffiti of Present day Youth Spirited with Revolutionary Patriotism.

Director: Rakesh Omprakash Mehra
Script Rensil D'Silva, Prasoon Joshi and Kamlesh Pandey.
Cast: Aamir Khan, Alice Patten, Madhavan. Soha Ali Khan, Atul Kulkarni, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Mohan Agashe.

Primary Audience: Young and old Adults
Genre: Drama; Biography; Based on a Book
Movie Overall Rating: ***** (4 star out of 5)

Rang De Basanti cannot be described in a line but the nearest I can go is:
A colorful graffiti of present day youth spirited with revolutionary patriotism. It's a movie about free-spirited but discontented youth, skeptic about their anonymous future; It's a movie in memory of the bold sacrifices of Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Ashfaqullah Khan, Durga Vohra and Ramprasad Bismil; And also a non-jingoistic/non preaching movie about reformist patriotism to create a better country and better life! All this is brilliantly crafted together with infectious enthusiasm and exuberance, distinctive characters, extraordinary performances, perfect balance of fun and seriousness, excellent script, editing and direction, and adrenalin charged songs. Rang de Basanti is a thinking, an awe inspiring, soulful, beautiful masterpiece in graffiti!

The story begins with British born Alice Patten (Sue) coming to India to make a documentary about the Indian revolutionaries based on the diary of Sue's grandfather, James McKinley, a jailor to Azad, Bhagat, Ashfaqullah and Ramprasad Bismil. With the help of her Indian contact –a Delhi University student Soha Ali Khan (Sonia) she finds the actors for her movie. The actors Amir Khan- (DJ/Azad), Siddharth (Karan/Bhagat Singh) Sharman Joshi- (Sukhi/Rajguru), Kunal Kapoor (Aslam/Ashfaqullah Khan) and Soha Ali Khan (Sonia/Durga Vohra) are initially indifferent and playful about the characters but soon absorb the roles and change their personal outlook about what's going on around them. For Ramprasad Bismil, she chooses Atul Kulkarni (Laxman Pandey) a radical Hindu youth leader, much to the chagrin of others. His patriotism which is tainted with hatred for the Muslims soon alters to compassion for every good citizen and true belief in justice.

The frustrations felt earlier by the characters from their inability as common citizens to make a difference is transformed into bold action to justify truth and expose the corrupt bureaucracy and politicians after the tragic death of their friend , Madhavan (Ajay Rathod) a Flt. Lt. of the Indian Air force in a faulty MIG-21 mishap .

Rakesh Omprakash Mehra executes the movie beautifully by interspersing contemporary setting with pre-independence struggle with fluidity. The merging past and present is smoothly handled by sepia and color tones. The script writing and editing are flawless, the script being perfect and tight. The first half of the movie ropes us in its crew with frivolous fun while the later half shakes us with their decisions to make a difference to society.

Aamir Khan is exceptional, perfecting every nuance of his character- DJ, the desperation and frustration cloaked with a cheerful, carefree attitude; the Punjabi dialect; the 'bindas' song and dance moves; and the taut proverbial dialogues. The rest of the cast also had brilliant performances especially Atul Kulkarni who epitomizes his role as a radical Hindu here, opposite to his performance as a misunderstood Muslim citizen in his earlier movie 'Khakee'; Siddharth, the South Indian actor as the not quite vocal, thinker and doer, in discomfort with his fathers illegitimate wealth and reputation makes a remarkable debut in bollywood; the handsome Kunal Kapoor as the bohemian Muslim from a conservative family reflects the image of many a Muslim youth, painting his expressions well (especially in scene: A non-drinker himself, he is not very comfortable to introduce his drunk friends to his parents, which he is sure will cause misjudgments and misunderstandings); the cute Madhavan goes patriotic with some philosophical dialogues which carry through the movie, making a notable special appearance.

A. R Rehman's music reflects the passion, verve, enthusiasm and energy of the movie. The title song Rang De Basanti, with its catchy Dinga dinga ding; Paathshala…loose control; Indo-Arabic Khalbali, and Roobaroo all have infectious exuberance.

Lastly I would give you all an extra thought to think after you see the movie. - A what if? What if Sue McKinley was making a movie about the non-violent pre -independence freedom fighters like Gandhi, Nehru and Moulana Azad, would the characters have led the movie to a different ending!

Also on: http://www.sawf.org/bollywood/reviews/rangdebasanti.asp?pn=Bollywood&cn=36