Rang de ...

Desi Fun(da)

Last week we finally got tickets for Rand De Basanti. As always the Aamir Khan starrer was well publicised and much awaited for the past few months. And well I admire that dude and his attitude, no doubts about that.

The movie started off well and the first half was awesome. It met and surpassed the expectations. The movie along with a superb cast and thoughtful dialogues managed to spark a sense of awe and admiration of the byegone generation of freedom fighters, some of whom I had left behind in my school history books and never bothered to think about again.

The "Go Back Simon" protests, the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai and most of all the massacre at Jalianwala Baugh sent a chill down my spine. What transpired at those horrendous events in Indian history were so aptly revived in this movie, enough to rekindle one's thought of how gory the path to our independence was. The bravery of the few who garnered the masses to start a revolution and iginite the passion of freedom within the people. The brave souls who had to give up their own freedom and get jailed to spread their word. The movie brought that out wonderfully.

But,... yes there is a but, then came the last quarter of the movie. And well did it disappoint. The concept of beating up an elderly mother of an Air Force pilot followed by her falling into her comma. The heroes turn mercenaries and what follows is a blood bath, starting with the death of a politician, a son killing his father and finally the reverred Black Cats coming into the AIR studios to kill the heroes.

What pisses me off is not the fact that this is a bad ending. Compared to today's hindi movies this ending was really good. But the movie maker had a wonderful opportunity to really ignite the masses with this movie. With the idea that our generation holds the key towards the rebirth of our nation into a place of integrity, love and pride. This movie could have been the Mein Kempf for a generation of Indians. For losing the opportunity to truely make a difference in today's India of indifference the people associated with this movie cannot be forgiven.