Rang De Basanti

Sabrina Lee

Laura Brueck

Rang De Basanti

April 26th, 2010

Ministers and Mothers

The popularity of Rang De Basanti is not surprising, it has everything most

Bollywood films do, but while being politically charged it takes a few steps away

from the typical formula which has been on display all semester. The most blatant

example is the inclusion of a foreigner that is not seen in a humorous light, the

only other instance of that being in Lagaan though it could be argued. One of the

main characters shoots his father, and violence is a major part but it is violence

directed at the state instead of for the overall interests of the state as they

appear to be. It could be argued they did it in the interest of the state, but

killing corrupt ministers is still something that brings the laws of a bollywood

film crashing down on their head by the end when gunned down at the All India Radio

station while Sue can do nothing but fret and worry in a taxi cab. The fact that

during the scenes with flight there is not actually very much centering around the

accident before it occurs makes the drama focus on the group of friends, more than

the crash itself though it might have had to do with the immense budget of staging a

scene like that without it looking entirely gimmicky like the bus crash scene in

Veer-Zara. The irony is that after seeing this film, it has been announced of

massive corruption in the biggest success of the biggest national sport, the IPL

involves a foreign minister in the government. The effects of the film are intended

to spark some desire in the middle class to enter into public service to change it

from the inside, but the desire not to be faced with the poverty that challenges so

many Indians may not be able to stand up to the emotional force of the movie. The

plot is slightly manipulative, namely the scene at the Delhi gate, where the mother

is beaten while mourning for her fighter pilot son? The romantic job of the fighter

pilot has long been on the imagination of many nations, and it is simple to pull at

the emotions of the audience when giving someone the light of a martyr, powerful and

effective for the plot of the movie which takes a bizarre turn after the patriotic

movie finishes filming. Sue could have had another ten minutes on screen after the

boys all died in the radio station where she releases the movie to grand reception,

but the nationalist streak takes hold and overrides the plot as it often does at the

end of any bollywood film as if it is a prerequisite. The standard plot that is fun

and games before intermission, and then a dark turn after also applies, which also

detracts slightly from the flow of how things were going. A story about people

became a story about the country, however the film about the Kakori robbery might as

well have been that element without the addition of making the death of fighter

pilots the fault of the Russians, and the Indian government. The US would not arm

countries that were becoming strong in the cold war without strategic interests,

thus India went with the better and more inexpensive Soviet government for defense,

and still does to this day as Pakistan receives huge amounts of military aide from

the US. The introspective look at the cost of being a modern power at the end of the

film felt forced, and more manipulation which cannot be blamed entirely on the

government. This film was released only years before the first Indian developed air

superiority fighter was announced, and newer migs are being bought but they

shouldn't be in active service, and that point of the film was well delivered I

felt. A mig-21 is generally a plane that has not even been in operation in Russia

for twenty years, so the argument of strategy of air power cannot be engaged when

pushed against the outrage present in the film. It is certainly a youth film, from

the poor and especially to middle class children of college age who are not certain

about their prospects in the country when being an diaspora in a more developed

country is such a tempting thing to be.