Paint it Yellow

Ok, this must be the umpteenth article you must have read in the past couple of months about 'Rang De Basanti'. Well, its not exactly a surprise when people see a good film, they tend to write about it..a lot. Anyways, while the movie itself was undoubtedly well made, what made it connect to the audience in such a way? What made people sing praises about the movie's brilliance in executing such a story (patriotism? Rebellion?) I think its the characters. Director Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra smartly creates characters who are poles apart in personalities but still manage to hang out together as buddies. I feel there is this magic in showing characters like this...take the best known example in the history of Bollywood..yep, Sholay. Jai and Veeru are like chalk and cheese but still there is one common thing that binds them together..friendship? I dont think so. Of course, characters designed for movies have to be different to make the proceedings interesting, thats the age-old formula! But in RDB, what Mr. Mehra does is more than just create characters and have talented actors play them. He creates characters and 'shows' them as he wants them to be. The audience, in this case does not have a choice but to view that person in the exact same way the director wants. Take Aslam..the character is first introduced spray painting a wall with quotes like 'The rebel has arrived' and graffiti of sorts. Slowly, in the course of the movie, he is shown to be an inferior of sorts..he actually does not like getting into fights. When Laxman taunts him, he prefers to walk away rather than answer back. It is DJ, who is the hothead and comes to the 'aid' of Aslam. Sukhi is shown as a guy full of fun and frolic..a guy who seems to never take anything seriously. The audience is then treated to a scene later where Sukhi is the first and only person among the friends to actually insult and doubt the loyalty of his own buddy, Karan. It is this shock treatment, which I think makes RDB so interesting.
Let's look at the other characters as well. Sonia, the only girl in the gang is shown to be a simple, down to earth, caring and friendly person. She is the one who actually comes up with the idea of murdering the defense minister. While this is not exactly shocking, since she is shown in another character (a revolutionary) at that moment in time, the character's double identity is something which the director considered his trump card. People hide things, and when the actual identity of the person comes in full view at times of necessity, the acquaintances around him/her also tend to be shocked, let alone the audience.

While I agree that only Aamir Khan could have given DJ the life of the character..the vibrancy, mischievousness, I feel he underplayed his character very well. For the second time, I have seen a great actor (a superstar) actually give his best without going over the top. The first time being 'Swades'. It's such a treat to watch these 'bigger than life' actors just walk through the movie effortlessly and gracefully in characters that have been tailor-made.

Siddharth is a revelation of sorts producing one of the most electrifying performances in recent times. His Karan is the most silent and is the introvert. In spite of being completely alone in his personal life, he manages to bond well with the rest of the friends. Mehra shows Karan's character in a very interesting way. In a repeat viewing, I saw that Karan, in his earlier scenes chooses to be just a bystander..doesnt take a single decision (except maybe a very shocking one, which is not shown in the movie) and waits for others to actually talk about something. In the climax however, Karan is the one who tells the world about what their thoughts are and what they had planned. Finally, the one character that Mehra leaves unchanged in the whole movie is Atul Kulkarni's Laxman. A violent, firm believer of nationalism, Laxman is a confident man who is just on the way to becoming a major political figure representing the youth. Even though Laxman's thoughts about his party change in the course of the movie, he is still the same violent, extremist deep inside. I feel Mehra, in a way misled the character into showing himself to be a frustrated person who needs to vent out his anger at the world. Kulkarni does not disappoint and his rendition of 'Sarfarosh Ki Tamanna' still lingers..days after I watched the movie.

In this movie of introverts, extroverts, young, angry, frustrated people..the screenplay is king. The way the director, editor and screenwriter put together bits and pieces of our history is nothing short of genius film-making. All these technicians mentioned have a very, very serious knowledge of the art of convincing people by showing them pictures..beautiful pictures. Last, but definitely not the least..Mr. Rehman infuses each frame of the movie with such a delectable score that you cannot stop wondering how this man can come up with such a versatile range of music..all in one go. I loved all songs in the movie..the best one being the title song 'Rang De Basanti'. The energy of this song is so evident right from the beginning, that you just cant stop yourself doing a jig, the bhangra way!