Rang de Basanti and more
Everybody in India seems to write a blog about Rang de Basanti. It was the one of the most awited movies for a while. And it's good that it lived upto the expectations of the most ( at least for the first three quarters ). Unlike the last Amir movie, Mangal Pandey, which was one of the worst movies, this one is really worth watching.The first half mostly portrays the life of the youth, which reminded me of the lifestyle in ' One night at call centre' by Chetan Bhagat. But the metamorphosis that they undergo is worth watching. It really inspiring. The end is somewhat exaggerated and it reduces the overall impact, as the story ends in a bit of fantasy. But a movie worth watching.
I think, producers did two smart things- one they released the movie on Thursday holiday and the second was the number of prints. Releasing the movie on Thursday meant, there was an extended weekend of four days. The number of prints released was staggering. There were 14 shows at Fame Kandivali, and around 8 to 12 shows each at all the other multiplexes. This meant that there was greater chance of getting tickets and more people watching the movie. In fact, my friend Swanand got current tickets at Jaya theatre, one of the better theatres in Borivli on Friday night. So before the reviews were out by Sunday, many people had already seen the movie. So the review effect was effectively nullified. I think by the time I return to college on Monday, most from the class must have already watched the movie. Highest weekend collection for a Hindi movie perhaps?
I am wondering if this doesn'r set an example for other movies. Rang de basanti is a good movie and worth watching. So the effect of reviews will be good. But consider an average movie employing the same strategy, i.e., creating much hype, releasing on Thursday holiday and large number of prints. So even if the movie is bad ( a typical Yash Chopra movie, for example), it will still be able to draw large audience ( obviously disgruntled) and gross large Box Office collection. Better be careful next time.
P.S. Don't you think, the title of this blog (Rang de Basanti), with small 'd' looks like some Dutch name? But let it be.
posted by ninad @ 3:46 pm
7 Comments:
Just saw the movie yesterday. I had a headache after the movie. Dont get me wrong.. the movie was good.. just good. Nothing exceptional, though I have to admit after watching the first half, I thought this is worth watching again. This movie brought quite a few questions to my mind..
Isnt there any way to record the flight in a MiG 21? (Black Box or radio conversations?)
Can u really justify killing the minister just because he is corrupt? I was thinking, we call Bhagat Singh, Azad and others revolutionalries and look up to them.. but the reason they took the drastic step was justified against the atrocities done by british raj. But in today's world, if people do something like this they will be termed killers.
Remember the incidents in US where students shot their teachers with guns in the campus.. maybe they did it bcoz the teachers ill-treated them, punished them, who knows? And they were termed Mentally Unstable, depressed. How can we call ppl like DJ and co. heroes? Isnt their action quite similar, only difference being they killed a minister (but a human is a human)
If DJ's group was to be described by ppl who didnt know them properly, they would say "arre woh log toh smoke karte the, peeke tunn hote the" they might even add that they used to do drugs, and maybe under that influence, they killed the minister, they might be termed 'psychos'.
The country cannot be changed overnight. I agree with Ajay's (Madhavan) statement, that ppl should join IAS, army, politics and try to make a difference. Just killing ppl and try to influence them to do the same is not correct. Ofcourse, they had shown the consequence of murder also, but not properly. It was shown that they killed the minister and ran-off. Only after the minister was honoured, they decide to surrender themselves.
Please post ur ideas too, since I am not feeling comfortable after watching the movie.
The stuff you have written is worth starting your own blog. Start blogging!
Viral says..
I think Kedar is simply seeing the glass as half empty. I would rather compliment Rakesh Mehra for his creative and bold approach towards reaccquainting today’s generation with our country’s proud but forgotten past . For me, the message really is that we need to wake up to the declining moral standards and don’t care attitude that is so rampant in today’s society, especially the youth. Higher ideals like truth, justice, freedom and national inegration that were cherished by our ancestors and considered noble enough to sacrifice their life for are alien to most of us. (I am sure that not a few of you would think that I must be crazy to be so idealistic in today’s world, but that is precisely my point!)
As far as the means resorted to by DJ & co., I think we don’t thimk we realize the fact that today’s ground realities are not far from those that existed 59 years ago. The only difference is that today we are being oppressed, gagged , divided and ruled by our own people instead of the British. Also, the audience should be credited with being mature enough not to ape the movie blindly.
I see the movie more as an initiative to spark off precisely this kind of debate & discussion and make us more sensitive & outspoken about the injustice we silently bear witness to everyday. The film brilliantly puts across its point with inspired performances, amazing music, cinematograyphy and even better dialogues, entirely in Matru Bhasha (excepting Sue’s) which is an achievement in itself in contemporary Bollywood cinema. Lastly, about the black-box thing. … Dude, it is after all a Hindi movie!
Here are my comments to Viral's Comment:
1. ...his creative and bold approach towards reaccquainting today’s generation with our country’s proud 'but forgotten past'.
I do not agree that we have forgotten our past. Its something that will always stay with us...
Till the day there is complete peace, no communal violence, there is no way we can forget the sacrifices made by our ancestors. Each time a jawan is shot in Kashmir, each time a fellow Indian is murdered, it makes me think about what our ancestors would have to say about our nation.
2. .. considered 'noble enough' to sacrifice their life for..
Thats exactly my point, the reason why they murdered a minister cannot be justified plainly because he was corrupt. Infact, the actual reason was the death of their friend, and the insulting words of the minister, not the fact that he was corrupt(they knew the system was corrupt from before)
3. ..today’s ground realities are not far from those that existed 59 years ago...
We are civilized people. If we believe in violence as the only means to correct the system, then there is no difference between us and the militants like LeT. I believe in the Law and Democracy, It was me who chose our leader and it is me who should be blamed for the ineffective system. Secondly, life isnt really so simple that you kill a person just because I know he is wrong (again, that would make us militants)
4.the audience should be credited with being mature enough not 'to ape the movie blindly'.
To ape something blindly aint a sign of maturity!
5.I see the movie more as an initiative to spark off precisely this kind of debate & discussion and make us more sensitive & outspoken
I comletely agree with that
6.Dude, it is after all a Hindi movie!
Is that a good excuse to show something stupid to the people?
Sorry for the grammatical error in 3rd point!! ;p
Nice to see that my bhog is being used as a forum.
I think we should better start a forum ( Kaushal had started it, but died prematuarly), if everyone is eager to debate on various issues.
Check out this blog on CNN-IBN on the same topic:
http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/blog_entry.php?id=5661&author_id=223
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