RANG DE BASANTI

Subject - English
Submitted To – Mr Sopan B. Shinde, Dr Medha Dixit,
Mr Vijay Dandekar
Submitted By – Bhupendra Barhat
Semester - I

Maharastra National Law University , Nagpur

 INDEX

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 INTRODUCTION
 ABOUT THE MOVIE
 ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
 CHARACTERS
 BEST DIALOGUES IN MOVIE
 MUSIC
 SOCIAL INFLUENCE
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Sopan

Shinde for their patient guidance , enthusiastic
encouragement and useful critiques of this work . I would also
like to thanks Mr. Vijay Dandige for his Professional guidance
and valuable support in keeping my progress on schedule .
My greatful thanks are also extended to Dr. Medha Dixit
for her Constructive recommendation and suggestion in my
research work.

I would also like to extend my thanks to my friends ,

seniors , my brother and my sister for their help and
suggestion in doing my research work in progress .

Finally , I wish to thanks my parents for their support and

encouragement throughout my study.
 INTRODUCTION

Rang De Basanti is a 2006 Indian drama film written, produced

and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. It features an
amazing ensemble cast comprising Aamir Khan, Siddharth
Narayan, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman
Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and British actress Alice Patten in the lead
roles. Made on a budget of 250 million , it was shot in and
around New Delhi. Upon release, the film broke all opening box
office records in India. It was the highest-grossing film in its
opening weekend in India and had the highest opening day
collections for a Bollywood film. The film was well received and
praised for strong screenplay and dialogues.The story is about a
British documentary filmmaker who is determined to make a
film on Indian freedom fighters based on diary entries by her
grandfather, a former officer of the Indian Imperial Police.
Upon arriving in India, she asks a group of five young men to act
in her film. Rang De Basanti's release faced stiff resistance from
the Indian Defence Ministry and the Animal Welfare Board due
to parts that depicted the use of MiG-21 fighter aircraft and a
banned Indian horse race.
The film was released globally on 26 January 2006, the Republic
Day of India, it received critical acclaim winning National
award for most popular film. It was subsequently nominated
for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2006 BAFTA Awards.
Rang De Basanti was chosen as India's official entry for the
Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best
Foreign Language Film category, though it did not ultimately
yield a nomination for either award. A. R. Rahman's soundtrack,
which earned positive reviews, had two of its tracks considered
for an Academy Award nomination. The film was well received
by critics and audiences for its production values and had a
noticeable influence on Indian society. In India, Rang De Basanti
did well at many of the Bollywood awards ceremonies,
including a win for Best Movie at the Filmfare Awards. The film
was declared "Blockbuster" by Box Office India.

