Yes, the accolades have been dished out. And so have the brickbats. I have heard a thousand opinions about Rang De Basanti. Some have loved it to the point of talking about it in blogs, articles and recommending it unabashedly. And there are others who have told the numerous flaws in the historical representation and the un-real climax as the main roadblocks in it being a truly great movie.
However, I am seeing this movie the second time around after two months. And maybe, now, I have a more objective viewpoint.
I loved the movie. Even in second-time viewing, the movie hasn’t lost any of its joie de vivre, the energy of being young, the freedom of having no responsibilities. The movie still takes you through the same gamut of emotions with which it was originally crafted for. You still feel a stirring of pride when Madhavan talks about why he is in the Air Force or the first line of the movie ’.........jo desh ke kaam na aaye woh bekaar jawaani hai’. And you still shed a tear when the protagonists meet thier climax. And you will laugh at all the funny one-liners. And you will be able to relate to dialogues like ’is desh ka kuch nahin honewala’ or ’university ke andar hum duniya ko nachaate hain, university ke bahar duniya humein nachaati hain’.
Yes, there are glitches. And the climax does leave a bad aftertaste. But overall the movie works. You feel that maybe you should do something. Take a step. Or raise your voice. Be heard in some way. And make a difference.
And then you come crashing back to reality. You write a review about it and try and feel good about yourself.
The generation may not awaken by one movie. But, it is a good try. It is a good try.