| Movie lowdown... | Director: Rakesh Omprakash Mehra
Cast: Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Siddarth, Atul Kulkarni, Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Kiron Kher, Waheeda Rahman
Writer: Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Renzil D’Silva
Country: India
Released: 27th January 2006
Length: 160 minutes.
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Generally, a magnum-opus comes into your career when you’re established and acclaimed with many feathers in your hat to prove it but director Rakesh Omprakash Mehra has come up with his magnum-opus within five years of his feature-film career taking off, roping in top names like Aamir Khan, Waheeda Rahman and Kiron Kher. After the dismal, but refreshingly different Aks, Rang De Basanti is a new take on patriotism for the SMS generation. A hip and urban flavoured movie, RDB (as it is fondly called) is an excellent affair that is sure to attract the masses, whether for its comic subtleties, or hard and gritty truths. Emotionally charged and invigorated after reading her grandfather’s diary of his days of service in the Infantry in India during the British rule, Sue (Alice Patten) travels to India to make a documentary that would perhaps capture the India that she has only ever read about. Sue aims to make a documentary charting the story of India’s seminal martyr for independence, Bhagat Singh, and casts five unlikely individuals, a college crew headed by DJ (Khan) and Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), who seem the furthest away from their culture from every angle, to star in her documentary and understand the people who made India’s independence possible. Once one of their numbers is reduced, Ajay (Madhavan), a pilot in the Indian Air Force, the remaining friends discover how corrupt their country is by disrespecting those who die for it, lying copiously to protect their own political image. Fuelled by this injustice, the group decide to resolve the matter, either by hook or crook, and what follows is a dazzling parallel narrative, realistically captured through the young group's now fully realised alter-egos from the documentary they were cast in. With lilting performances, especially of Joshi and Khan, the movie is a turn-around success in every department. Though the music by ace-maestro A.R Rahman is interjected awkwardly throughout the film, you won’t miss any of it due to the high impact the film creates. It’s endlessly funny and wholesomely digestible. Rarely does a film with such a balance of humour, wit and truth come to the big screen, but when it does, it should be a cinematic advent not to be missed – so make sure you don’t! Tajpal's verdict: 5/5 |
