Color Me Mustard

I always believed Hindi movies were of 2 types….1 where you come out of the theatre screaming and another where you come out of the theatre silently. And then I saw the 3rd kind.
If I were given just 1 word to describe the movie ‘Rang De Basanti’, it would have to be ‘Refreshing’ (even if that sounds cliché’d).
Yea, I know that with the movie already into it’s 2nd week, the review is a tad late, but then the mad scramble this flick has caused at the ticket windows coupled with my usual procrastination ensured that we couldn’t get the tickets for the weekends, so ultimately me and another friend had to settle for a late night show at PVR on a weekday(Wednesday).
The movie gets it’s name from the color of Basant(Spring), that refers to the bright yellow of Mustard flowers that beautify the vast fields of Punjab when the weather is midway during it’s transition from the biting winters to the sweltering summers.(Feb-Mar….right now!), and was often used to arouse the patriotic sentiments of the people under British rule.

Needless to say all the actors have done a great job, but Aamir Khan once again proves his acting superiority among the Khan’s and Non-Khan’s by getting under the skin of the character seamlessly.
Having spent the 1st 20 years of my life in Punjab, I can safely assure you that Aamir must’ve put in a substantial amount of effort and research to play the role of Dijjayy (DalJeet) to a perfection.
I tremendously enjoyed his antics as the quintessential Punjabi with a Devil-May-Care attitude, always ready to find fun out of the most difficult of situations. From his Beer-drinking entry, to the ‘Oye isko to Hindi aatti hai yaarr!’ and ‘Su kar mere mann ko’ as well as ‘Humare bachhe kaunse rang ke honge’, he’s simply superb.
Now for a low-down on some of the popular phrases used in the movie :-
Pan Dee Tukkee – Sounds like an abuse but is actually a harmless phrase invented by Punjabi’s to satisfy the eternal need to supplement any sentence with a prefix and suffix !
Chuk De Futtey – Literally means ‘Pick up the planks’, used like ‘Bring it on’ or ‘Just Do it’.
Wahe Guru Ji Da Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Di Fateh – War cry of the Sikhs, which means ‘ By the order of the Khalsa(Sikh) that belongs to the God, the victory too shall belong to him’.
Soni Kudi – What some call a ‘Babe’.
Tullee – Inebriated.

Soha Ali Khan is a refreshing new face and Alice surprises you with her sweet Hindi. The depiction of some Delhi University students loitering around the campus and inter-group clashes is quite realistic.
The movie tries to revitalize the dormant passion of the youth of the country and I feel it succeeds to quite an extent(the box-office vindicates me).
The soundtrack by AR Rehman is as good as he can get, and even though I’m no fan of Daler Mehndi yet I feel he’s done a good job with the title track.
Even the cinematography and direction are par excellence, and in fact the 1st half is an ideal blueprint of how a movie should be.
The 2nd half has a few minor glitches though, 1st with the Rapid Action Force opening Tianenmen Square styled Lathi-charge on a group of peaceful protestors, and then that being somewhat compared to Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Another is the abrupt decision of the group to assassinate the Defence minister without ever getting any direct proof of his involvement in the crash(Just coz he said a few harsh words on TV).
The last scene of the siege in the radio station is filmed well though, and adds an extra punch of shock value to the finale.
All in all, a fresh, stylish and brilliant piece of filmwork! I’ll get a DVD as soon as it’s out!

‘Ay Saala
Abhi abhi
Hua Yakeen
Ki Aag hai
Mujhmein Kaheen’

- A moment ago
have I realized,
That a fire burns
Somewhere deep inside.