Director Rakeysh Mehra’s ‘Rang De Basanti’ is refreshing, unpretentious, sluggish, hard-hitting, purposeful, confused, and melodramatic - in that sequence. It starts off by dawdling a bit too much about the casting for a movie within the movie, and while at it, it also constantly begs the question of ‘so what?’. And, along the way, when it slowly gathers itself to begin to answer that question and go someplace higher, it quickly comes down crashing with a lame and hackneyed ending that is more representative of blindly repeating history than learning from it.
Expressing its outrage at the bad safety record of MIG fighter planes, the storyline takes an aim at the related corruption in the administration, and draws parallels between the deep rooted anarchy in the current state of affairs and the British imperialistic rule. Implying that drastic times once again require drastic measures, the movie takes the much revered and evocative lesson, of Bhagat Singh and his friends, from the history of Indian freedom movement and presents a modern day application of the same. But, while the clarion call to fight corruption is well made, and deserves attention for how dramatically that point is brought out, the actual fight that ensues, which involves literal repetition of historical events, looks a bit too contrived, uninspiring, and antediluvian.
As delicately implanted as some songs are, some others are force-fitted, and look stereotypically jarring, and quite out of place.
With that said, let us not take the credits away from the movie where they are due. The transformation of the vagabonds into vigilantes is brought out very realistically and ever so subtly - with their nonchalance, cynicism, and defeatism being allowed to stay firmly in place, till the monster of corruption hits them closer home, with a personal tragedy that slowly awakens involvement, hope, and determination. The casting and the performances (by newcomers and veterans alike) bring in the refreshing element, while the script and the carefree dialog lend the unpretentious touch. Cinematography is world-class and vividly captures the texture, as the pages turn back and forth in time, and the mood, as the main characters go through times of abandon and agony.
But, when it is all put together, the movie unfortunately, trips over itself wanting to be overly gritty and stylish, and in the bargain fails to be sincere and effective. Of the recent similar efforts, ’Swades’ was atleast more sincere.