Tag Archives: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

The power of Rang De Basanti – a generation awakens.

The power of Rang De Basanti – a generation awakens.

written by Souranath Banerjee

‘Zindegi jeene ke doi tarikke hote hai, ek jo ho raha hai hone do, bardash karte jao. Ya phir zimmedari uthao usse badalneki’. 

If translated – ‘There are just two ways to live life. First, let whatever is happening to continue, keep enduing it. OR else take responsibility to change it.’

rang-de-basanti-poster2Similarly, there are two ways to make films too. First, to accept the general trend as they exist and make a similar one. Or to take upon the responsibility and create something unique!

Rang De Basanti (RDB) released in 2006 – story by Kamlesh Pandey and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is one such special film that made Indian Cinema proud.

Starring Aamir KhanSiddharthKunal KapoorSharman JoshiSoha Ali KhanAtul KulkarniAlice Patten and Madhavan (guest appearance); and then the talented supporting cast Waheeda RehmanAnupam KherKiron Kher and Om Puri.

Music by legendary A.R. Rahman who took three years to compose for this one particular film. 

rang-de-basanti-poster4With such impressive star cast and epic musical score, of course RDB was a huge box-office success. The film also won the National award for the most Popular Indian Cinema along with numerous other awards (Filmfare, IIFA, ZeeCine etc).

And on top of that, it was also send as India’s official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

But apart from being just a blockbuster, award-winning, popular film, RDB also managed to do something very rare which hardly any Indian cinema have ever accomplished before – it communicated with the audience, specially with the youth of our country!

Rang De Basanti is probably the only Indian film that initiated such significant level of political awareness, sense of patriotism and social awakening in the minds of our younger generation.

rang-de-basanti-poster5After the release of RDB, young minds of our country (mostly students) who earlier were never bothered about politics or any such civic causes became socially responsible and took active interest in discussions regarding national problems like corruption, bureaucracy and political injustice.

Soon full fledged youth activism started – not only through the internet blogs but the students actually took to the streets to protest on public interest issues.

A perfect example is the Jessica Lall Murder Case, where people protested against the initial court judgement by a silent rally – a candlelight vigil at New Delhi’s India Gate exactly the same way as shown in RDB!

rang-de-basanti-poster3Thankfully though our younger generation was clever and responsible enough not to murder some politician while emotionally aping the film till the end.

But importantly, the message which they took home from the film was that of ‘No country is perfect, it has to be made perfect.’

And the brilliance of the script and the filmmaker is that this message wasn’t delivered in a preachy manner. It was cleverly communicated by a bunch of laid back fun-loving college guys who initially didn’t care much about their future; who were only interested in drinking beer and racing bikes, watching films and eating out (just like any other college kid).

rang-de-basanti-poster7The young crowd of India could very easily connect themselves to these naive and vibrant characters of the film. They spoke a language that the youngsters understood and could relate to.

But then, when due to some tragic events these characters in the film were shaken from their easy-going lives and when they felt a soul stirring sense of responsibility towards their country – the young Indian audience felt the same and experienced the same prick of conscience.

rang-de-basanti-poster1‘A generation awakens’ was the tag line of the film and from the film’s posters to it’s media partners (CocaCola, LG, msn, Airtel, Provogue) – everything related to the film and it’s promotion were focused on that tag line itself.

Such was the power of Rang De Basanti that after watching the film former Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, used the line ‘Aag hai mujhmen kahi’ (There is a fire somewhere within me) which is a popular lyric from one of the film’s song.

Almost 10 years have passed by since it was released and still Rang De Basanti remains one of the most influential films in the history of Indian Cinema.

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Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013 (10+1 list)

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013.

written by Souranath Banerjee.

Best of Bollywood 2012 and 2013 is the list of my most favorite Hindi films (in Hindi language) in the recent times.

Kind of a flashback of the last two years and if you have missed any of these films (though i very much doubt it) no need to feel guilty. Watch them as soon as possible and you will be forgiven.

