Rang De Basanti - * * * * *

is par bhi na khaule jo vo khoon nahi vo paani hai
jo desh ke kaam na aa saki, bekaar vo jawani hai

A generation has awakened.

Never before have I seen such as stunning response for a movie that everyone initially thought was a comic caper with 5 friends indulging in romance and parties. I went into the movie hall, paying double the price of the movie ticket, hoping that it wouldn't be an encore of Mangal Pandey. I am happy to say that all my fears were unfounded, and the movie was worth every paisa i paid.

Rang De Basanti is about making a choice. A choice, whether you want to live life accepting everything around you, no matter how bad, or standing up to what is wrong, and making the world a better palce to live in. The main protagonists of this movie make the latter. And there in lies the plot of Rand De Basanti, the metamorphosis of these carefree, "i-give-a-damn-about-my-country" guys into people with a conscience, who beleive standing up for the truth, for the country.

It all begins with a Brit documentary maker, Sue (Alice Patten), coming to India to make a movie about the revolutionaries of the Independence war. Though she is refused assistance by her bosses, she comes down because she feels she owes it to her grandfather, an officer in the British Army, who has wriiten about revolutionaries like Bhagat SIngh, Chandrashekar Azad etc in his diary. First hand accounts and conversations, no less.

Though charged about her mission intially, she begins to lose hope when she, along with Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) doesn't find the right people to play the roles of the revolutionaries. The youth of our country just can't get themselves to live the roles of the heroes who laid down their lives for a better future for their country, but can do a Dev Anand or a Stallone! But a meeting with Sonia's friends convinces her that they are perfect for the roles, and convinces them to do it. Later, Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), the hindu fundamentalist also joins the cast.

What happens afterwards forms the rest of the story, which I cannot divulge, purely for the reason that I beleive everyone should get to watch this movie and learn for themselves.

Performance wise, this movie rocks. All the characters in this movie are beleivable. Aamir Khan as Daljit Singh aka DJ is a scream. Soha Ali Khan reaffirms my faith in the inheritance of genetic traits. Kunal Kapoor (of Meenaxi infamy..till now at least) is decent as Aslam, the poet of the group. Siddhartha is a surprise packet, playing the brooding and caustic Karan with just the right intensity. Atul Kulkarni, as the patriotic Hindu fundamentalist with principles gives a stellar performance. But all the kudos to Sharmaan Joshi, who plays the immensely likeable Sukhi, whose only fear in life is that he'll die a virgin! Alice Paten is good. So are the charcter actors Kiron Kher, Anupam Kher and Om Puri.

I have to thank Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra for this incredible movie that he has dished out. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are something that the youth of today can identify with. As for the music, need i say more? That it's scorching all the countdowns speaks enough about AR's effort.

I have already sen this movie twice. I'm gonna watch it at least two more times. After all, such movies are very rare in Bollywood. Paint me Yellow. This one get 5 stars from me