RDB

Much dissapointed would be the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this movie.. All that hype and those glorious commendations and recommendations did nothing to boost my opinion of the movie.
Awakening the youth of India ? Really ? I wonder which part consists of the awakening? The one in which we see that there is rampant corruption ? Nope, we know that only too well. The part where we see individuals sacrificed for bigger benefits aka money. power etc.? Nah, those are the favourite underdog themes most of the bollywood movies are made out of.. Then which part really ? I am too scared to even suggest the part where it is shown to be ok to go ahead and kill ministers for the sake of making amends or say even revenge.
Its is a very sad state of affairs that we are living in, if that is really the moral of the story and if that is what the director intended us to take back home.

As I am typing this, my bro in law messages me over IM to say that he saw the movie yesterday and thought it was awesome. Its not just been him, close frnds, people I don't know, even hubby said that its a very powerful and well taken movie..

I wonder if I am missing something. There can be only 3 things(according to me) which usually make a movie stand apart- matter, performances and technical aspect. Out of all this I would probably give all the artists a good 8 for their performances because I really thought they had given a sincere performance.
Matter, whoa, thats a sensitive one.. I am not quite sure if its the very vague patriotic symbolism (which itself is debatable as the movie has interspersed historic freedom struggle with modern time whatever struggle and they both don't quite match), which has made people say, send messages, write reviews saying its an awesome movie. I am still struggling to find that missling link. Maybe its me but I cannot imagine killing a defence minister equated to a revolution and even condoned at the pretext of struggle to make India a better place. That's just rubbish. And I am worried if this indeed was the intention of the director. Themes like eye for an eye (especially with the upper echelon of the ministry) and self immolation are not as simple a topic as they make it out to be. A few days ago there was this debate about how this gentleman set himself on fire to revolt against a particular injustice and out of sheer helplessness. Is that a revolution? True a lot of people were deeply affected by it, a lot of hard talk happened, a lot of protests even, but is that really a way to resolve Any issue? Can we as citizens condone that ? Its a sheer act of helplessness and I don't believe that India has come to that state yet.

Killing corrupt politicians because well, they are corrupt, they are insensitive, they are brutal? Nah, not done. And all this by so called youth aged less than 25 years old ? That is just rubbish. It is scary to think that this display of revolution is actually so acclaimed. I am worried whether the present youth really thinks that violence and wiping out the people responsible is really the solution. Nobody is doing or saying anything about wiping out the bad, its only about wiping out the baddies. Why ? One fine day you get up and realize- Gosh, corruption is so rampant in this country and who better as an example for that but a politician. Because we all know how they are and obviously the amount of money being eaten is also proportionally huge. So lets go ahead and wipe them out. What about people at grass root level who indulge in it ? What about almost every youth in our country, who will not hesitate to pass 200/- to that local traffic cop (mamu) and then blame the cop for corruption. That my friend is not a single edged sword, I am sorry. We are all equally responsible for it. Whether its paying 20 bucks extra to get that movie ticket, whether its 1000 bucks extra to get that licence, the examples are endless and that is why I say we have corruption at a grass root level. So what gives the youth even the authority to take matters into their hand like they are saints.

Phew, I guess a little over the top, sorry I tend to get like that. It just sickens me to think that the movies are targetting the youth to give out crappy ideas all covered under that multihued blanket of patriotism, its like haan haan desh bhakti ki movie hai, sab chalta hai. Nahin baba nahin chalta hai!

More than anything else, what irked me was the fact that even though you show a group of youngsters who are really very normal, they go overboard and show absolutely 'vella' (vella is slang for jobless and timepass) people. If the youngsters at least had some substance, some achievemnt to their credit it would have added to the movie. I seriously want to ask the director about how the character DJ is still surviving in the campus even after 5 years of passing out. Who is sponsoring all that fun and masti ? His mother who runs a highway dhaba? I sincerely believe that the first obligation any child has is towards his/her parents and family and then comes giving back to the society or country or whatever (sorry if that notion is non compliant with the patriotic one but thats what I feel). Not a single character in the movie is shown to be worried about future or any kind of giving back to his own family. And I find that disconcerting because it gives an idea that its fine not to do so. Maybe the directer intended the characters to be that frivolous just to make the movie a little more impactful. Thats possible. But people making such movies have to realize that no matter what, there is some residual take home fundas in all these movies and hence it becomes a somewhat social responsibilty not to give out a wrong picture. I can understand if the movie was about sadak chaap (road roaming:)) youngsters, but it was not. They were all educated youngsters from Delhi university. So what gives??

The power of youth is not to be undermined, its prevails in each and every house in India and has roots everywhere. It originates from schools and colleges and can span states and even countries. It is definitely a force to be reckoned with and I believe one that can change the shape of a country if used effectively. Which is why I would rather watch a movie like Yuva which showed the youth using that power in a constructive manner. Instead of telling people that we can change the world, show them how. Even that movie did not kill the politician, who till the last scene would not have hesitated to kill them if he could. The movie borders on violence for self preservation while displaying that the youth will not succumb to dirty politics or power games. That was a brilliant youth power, nah, empowering movie. I have to very sadly say that RDB was not even remotely close, like not even in the same zip code!

Performances. hmm Like I said, I feel that all the actors have done a very good job at their roles especially the lady who played Sue. Aamir I felt was little over the top at places doing the punju (from Punjab) slangs and please don't convince us anymore that he could be in his 20's! The last attempt was DCH which was still passable but now as much as I like Aamir, its just as convincing as Mallika sherawat as a Bahu in Kyonki. (Kyonki.. is a famous soap in India about mother in laws and their daughter in laws an blah blah).
When I think back, I think I like the characters of Kunal Kapur and Atul Kulkarni the most as I thought they were well etched characters and of course enacted very well by good actors. Soha ali khan was a pleasant surprise. I honestly think she will shine in good roles that gives her a good platform to act.

Technical aspect. Hmm.. I don't even want to get started on this. As much as I thought the movie was quite colorful and all that, I found it extremely lacking in what has become so common in all movies around us. Slick editing. Totally missing in the movie, Its almost like the editor slept thru it. Dialogues a little overdone and even sound like the actors are saying it just because they have to. Most of Madhavan's dialogues were like that. Anyways lesser said the better about that.

Songs are really nice, its a good soundtrack to have, ARR fans will be happy with at least 2-3 numbers in the soundtrack. The worst part was the song 'Luka chupi' playing in the background during the Captain's funeral. I was quite dumbstruck. How, how can the director do that ??? Its almost like he had a song with him and did not know what to do with it ? I really have no words to describe how wasted that beautiful song was in the movie.

Phew, guess have said enough.. But like I said I must be missing something if people are still raving about the movie. Rang de basanti ? Not quite..