ABOUT THE MOVIE

RANG DE BASANTI is a story about the youth of India today. Its
tagline is “A generation awakens” “There are two primary
choices in life-first is to accepts conditions as they exist or
second is to accept the responsibility for changing them. Rang
de Basanti is about changing them” This note from the film’s
director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra very succinctly explains the
films motto. The background of the movie is the Delhi
University where Sue ,A young London based film- maker
chances upon the diaries of her grandfather, who served in the
British police force in India during the freedom struggle. Excited
about these memoirs, she makes plans to shoot a film on the
Indian revolutionaries mentioned in the diaries. She arrives in
India to make a film on Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh,
Chandrashekhar Azad and their contemporaries and their fight
for freedom from the British Raj. Owing to a lack of funds, she
recruits students from Delhi University to act in her docu-
drama. She finds DJ, who graduated five years ago but still
wants to be a part of the University because he doesn't think
there's too much out there in the real world to look forward to.
Karan, the son of Industrialist Rajnath Singhania, who shares an
uncomfortable relationship with his father, but continues to
live off him, albeit very grudgingly. Aslam, is a middle class
Muslim boy, who lives in the by-lanes near Jama Masjid, poet,
philosopher and guide to his friends. Sukhi, the group's baby,
innocent, vulnerable and with a weakness for only one thing -
girls. Laxman Pandey, the fundamentalist in the group, the only
one who still believes that politics can make the world a better
place and finally Sonia - the sole girl in the group, tomboy a
comes down to Delhi, and casts this group of five friends to play
the pivotal roles of those revolutionaries. However, products of
modern India, Initially, Sue’s actors cannot identify with the
characters they play: they don’t believe in the freedom fighters
or their ideologies. This is the MTV generation where
consumerism and hedonism rule, values of sacrifice, honor,
moral responsibility, are absurd concepts. Why would someone
give up their life for their country -- especially a country so
corrupt and polluted? As these young people re-acquaint
themselves with Indian history, we slowly witness the gradual
transition from irresponsible youths to rebels with a cause.
From rolling their eyes and laughing uproariously at the quaint
sounding dialogues they have to mouth, they begin to absorb
these values into their own lives. They gradually begin to realize
that their own lives are not that different. The same choices
that faced the revolutionaries stare them in the face. Then the
British Empire was the villain, now it is the present state of
politics. Parallels are drawn between the characters in the past
and present and as the story moves forward, the barrier of time
begins to dissolve, the two narratives blend into one and the
characters become one in spirit. In the film both the 1930's
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 blur's, as they
become one in spirit. To me the most remarkable part of the
movie is the parallel that Rakesh omprakash Mehra draws
between the freedom fighters and DJ and his group of friends
and the seamless merging of past with present. Initially the
differences between the actors and their roles are acutely
different. As the story draws to its conclusion, the differences
diminish and eventually disappear. The modern, city-bread
‘young guns’ of the twenty-first century become one in spirit
with the revolutionaries who sacrificed themselves for the
country’s freedom.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Rakesh Omprakash Mehra is an Indian filmmaker and

screenwriter.
He was born on 7 July 1963 in Delhi.His father worked for the
Claridges hotel in New Delhi.He was a part of the selection
camp as a swimmer in the 1982 Asian Games held at New Delhi
but was not selected in the final round. He studied at Air Force
Bal Bharati School, Lodi Road, New Delhi. In 1986, he
established Flicks Motion Picture Company Private Limited,
starting his career as an advertisement film maker. He directed
scores of television commercials for Indian and international
clients, including Coke, Pepsi, Toyota, American Express and
BPL. He has also directed music videos such as Aby Baby
starring Amitabh Bachchan.
Mehra then gradually transited from being an ad-film maker to
a feature film maker. In June 2001, his company released its
first full-length feature film titled Aks, starring Amitabh
Bachchan. film did not do well at the box office.
Mehra's second film, which he produced and directed, was
Rang De Basanti. Released in 2006, it starred Aamir Khan and
Soha Ali Khan. The film was a huge hit in India and did very well
overseas. He said in an interview given to the The hindu on the
tenth anniversary of the movie that“Time flies, 10 years and feels like
yesterday. We are 10 years older and Rang de Basanti remains relevant. It was
destiny to be part of a movie that became a movement,” Mehra
received
much acclaim for the film, winning Best Director awards at the
2006 Filmfare Award and National Film Award as well as a
BAFTA Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. He
also works as a director and producer in movies like teen the
bhai , bhag mikha bhag , mirziya and delhi-6.

CHARACTERS

 Aamir Khan as Daljit 'DJ' Singh / Chandrashekhar Azad

 Siddharth Narayan as Karan Singhania / Bhagat Singh
 Atul Kulkarni as Lakshman Pandey / Ramprasad Bismil
 Kunal Kapoor as Aslam Khan / Ashfaqullah Khan
 Sharman Joshi as Sukhi Ram / Rajguru
 Alice Patten as Sue McKinley
 Soha Ali Khan as Sonia / Durgawati Devi
 R. Madhavan as Flight Lt. Ajay Rathod
 Waheeda Rehman as Mrs. Rathod, Ajay's mother
 Steven Mackintosh as James McKinley, Sue's grandfather
 Anupam Kher as Rajnath Singhania, Karan's father
 Kiron Kher as Mitro, DJ's mothera
 Om Puri as Amanullah Khan, Aslam's father
 Mohan Agashe as defence minister shastri
 BEST DIALOUGES IN MOVIE

