Article Updated 21 January, 2006 02:58:20 AM IST   Rang De Basanti By Judi Silva ©2006 Bollyvista.com   "There are two primary choices in life - to accept conditions as they exist or accept responsibility for changing them. Rang de Basanti is about changing them," so says the director Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra. 'Rang De Basanti' deals with a topic that is very relevant to contemporary times. It talks of several youngsters with different aspirations from life. The movie is about the rise in the consciousness of today's youth, their values and realizations of their Indian culture/heritage. RDB tells the story of Sue a British filmmaker happens upon diaries written by her grandfather who served in India during the 1930s as a member of the British Police force. Through his words, the fire and passion are ignited within her and she begins to see what is missing in her life. This gives her the idea to create a film based on the information in the diaries. A lone Indophile, she knows want she wants and embarks on a journey that will change her life forever. Arriving in India, she finds five friends who at first refuse to do her film, as the ideals of patriotism and sacrificing oneself for their country are foreign to them. But after conceding to take on the challenge, they travel to Punjab, the land that gave up many martyrs to India's freedom struggle against the British. As the project begins to come together, the boys start to see themselves as the actual descendants of the great men who are the protagonists of Sue's movie. Their partying lifestyle and mantras of "nights are dark, days are darker, bhangra rocks and live life, stop analyzing" are soon replaced by those of their revolutionary ancestors, who gave everything they had for the freedom of their beloved homeland. D.J. (Aamir), once afraid to step into the world for fear that he would become lost, now comes face-to-face with the side of Indian culture he had never witnessed before in person. Ajay (Madhavan), as a flight lieutenant, already has high ideals and a patriotic spirit, which allows the rest of the members of their group to look up to him, including the love of his life, Sonia. Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), already in turmoil over the fact that he is a minority in his own country, is constantly fighting dissent within his own family. Will these feelings coupled with his poet's heart help or hinder him through the trials he will face on this journey? Laxman (Atul Kulkarni) is by nature a political extremist with a spirit of violence. He finds himself fighting against what he calls "western decadence" and tries desperately to retain his "Indianness" in a world that is quickly surrendering to the core values and ideals of consumerism. Karan (Siddharth) is the epitome of antiestablishment. Although born into the class of "high society", he is a loner, cynical and fiercely loyal to the only friends he has made within this group. Suffering from a severed relationship with his father, his ultimate goal is to leave India forever. Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), an athletic bundle of energy, is the one that makes the heart of the group beat. Not comfortable speaking English, he resorts to his native Haryanvi. His childlike innocence saves him many times from his "crude" humorous remarks and endears him to his friends. Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), although an Indian beauty, is considered very often "one of the guys" by the others in the group. She is the love of Ajay's life and visa versa. An idealist and a die-hard optimist, she is passionate when it comes to issues that are important to her. In the film, both the 1930s British India and modern India run parallel and intersect with each other at crucial points. As the film reaches its conclusion, the line between present and past becomes hazy, joining as one in spirit and color – Basanti. Rang De Basanti will be made in two languages simultaneously - Hindi and English (with the title 'Paint It Yellow'). Both the versions will be released simultaneously worldwide on January 26th.   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/30/6104