Rang De Basanti

Very rarely do you get to see a movie which makes you think, probes your conscience, makes you ask questions to yourself, inspires you & still manages to entertain you. Rang De Basanti (RDB) does all that & much more.
I've always loved movies that inspire. No wonder the Rocky series is one of my favourite. My favourite Hindi film is also a very inspirational one - Lakshya. And now, to that list I add RDB. I'd come to see the movie with great expectations & the movie lived up to them. The performance of all the actors was great & really convincing. I really loved Kunal Kapoor's character. As I'm no film critic, I'm not going to pass any comments about the screenplay and other such crap. But the movie was well paced & never got boring. The music's good too.
The first half is awesome. Especially the part where Atul Kulkarni narrates the lines of 'Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna'. It really gives you a patriotic feeling. The interweaving of a movie within the movie is very well done, especially at the end. Also the sudden change in the characters after the death of Madhavan is very well depicted. And most of the dialogues are mind-blowing. The story is very emotional. But here the emotions aren't romantic but are patriotic & strongly so. I've never cried in an emotional romantic movie & I'm sure I'll never do. But patriotism somehow always manages to bring a tear to my eye, as it did while RDB. It is that moving.
I somehow didn't like the ending. It was too violent & too much out of the blue. Also it sends a wrong message to the youth. The characters had many choices before them & they obviously chose the wrong one. If RDB had had a proper ending, it'd have been one of the best movies ever & a source of everlasting inspiration to the youth. Unfortunately it ends up being just a good movie & only a small source of inspiration.
But it does make you a think. A lot. You think whether you are actually helping the country grow or not. Whether you have done anything good for the country yet. And whether it is right to grow up here & still curse this very country and then leave it for greener pastures abroad. Madhavan's character makes a good observation - 'Door se commentary dena aasan hai. Bahar se gaaliyaan dena to aur bhi aasan. Koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota, use perfect banana logon ki jimmedari hain.' I'll leave you to ponder over that.
My Verdict: A great movie, surely worth watching. In fact a must-see for every Indian.