 Duniya mein do tarah ke insaan hote hain ek joh

chupchap maut ka daman tham lete hain aur doosre
joh rote chilaate maut ki taraf badhte hain aur phir
main teesre kisam ke insaanon se mila.
 Zindagi jeene ke do hi tarike hote hain ek jo ho raha hai
hone do , barddaasht karte jao ya phir zimmedari uthao
use badalne ki.
 Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota use behtar banana parta
hai.
 College di gate de is taraf hum life ko nachate hain , to
duji taraf life humko nachati hai.

MUSIC
The soundtrack of Rang De Basanti, which was released by
SONY BMG, featured music composed by A. R. Rahman and
lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi and Blaaze, an India-based
rapper. Aamir Khan, with his knowledge of Hindi and Urdu,
worked with Rahman and Joshi for the soundtrack. In
addition,Mehra and Rahman choose him to sing for one of the
songs. The title track Rang de basanti was used at a flash mob at
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai on 27 November 2011
in honour of those who died in the 26/11 attack.
A.R.Rehman’s music as always has been the best with some
really foot tapping numbers, Masti ki Pathshala which became
the college anthem and topped the chartbusters for long. While
another number Ru-ba-ru gives the feeling of enlightenment
and freedom from within, Tu bin btaye perfectly portrays trust
and selfless love of the lovers. Luka Chupi by Lata Mangeshkar
portrays the hide and seek game by a mother and child which
undoubtedly goes best with the cinematography.

SOCIAL INFLUENCE
The film made a social impact beyond director’s vision and
cover the whole of India, particularly youth. They showed
vigour, enthusiasm and anger against the victims of Jessica Lal
Case by a non violent Candle march at India gate as portrayed
in the movie. The same emotion was showcased in
Priyadarshani Mattoo Case and a march against Reservation
followed by innumerable same cases.

The movie has been hauled for depicting activism by critics

however the message run clear that there the Mc Donald’s and
designer wear generation of the country needs to stand up for
what is right. It believes that there are only two ways of living
life; either accept conditions as they exist or take responsibility
to changing it.

CONCLUSION
Rang De Basanti, the movie which gained popularity not only
for the story line that depicts both reality and lost patriotism
but also for invoking the feeling thereafter After watching this
movie one can say that Rang de Basanti is more than another
patriotic film: it is a combination of a moral, social and political
parable. By blending history and the nationalist struggle,
idealism and humanitarianism with contemporary politics,
religious fundamentalism, and lack of social responsibility,
Rakesh omprakash Mehra provides us with a mirror to look
inwards and think about the way we live and the choices we
make. The film ends with a strong message that it is not enough
to be indifferent to what is going on around us; it is not enough
to sit on the fence and point fingers, it is important to
participate actively to bring about change. “No country is
perfect…it needs to be made perfect” and that can only happen
if each one of us realizes that we can make a contribution to do
so. By deliberately avoiding the tendency to descend into
didacticism that laced popular patriotic films like those made by
Manoj Kumar, Mehra has succeeded in making a film about
social responsibility both interesting and relevant. Rang de
Basanti should lead to reflection, discussion, possibly even
action. A good movie is one that opens the windows of the
viewers mind and adds to their understanding. Rang De Basanti
is successful in doing this. The films ends tragically, but with a
burst of joy and a hope that signify this is a new beginning!

REFERENCES
http://theviewspaper.net/rang-de-basanti-a-generation-
awakens/
http://www.glamsham.com/movies/reviews/rdb.asp
https://uiowa.edu/indiancinema/rang-de-basanti
http://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/10-years-of-rang-de-
basanti-the-film
http://www.letstalkaboutbollywood.com/article-
14544848.html
http://theviewspaper.net/rang-de-basanti-a-generation-
awakens/
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/A-decade-of-Rang-
de-Basanti