Rang De Basanti - a thought

They could never sift out the nonsense & improbable relationship with the real & contemporary lives from Indian cinema. Last week, I purchased some DVDs, and when I came back home, made me some coffee, pulled down the curtains, turned on the volume, it was RDB inside the Narnia cover. Lazily lying down, I cursed the DVD-waala, but since I had nothing better to do, & with all the hype & hoopla about the movie, I decided to watch it anyway. And while they sang "Paathshaala", I wondered...

To tersely opine about it, a group of very adorable but confused young people, ambivalent & aimless, suddenly dramatically change, not by a realisation of systemic wrong, but due to a personal mishap. I'll spare you the story, but here's the thing - they get away (not until later) with shooting down the Defence Minister, & they do that with no military training, & security impedimenta are defied like child's play. A revolution follows, & forms the very axis of the movie, but though a revolution may be provoked by an experience of personal injustice, doesn't it essentially speak for the masses? Weren't the freedom fighters of India vanguards of a mass-based uproar rather than solo performers?

OK, before I meander to something more intricate, could they defy the security at India Gate and sing out "Paathshaala", whilst happily gulping down beer in an open jeep?
From my experience, me and my friends had to spend an hour inside a thana when one of us got a little too impatient & popped open a beer can at a Mayur Vihar red light, inside a car with dark windows at 6 pm on a normal evening and were spotted. I could never imagine doing the same at India Gate.

Still, its an enjoyable movie according to Indian Standards. And so much for Bollywood, we are obliged faute de mieux.