Color me Yeller

Everyone, on some level wants to be a rebel. Especially when we're bogged down... by rules... by what we think is wrong... by irritating factors that disturb the perfect balance we're always trying to strike in life. It is so much cooler to rebel than to conform. It is so much easier to conform than to rebel.

We went to watch Rang de Basanti tonight, 101 of us. Interesting number is this 101... it indicates 'basic' courses - the number of spotted dogs in the movie - a number that followers of the Hindu religion believe to bear good luck. So the evening was destined to be interesting :p

I'm not too much of a connoiseur. I go in to movies with zero expectations and almost always have nice things to say about them. Except for the truly awful ones like Neal & Nikki. I loved Rang De Basanti. For many reasons:

1. Brilliant casting: Aamir Khan as a 25-year-old? It works. He's awesome... he can make you laugh, he doesn't look sissy while crying and most importantly, the age rarely shows. Random firang actor Alicia Patten as Sue, who's got a huge chunk of a role? It works. Far better than the firang lady in Lagaan. Plain Jane Soha Ali Khan as the female lead? It works. She's subtle enough to not take away too much attention from the men. Kunal Kapoor looks yummy & Greek-Godlike as ever. Siddharth downplays to perfection and Sharman Joshi washes away the sins of the horrific Style. Atul Kulkarni is now officially my favourite Marathi-movie import.
2. Fresh-as-Minto Music: Roobaroo is the current chart-topper on our campus. And the way it was used in the movie gave me goose pimples. The electric guitar in the background score is also damn turning on.
3. Unpredictable Storyline: The person sitting next to me walked out saying the movie was "very bad". Of course, the same person enjoyed Diana Hayden starrer Ab Bas & Tanushree Dutta's tequila shots in Chocolate. if you're reading this, yes, you are entitled to your opinion. :P Bottomline - RDB is a meant to be a Hindi movie.
4. Locations and Photography: I've never liked Delhi except in movies... Hazaaron Khwaishien Aisi was one example. RDB makes Delhi and the surrounding countryside look very special. The choice of locations is very interesting - the campus, the graffiti place, the lounge bar, the dhaba, India Gate & the fort - each location adds so much to the story, unlike most other movies where college kids only hang out at coffee bars or beaches. I also loved the night-time shots, especially the car-bike sequence at the start.
5. The Punjabi accents: I can't tell a good accent from a fake one... but I loved the way they spoke in the movie.
6. The Complete Sensual Experience: If a song gives you goose-pimples, the music sounds ethreal, the visuals (& Kunal Kapoor) are a treat, the dhaba actually makes you crave tandoori food, the two kissing scenes are above Hindi film average and the temple scene makes you feel a bit spiritual - you know in your heart that it's going to be one of your favourite movies. It will be a while till the next really good one, I guess.

About the rebellion... had some instant rebellious thoughts :D ... I wish I had the firearms to get rid of the corruption around me (wink wink)!