This list is especially for my friends who are foreign based or foreign to Bollywood films and many a times ask me to suggest some meaningful Bollywood cinema … well, this list is all you need.

10. Kai po che (2013)

Kai Po Che poster

Very rarely it happens that a film turns out to be better than the book it’s based on.

Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajput and Amit Sadh have given their best performances – after ‘Rock on’ this is again a great film by derector Abhishek Kapoor.

A story of friends and friendship beautifully told.

9. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

gangs of wasseypur poster

Anurag Kashyap at his best, Gangs of Wassypur is an epic story of violence between two families.

A raw desi masala tale of revenge and betrayal that takes three generations to come to a resolution.

Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Piyush Mishra … entertainment unlimited.

8. Paan Singh Tomar (2012)

paan singh tomar poster

A biographical drama on the life of the famous Indian athlete Paan Singh Tomar who turned into a decoit in his later days.

The film won that years’s National Award in the ‘Best Feature Film’ category and Irfan khan won the National Award for the ‘Best Actor’.

Tigmanshu Dhulia gives us probably the most unique and brilliant film of the year 2012.

7. Shanghai (2012)

shanghai posterThe best political thriller of Bollywood till date.

A remake of the Greek director Costa-Gavras’s political drama ‘Z’ or rather adopted from the same novel written by Vasilis Vasilikos Shanghai keeps up to it’s promise.

Yet another feather on Dibakar Banerjee’s cap – superb performances by Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi.

6. Kahaani (2012)

kahaani poster

Kahaani which literally means ‘story’ is indeed one of the best mystery stories of that year told by director Sujoy Ghosh.

Vidya Balan, the helpless pregnant lady desperately searching for her husband in Kolkata – a search that gets too dangerous and ends with a twist to remember.

If you haven’t seen this film yet you are missing something.

5.The Lunchbox (2013)

The LunchBox poster

Arguably the perfect choice for the Oscars from India last year (though the Gujarati film Good Road was sent instead).

A terrific film – simple yet crisp and full of soul.

Top rated performances by Irfan khan, Nawazuddin Sidiqui and Nimrat Kaur – what an extraordinary debut film by Ritesh Batra!

4. Bhaag Milkha bhaag (2013)

bhag milkha bhag poster

Another biographical film adds to this list – Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s take on one of India’s all time legend athlete Milkha Singh.

A brilliant film that received the national award for ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’.

Farhan Akhtar bagged almost all the popular awards as the Best Actor – splendid performance.

3. Barfi! (2012)

Barfi poster

Barfi! was the film India sent to the Oscars in 2012.

Salute to the director Anurag Basu for such wonderful concept and direction.

Ranbir Kappor and Priyanka Chopra have given their performances till date.

A fun filled film that will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

2. OMG Oh My God (2012)

Oh My God Poster

In such a religiously frantic country like India you have to give credit to the film that raises its voice against religious corruption and that too in such an entertaining manner.

A common man who dares to take God to the court room!

Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar’s superb performance and Umesh Shukla’s direction – a real OMG film in a good way.

1. Shahid (2013)

shahid poster

You can guess a film’s worth when that film has won National Awards in both ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Actor’ category.

Very recently saw the film and i was a spellbound.

Hansal Mehta has evolved into a fine director and Rajkummar Rao – what natural acting man!

Watch it. You won’t regret.

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most crazy one. A must watch).

+1. Ship of Theseus (2013)

ship of theseus poster

Won the National Award for Best Feature Film – this film is truly an unique experience.

Three different stories brilliantly woven into one, arty and matured, intelligent and honest.

Anand Gandhi has paved a new path to sophisticated cinema and raised the bars for the other film-makers.

The success of this film has proved that the concept of Bollywood audience only craving for hard-core commercial masala films is only a myth.

Lets hope and wish for a better future of Bollywood in the coming years.

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