Wednesday, February 22, 2006

'Rang De Basanthi' Rocks?


Watched RDB, long time back with office gang. A very late review!

After watchin the movie, I felt a lump in my throat, I thought this nation has a future.After seeing the tears, standing ovation and applause of audience I thought, this movie is going to cause a revolution...n I wanted to do something for the nation, after hearing
"aye saala
abhi abhi huaa yaqeen ki aag hai mujh mein kahi..."

Relax...its' just a movie...:-)

You might have read above extreme kind of reviews in innumerable no. of reviews of RDB(and some, the addicts of same old dance-fight routine Hindi movies, callin it bakwas as well). Let me put it straight, I won't call it a classic, but it's a well made, must watch movie of recent times.
Well, if u havn't seen/heard the story, here's the synopsis...thanks to youthcurry

Inspired by a diary written by her grandfather, foreign kudi comes to India to make a documentary on India’s
revolutionary freedom fighters – Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and others who laid down their life for the country.
She casts five young men for these roles – none of whom can identify with the idea of making any such sacrifices.

‘Is desh mein hai kya? Population?? Corruption???” says one. “Mujhe to jaise degree mili I’m outta here”.
Meanwhile they’re hanging loose at the masti ki ‘paathshala’.

But, somewhere along the way the reluctant actors find themselves moved by the passion of the long-dead revolutionaries.
And inspired to actually stand up and take on the System.

In the film both the 1930s British India and the India today run parallel and intersect with each other at crucial points.
As the film reaches its resolution the line between past and present blurs, as they become one in spirit...


It's a fun movie with a message, an attempt to merge preachy Swades with breezy DCH.
The first half, we all can connect to, where the college goers hangout in tea shops n dhabas, where as in second half it kinda gets filmy(the scenes of lathi charge, compared to Jallianwala Bhag massacre? killing of defence minister and the shootout in climax).
Is the system that bad? Is it the right way to change it? Isn't the movie too simplistic?
Over analyzing might result in a documentary, but that's where this movie scores, reaching out to masses, a right mix of past and present, meaningful cinema and entertainment value...
The method is quite debatable but not the intent/concept.It does succeed as a whistle blower, coming 2 the the catch line 'A Generation Awakens'. a la Bhagat Singh.
For proof search/check blogger/technocrati returning thousands of results!
The movie has raw feel/edginess to keep you engaged and the entire crew is simply first rate(that's an understatement), a true ensemble movie.
Watch out Aamir's method acting in the scene where he cries inconsolably with food stuck in his mouth, over his friend's death, quite effective though! And the vintage Rehman music's a high point.

To borrow it from Sue(The 'foreign kudi' character in the movie, "this story needs to be told")
This movie needs to be watched...

Monday, February 20, 2006

A piece of E=mc2...

E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation is a good read.
Maintains a fine balance between science and history without dwelling too much into details of both!
It's not just about Einstein or E=mc2 .Rather it explains in simple words what led(read, inventions and lives of other scientists) to the equation E= mc2 and then what the equation led to.

This piece best describes the mood of the book.

What guided Einstein was that, in his mid-twenties he found the unknown intriguing. He felt compelled to comprehend what might have been intended for our Universe by The Old One(as he referred to his notion of God).
"We are in a position," Einstein explained alter, "of a little child entering a huge library, whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in so many different languages.
The child knows someone must have written those books does not know who or how.It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend but only dimly suspects."

Wednesday, February 08, 2006