Rang De Basanti Review...

The movies begins with a promise, or at least with the expectation of whats to come...come on, you weren't expecting a maar-dhaad masala movie with a tagline that says 'A Generation Awakens'!!
The movie begins quite promisingly, with Sue(a British actor) coming to India to film a docu-drama about Bhagat Singh and others. But having been fed on the nationalism of the past, she finds an India that is completely different from what she expected. People here have no sense of their past, they are more looking to the west than within themselves to find pride in being them. In this desolate scenario, she hopes to find actors to portray her protagonists, who selflessly laid down their lives for their country, asking for nothing in return. As expected, she finds no one suitable for these parts. The sequence about her search is quite funny, and as meant to be poignant, hit the mark.
Now, enter the heroes- Daljeet aka DJ (Amir Khan), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), Karan (Siddharth) and Aslam (Kunal Kapoor). They are basically clueless youth, looking out for the next high in life, with nary a worry about their future. Their only worry seems to be the firebrand nationalist, Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), who detests the ways of these youth, especially Aslam. And as luck would have it, he fits the role of Ram Prakash Bismil perfectly. So now, they are in this together. As the story progresses, the protagonists find discover a history they never realised they had.
And after the interval, they kill the Indian defense minister (moral of the story: History is dangerous).
A lot is being said about this movie, about how it portrays the angst and the cluelessness of the youth. But frankly, Amir looks old to be playing a youth. Even the explanation the he left college five years ago does not hold true, cos he clearly looks older than thirty five. In fact, none of the characters, barring Sharman Joshi, look like college kids.
As for the feel of the film, well, maybe I'm too far away from my college days, or maybe the college scene has changed, but frankly, I didn't feel the movie had any youthful feel to it. Smart, funny, witty, yes. But youthful, no. Mainly associate youth with a little naivette and josh, both of which were lacking. Amir Khan has done the man-boy routine before, and it didn't come as a surprise.
As for the characterisation, almost no character in this film has been fleshed out. All except Amir Khan, that is. Sukhi is a sweet guy looking to find a girl for himself. Karan is the quite intense and neglected son of a rich businessman. Just why is he frustrated, we don't know. And Aslam is a poet who likes hanging out with his friends and feels suffocated in his home. But other than these facts, we don't know anything else about these characters. Even Amir Khan's character is not fleshed out well. He likes bikes and adventure and is liked by the girls is all we know. dd to that, the characterizations of the supporting cast that includes Anupam Kher, Kirron Kher, Mohan Aghase, Madhavan, Waheeda Rehman etc. Atul Kulkarni's character too isnt given much scope, but it is to his prowess as an actor that he manages to bring out shades in his charter. And special notes for Kirron Kher, who does her Punjabi act once again. Always a pleasure to watch her

Dilli Haat and Chandni Chowk...

It being sunday yesterday, we went to the Delhi festival yesterday at the Dilli Haat.
First things first, I like the concept of the Dilli Haat. It's one place where one can get the best of Delhi and also the whole of India (well, almost) at a reasonable price. Secondly, it is one place where the pace of Delhi changes from frantic to the laidback. one can walk around in peace, have some grub, and generall have a good time. But not yesterday.
Looks like, thinking on similar lines, half of Delhi descended at Dilli Haat. As a result, it was really crowded. There was hardly any place to walk. The only redeeming factor was the presence of the Chandni Chowk food stalls, serving spicy snacks...yummy!!

State of Bollywood...

Coming soon to a theater near you, Mr. 100% - The Real Player. And if you think that this is a B - grade movie with unknowns, then it stars Aryan Vaid (known model), Irrfan Khan (Maqbool), Mahima Choudhary (Miss 'oh-bla-di') and Payal Rohatgi (tauba tauba!!).
And the songs? Well, there is the title track, and then there is 'karta hai kabootar' and 'hont chum lu ya gal'.

Mithunda has got competition in the b-grade category.

Almost Famous...

A look at my Statcounter statistics reveals something interesting. People are stumbling on to my blog from places like South Africa, S. Korea, Germany, Neatherlands, besides USA and UK. So, to all you people (if you do manage to come a second time), A BIG WELCOME FROM THE DEMON. Enjoy you stay, it's nice to have you here. Let's smoke a pipe - wait, I don't smoke. But you can, if you want to. Just don't leave. It's very lonely alone.

Seasons...

Winter is retreating from Delhi. The weather is getting pleasant, though only for a few weeks. But it's good while it lasts.