Rang De Basanti - Inquilab Zindabad! - Well, The Rebel Has Arrived

"Inquilab Zindabad - Well, The rebel has arrived." That sentence pretty much sums up the film for me.

The Characters:

A documentary filmmaker:
Sue McKinley - who's apparently grown up on her grandfather's diary where he, a jailor during the British Rule in India, presides over the execution of freedom fighters saying "Is this god's work?". She comes to India to shoot her documentary on Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah. despite her TV channel pulling the plug. She responds to her producer in a unique way that will make the theatre burst out in laughter.

Six Friends:

Ajay Rathod: Flight Lieutnant, who has never done a thing wrong in his life. Loves the cool jackets, honour and the girls that get attracted to his uniform but wants to serve the country in a Mig-29. Sonia's boyfriend.

Aslam Urf Ashfaqullah: Poetic, Idealistic, Romantic. Paints graffitti. From a family that thinks they are a minority and the country is "un logo ke liye", asks him to make friends among their "Quom". Tells his brother that he can't live with hatred in his heart.

DJ, Urf Daljit Singh, Urf Chandrashekhar Azad: Carefree. Under the influence of beer admits "I passed out 5 years ago, but I like being in the campus. Because people know me. Respect me. Say that DJ will do something. But little do they know that in the outside world, a thousand DJs are lost in the grind of life every day."

Karan Singhania, Urf Bhagat Singh: Disillusioned son of a very very rich man and doesn't get along with his father. Most cynical of the lot. Always talking about how the country can never change. Lends money to a friend and says "Baap ka paisa hai. Pade pade sad jaayega"

Sonia Urf Durga Bhabhi: Sue's friend who helps her in making the documentary. Brave and proud, Idealistic but seems to be practical. The baby of the group apparently.

Sukhi, Urf Rajguru: Funny, the joker of the pack. When he is not making funny faces, he worries about getting married. Can't live without DJ.

Lakshman Pande, Urf Ram Prasad Bismil: A political activist. Right-wing, trishul-dhari type political activist. Considers Aslam a Pakistani. Firebrand, idealistic, refuses money from his party leader who persuades him to keep the money for his kharcha.

It is a movie about the filmmaker, "her" freedom fighters and contemporary India. Their carefree life. Latenight beer drinking parties at "the classroom". Dilliwallahs, when you see the film, tell me what this place is please. Between "Sue kar, mere man ko kiya tune kya ishara", Sukhi's antics, Karan's cynical comments, Aslam's poetic predictions after reading Sue's palm and a couple of fights with Lakshman Pande, they start making the transition into Sue's freedom fighters. At first not taking anything seriously, they seem to understand slowly what it must have meant to the freedom fighters to do what they did.

The camaraderie between the friends reminds one of Dil Chahta Hai but it is much more than that. The director takes us on a trip of these friends changing from "carefree, irreverent and cynical" to "purposeful and passionate". The use of sepia-toned scenes to show each of these 6 friends getting into the skin of their respective characters as freedom fighters is impressive. There are no desh bhakti wala dialogues, no ear shattering screams (think Sunny Deol). And while they slowly understand the magnitude of what these freedom fighters did, tragedy strikes. The Defence Minister utters something absolutely indefensible. And if the first part of the movie is about the matter-of-factly, irreverent and cool: "Well, the rebel has arrived", the second part of the movie is an angry, helpless but passionate "Inquilab Zindabad".

The film is NOT only about Aamir Khan and it is not as if he has the best lines. He does a great job in a film where all other characters are given equal screen time. His breakdown at the dinner table while taking a bite of chapatti is most realistic. Atul Kulkarni, his recital of "sarfaroshi ki tamanna" is soul-stirring. He seems to be getting right-wingy roles but does a great job. Sharman Joshi holds his own against the rest of the gang, his outburst towards the end almost shakes one out of the seats. Soha Ali Khan is wonderful too, no overacting, displays the right emotions at the right time and breaks down in a way which makes you feel her pain. Kunal Kapoor, does a good job of being a misfit among his "Quom", great screen presence and a couple of good movies is going to have a huge female fan following. The british actress (what's her name?) mouths the best hindi uttered by a "gora" after Tom Alter. She is earnest and plays her part oh-so-perfectly. But the one I liked the most is this guy called Siddharth. I don't know who this guy is, but at times you wonder if he is actually acting. His quiet voice betrays the angst within him. He needs to work on his crying I guess, but his role demanded something and he has delivered.

The support cast in the form of R Madhavan, Om Puri, Waheeda Rehman, Kirron Kher, Anupam Kher, KK Raina (took me a while to recognize him) and Mohan Agashe do their respective roles as required and have exactly as much screen time as required.

This is not the Manoj Kumar-Sunny Deol type of patriotism nor the Lagaan-Mangal Pande type. No jingoism. If I try to draw a parallel with Yuva, I'd be dead wrong. The patriotism is subtle and not in-your-face. This is a brilliant movie. Brilliant script, fantastic acting, music that blends into the film and the best climax I have seen in years. It is the kind of movie where you desperately want to know what happens in the next scene before you completely understand the one that's playing. And both scenes hit you like sledgehammers at either side of your head.

It has its flaws but anyone who pans this movie should be shot. The movie reflects the state of the nation in a crude but effective way when DJ says "We have one leg on the past and one leg on the future, and we are peeing on the present".

Rakyesh Mehra - Take a bow!!!

This review has appeared earlier on my blog, which has a rather select audience :-)