A Film That Re-imagined Nationalism

Tanish Goswami, SY BAJMC

"अभी भी जिसका खून न खौला, वो खून नही पानी है,
जो देश के काम न आए, वो बेकार जवानी है।"

The Plot

Sue McKinley, played by Alice Patten, is an aspiring filmmaker in London. Among her family heirlooms is the journal of her grandfather, James McKinley. James was a Colonel who served the British Imperial Army in India. When she reads how five freedom fighters (Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, Ram Prasad Bismil, and Ashfaqullah Khan), among other Indian Revolutionaries, changed her grandfather’s entire perspective on life, she’s motivated to travel to India and make a film on its struggle-ridden history.

The lack of proper resources is just one of the multiple challenges that Sue faces. She has to resort to making an independent documentary with non-actors for the cast. Her Indian friend, Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), helps her by conducting auditions at her university. Unfortunately, these efforts bear no fruit, and Sonia takes a frustrated Sue out to party and relax her mind. This is where Sue meets Daljit ‘DJ’ (Aamir Khan), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), Karan (Siddharth Suryanarayan), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), and Pandey (Atul Kulkarni). The boys all have a rather carefree outlook on life, except Pandey, who plays the neighborhood right-winger and participates in the activities of a local party. Through a lot of convincing, Sue manages to convince the gang to put their differences aside and come together to help her out in making the documentary. However, once the ball starts rolling, our heroes start feeling deeply about their characters and the country’s past.

The gang is now aware. They need only a spark to unleash their anger towards their country’s ailments, and they get just that when a close friend passes away due to the government’s negligence and corruption. Once this anger’s unleashed, they go as far as humanly possible to voice their feelings and speak up against the injustice.

The Twist (SPOILER ALERT!)

The twist of the movie is what brings it to life. Up until the death of Ajay Singh Rathod, i.e., Sonia’s fiancé, the audience is made to witness a group of idle, aloof college students who are all about letting loose and partying like there’s no tomorrow. However, after the unfortunate plane crash that leads to Ajay’s demise, the gang can’t help but question themselves and their contribution to society. While filming Sue’s documentary, they learn about all our relentless leaders who fought for our country. This project had already been spraying gasoline over their flammable hearts when they learn about the government’s negligence and the Defence Minister’s role in Ajay’s death. Here’s where things take a major turn. Our group of aloof college kids is enraged; this is the pivotal point of the story where they decide that they need to take matters into their own hands. They realize it’s about time they grew up and raise their voices against injustice. When protesting against corruption bears no fruit, they resort to murdering the guilty by themselves. The boys turn into men and seek justice for Ajay however they see fit, even if it means becoming criminals and going to jail or risking their lives.

Impact on Indian Youth

The whole charm of this film lies in its ability to convert an individual. To wake the audience up, as opposed to the docile, inert state they’re in. One of the more fascinating things about the movie is that it gradually takes over its viewers, and the audience is in for a ride. We watch Aamir Khan’s character Daljit ‘DJ’ Singh evolve while acting in Sue’s documentary. Acting for his love interest gives him a chance to educate himself on our country’s woeful history and the suffering it endured at the hands of the British Empire. It’s quite unique that in this particular film, the lead characters were all associated with freedom fighters, and they, too, like DJ, learned through their acting.

A recurring theme in the film is the sorrow of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. The massacre was the crucible that gave birth to many of India’s greatest revolutionaries. It forever remains an incident that brings and will continue to bring pain to many, for it is one that no true Indian would ever forget. There comes the point in the story, it’s very pivot, where our characters’ story starts to play out like that of Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, Ram Prasad Bismil, and Ashfaqullah Khan. The film runs like a modern-day telling of the events that followed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The peaceful protest against corruption following Ajay’s death became the gang’s Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

It took the director (Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra) and writer (Kamlesh Pandey) seven years to conduct adequate research and plan how they wanted their screenplay to pan out. They somehow managed to dodge all hurdles and created the cinematic masterpiece Rang De Basanti. The pair have successfully infused the misery and struggle of our forefathers and revolutionaries with the grit and idealism of the present generation. Even today, in 2022, this 16-year-old film feels relevant. Even today, Rang De Basanti manages to get a hold over the hearts of the viewers, especially the youth. One might go as far as saying it’s a film that keeps us in touch with our roots. It reminds us of what those before us sacrificed so that we could have what we do today.