RANG DE BASANTI – GOOD IN PARTS AND YET NOT A CLASSY FILM

Rating:- * *1/2

Remember director Rakeysh Mehra (of ‘AKS’ fame)? He has just come out with his second Film RANG DE BASANTI which, although damn goods in parts, alas, does not a classy product.

The film begins with Sue [Alice Patten], a London-based film-maker hitting upon the diaries of her grandfather, who served in the British Police Force in India during the freedom struggle. The subject arouses her curiosity as a film-maker and she decides to make a film on the revolutionaries mentioned in the diaries.

She comes over to Delhi and casts a group of five friends to play the pivotal roles of these revolutionaries. The youngsters are DJ [Aamir Khan], Karan [Siddharth], Aslam [Kunal Kapoor], Sukhi [Sharman Joshi] and Sonia [Soha Ali Khan]. A foe-turned-friend, Laxman [Atul Kulkarni], also joins them.

But lo, the five-some is more interested in parties rather than patriotism. Thanks, however, to the inspiration provided by one Madhavan, a pilot, the group comes around.

While the first half of the film has lot of light moments, the second half is serious. The story takes a turn when Madhavan dies in an air crash. The film holds your attention right till the elimination of the Defence Minister [Mohan Agashe], but the remainder of the film including the lacks impact.

His eye for good visuals and detail notwithstanding, Mehra has not been able to give a classy film although the quality of some sequences, for instance, when Aamir Khan breaks down while having supper with Alice and the group getting upset after hearing the Defence Minister’s speech. Technically, it’s a first-rate effort. Dialogues [Prasoon Joshi, Rensil D Silva] are excellent.

Unfortunaly, A.R. Rahman's music does not help the film much. However, cinematography [Binod Pradhan] is outstanding. And the visual effects are topnotch.

As for performances, Aamir Khan delivers an astounding performance, and he gets damn good support from Siddharth,Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan , Kunal Kapoor and Sharman Joshi.

Alice Patten is brilliant and besides delivering a flawless performance, her style of speaking Hindi is sure to win a lot of hearts.