Rang De Basanti

Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti (2006) is by far one of my favorite non-traditional Bollywood movies. It is a touching, inspiring, and overall very captivating film. Although somewhat shocking at times, the movie is more realistic than others we have seen in this class.

One of the film's strongest points was the way it was shot. Every scene was exciting and kept the audience interested; this was achieved through the director's excellent use of angles and other creative techniques. Intense actions were sometimes sped up or slowed down, and close-up shots were also used to enhance the tension in these scenes. The film was shot in a very new style for Bollywood that hadn't been used much (or very efficiently) before this movie.

Aside from the camera effects, I also enjoyed the entire soundtrack of Rang De Basanti. Every song conveyed a different emotion, and together they gave the movie Bollywood's usual "spicy" feel. There were songs meant to make you cry, laugh, and even jump up and dance. Personally, I felt some of the songs gave me a rebellious feeling; I wanted to fight against the injustice in the world just listening to "Khoon Chala," although I have no idea where I would begin. One song that makes me want to cry every time I hear it is "Luka Chuppi," because of the depressing words put together with music meant for a lullaby. These two, along with every other song in the movie, made up for any faults that could have ruined this film for me.

For the reasons stated above, Rang De Basanti is one of my favorite movies in Hindi cinema. I did not like the fact that the boys killed the minister and Karan murdered his own father; I feel these were extreme actions that were not necessary. Besides this, I have no complaints about this film. I think India needed a movie like this to awaken the new generation of struggling youth trying to find a way to fit into the world and make a difference in their country, which is in desperate need for improvement.