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Post by chrisanthi on Aug 31, 2015 12:38:51 GMT
I'm copying moviemavengal's and emily's comments from the What's the Latest Movie You've Watched thread. I watched Rang De Basanti this week, and I admire it, but I don't love it. I can't get past the violent actions that the main characters choose to do in the final scenes. But I don't live in India with pervasive corruption like that, so maybe I'm just naive. I thought the acting was all good, but I don't see myself watching this over and over.
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Post by chrisanthi on Aug 31, 2015 12:44:24 GMT
I find myself incredibly unsettled with the last 45 minutes or so of this film, even more than a year after I watched it for the first time. Just gut-wrenching stuff. I myself love the film--my duty as an Aamir Khan fan, I suppose--but I can see how one could be turned off by the seemingly unjustified violence near the end.
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Post by chrisanthi on Aug 31, 2015 13:41:04 GMT
Rang de Basanti was one of the first movies I saw and I haven't seen it again since then so it' s probaly been 7-8 years since I've seen it. Like moviemavengal, I admire it but I don't love it. First of all, I appreciate that someone tackled a huge problem like corruption. I liked how the boys' story paralled that of the Bhagat Singh revolutionaries. I had no problem with the film likening corruption to English rule - ie seen as something bad that should be gotten rid of. I was also fine with the idea that we should rebel against corruption and that corruption is the present day "fight for freedom." I'm on board with all those things however I hated that in his radio address Aamir was presenting Sid's killing of his father as a heroic act - there was nothing heroic about it; it was plain murder. Whilst the film did show that violence leads to more violence, I don't remember if the film itself treated the boys as heroes.The film's message changes depending on whether the boys were treated like heroes or not. emily you're going to think that ice, cold water runs through my veins and not blood - I found the ending to be kinda boring. At some point I had figured out what was going to happen so, as the ending was unfolding, my reaction was along the lines of "ho hum, this is so predictable." Also, I find gun fights really boring. I've seen movies which have been predictable but which have also managed to move me. The prblem with Rang de Basanti was that, except for Sid and Waheeda, I didn't really feel any sympathy for the characters; I didn't have an emotional connection with them so instead of being devasted in the end I was all "yeah, I called it." On a similar but somewhat unrelated note, although the film has a lot of scenes showing us the boys' friendship (eg when they're running shirtless through the field) I didn't really get a sense of friendship and camaredie. The film worked for me, somewhat, on an intelectual level but failed on an emotional level. Two ggod things about Rang de Basanti - it introduced me to Atul Kulkarni and it is one of the few performaces by Aamir where he doesn't irritate me so yay
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Post by emily on Aug 31, 2015 14:33:49 GMT
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Post by emily on Aug 31, 2015 14:36:07 GMT
Also, keep in mind that apart from some awful '90s flicks (looking at you, Ishq) for me Aamir Khan can do no wrong, so my thoughts on his work is all very biased and fawning.
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aspiringfilmmaker
Junior artiste
Posts: 87
Favorite actor: Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, SRK, Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra
Favorite actress: Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Shraddha Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Kriti Sanon
Upcoming release you're most excited about: Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Brothers, Dilwale, All is Well
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Post by aspiringfilmmaker on Sept 1, 2015 3:49:49 GMT
Also, keep in mind that apart from some awful '90s flicks (looking at you, Ishq) for me Aamir Khan can do no wrong, so my thoughts on his work is all very biased and fawning. Aamir had some excellent films in the 90s, actually - don't forget Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Andaz Apna Apna, Rangeela, Akele Hum Akele Tum, Ghulam, and Sarfarosh. These films were all out-of-the-box for their time, and Aamir deserves a standing ovation for going out on a limb and choosing unconventional scripts when most other actors (except for SRK, Salman, and Anil Kapoor, who came out with great films within their niche) were doing the same routine masala flicks. Ishq was a bad film, but had the potential to be a good one - I actually found the first half quite funny, but then the horrid melodrama in the second half simply took it to the dumps. They could have easily handled the misunderstanding of the Aamir-Kajol affair in a comic way with Aamir and Kajol teaming up to prove themselves innocent in funny situations, and then a slightly emotional ending in which the couples reconcile and the fathers realize their mistake. And the whole thing with Aamir "fake-molesting" Juhi was idiotic, regressive, and just plain out of place in combination with the light-hearted first half. Aamir, Juhi, Ajay, and Kajol gave some good performances, even managing to stay afloat in the over-the-top second half melodrama. It's a shame that they couldn't have come up with a better script for a film starring such a coup of talented actors. Quite frankly, though, I think that Raja Hindustani is just as bad, if not worse in some ways, than Ishq. At least Ishq had the silly comedy to salvage it to a certain extent. Raja Hindustani is just a plain drag. Everything about the film, from the lingering shots of the actors' faces, to the atrocious kissing scene, to the slow and immature dialogues, makes me want to pull my hair out. Again, it was saved by Aamir and Karishma, who managed to rise above terrible direction and screenplay, and Nadeem-Shravan's excellent soundtrack. Dharmesh Darshan is a terrible director who just got lucky with Raja Hindustani and Dhadkan. If you want really bad Aamir films though, you should check out his work from the early 90s - names like Tum Mere Ho, Isi Ka Naam Zindagi, Jawani Zindabad, Awwal Number, Baazi, Daulat Ki Jung, and Aatank Hi Aatank are enough to imply what the quality of the films must be like.
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Post by emily on Sept 1, 2015 4:05:57 GMT
Yeah, I certainly didn't mean *all* his '90s films were bad--Rangeela is certainly in my top 5 favorite of his movies--but ugh, Ishq. And ugh, Raja Hindustani (though it is my guilty pleasure, and I love the soundtrack). Seriously though, ugh, Ishq. Never has a movie completely rubbed me the wrong way more than that one. But all my comments about '90s Bollywood should really be taken with a grain of salt. By and large, I'm not a huge fan of the decade. Anyway, back to RDB...
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