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There's a buzz about this tale that rocks to the beat of the urban youth and has all the trappings of a successful film
Abhijit Bhatlekar
Bollywood didn't expect to be in for a surprise so early in the new year. It has come in the form of the Rs 30-crore gamble called Rang De Basanti. This is not a raunchy comedy, nor the evergreen shot-in-Switzerland love triangle. It's a film that talks about something as non-sexy as the lost spirit of nationalism. It has been helmed by a director called Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra whose filmography boasts of a resounding flop called Aks. The film's cast is headed by Aamir Khan with the disappointment of Mangal Pandey behind him. There have been more odds to contend with: a motley group of young actors whom no one had heard much of. Yes, there's rocking music by A.R. Rahman, but certainly not of the kind that can approximate the mobile-downloadable kitschy popularity of Himesh Reshamiyya. It gets worse. Rang De's reclusive star Aamir has been cussedly reluctant to promote the film in the media, he's only talked to his young viewers in forums, chatrooms, studio discussions; the journos kept waiting in the queue. In a nutshell, no one would have predicted the...
Bollywood didn't expect to be in for a surprise so early in the new year. It has come in the form of the Rs 30-crore gamble called Rang De Basanti. This is not a raunchy comedy, nor the evergreen shot-in-Switzerland love triangle. It's a film that talks about something as non-sexy as the lost spirit of nationalism. It has been helmed by a director called Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra whose filmography boasts of a resounding flop called Aks. The film's cast is headed by Aamir Khan with the disappointment of Mangal Pandey behind him. There have been more odds to contend with: a motley group of young actors whom no one had heard much of. Yes, there's rocking music by A.R. Rahman, but certainly not of the kind that can approximate the mobile-downloadable kitschy popularity of Himesh Reshamiyya. It gets worse. Rang De's reclusive star Aamir has been cussedly reluctant to promote the film in the media, he's only talked to his young viewers in forums, chatrooms, studio discussions; the journos kept waiting in the queue. In a nutshell, no one would have predicted the...
