I won’t describe the plot of the movie in detail here because its already been done by the other reviewers. But in brief, this is the story of the legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, portraying how a young boy who considered Mahatma Gandhi to be his hero get disillusioned with Gandhi’s way of the freedom struggle, and gradually create his own highly effective way of fighting for India’s freedom.
The movie casts Ajay Devgan in the title role of Bhagat Singh, Sushant Singh as Sukhdev, and Santosh as Rajguru. They are supported by Raj Babbar, Farida Jalal, and Amrita Rao. Ajay Devgan, as usual, was quite convincing in his portrayal of the title character. The character of Chandrashekhar Azad, played by Akhilendra Mishra, however, lacked the charisma that we have come to associate with this another legendary freedom fighter. Overall, although most actors did well, I don’t think any of them is going to win an oscar for their role.
The thing that I liked most about this movie was its direction. Rajkumar Santoshi has done an excellent job of keeping the movie focussed on telling the story without getting distracted by emotional hijinks, as most Bollywood movies are apt to do. No extraneous, melodramatic scenes. The movie moves at a very swift pace. Every scene in the movie has significance to the story. Well, almost! The song and dance sequence where Bhagat Singh’s fiancee (Amrita Rao) is dreaming was totally out of place - I can’t think of any reason for that sequence except to bring another great Rahman song to us!
The scene that, in my opinion, was the most powerful is the one where Bhagat Singh convinces Jatin da (I hope I got the name right - its been a while since I watched the movie) to join their efforts - how he convinces that their style of violence is not violence per se, but self-defence. A highly effective portrayal of Bhagat Singh’s true mettle! It sure did convince Jatin da and it sure did make a lot of sense to me.
The music for this movie has been scored by none other than A.R.Rahman. Needless to say, it is once again outstanding. In addition to the new songs, the movie also features a couple of well known songs associated with Bhagat Singh, Mera Rang De Basanti Chola and Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna but with new tunes. Desh Mere should be a welcome addition to any connoisseur of desh bhakti songs. Its good to hear Rahman produce music which has such a punjabi flavor to it - very different from his past music. It just goes to show what a versatile composer he is.
To sum it up, this is a must-see movie for everybody.
(Originally posted on MS on June 5, 2003)
Friday, April 6, 2007
Disappointing showcase of talent
(Note: This is a dated review. Some of the wording that was relevant when this was first written, may not be relevant any more. However, the main message still holds.)
I did not have the opportunity to watch the original SaReGaMa that was conducted by Sonu Nigam, but I heard very good things about it. And I did see an occasional episode here or there and I was really impressed by it. So, I was very excited to hear about the new series SaReGaMaPa that was being presented by Shaan. But after watching the new series for a few months now, I am afraid to say that I have been quite disappointed by the show.
I am sure there is a lot more talent in our youth than this show seems to present. Most of the contestants on the show have been rather mediocre. Of course, there have been some exceptions too - Nihira Joshi, Saandeep, Gopal, Richa (Mukherjee?), to name a few. But overall, the quality of the singing has been less than pleasing. I believe the contestants need to put in more practice into their singing and try to improve their performance.
However, the bright point in the show’s history was the children’s special. Those young kids performed superbly and were far superior to the regular college age contestants.
The less said about the judging the better. The decisions have mostly seemed to be very arbitrary, and the scoring excessively generous. It is one thing to encourage youngsters in the development of their musical abilities, but quite another thing to overlook their flaws and pretend that they are awesome. Unfortunately, most of the judges have been doing the latter. A good judge would not only point out what the singers did wrong but also make suggestions on how they can improve themselves.
Overall, although I think the show is a brilliant idea to showcase the musical talent of our youth, the execution of this current series has failed to harness the real talent that continues to remain hidden from the world. In my opinion, this show is simply promoting mediocrity among our youth, instead of spurring them on to achieving greatness.
I know I am going to make some enemies by being so critical of this highly acclaimed show, but this is what I honestly felt on seeing the show. However, I still continue to watch the show regularly because the occasional good singer who does come on the show just makes the wait worth it all.
(Originally posted on MS on April 23, 2003)
I did not have the opportunity to watch the original SaReGaMa that was conducted by Sonu Nigam, but I heard very good things about it. And I did see an occasional episode here or there and I was really impressed by it. So, I was very excited to hear about the new series SaReGaMaPa that was being presented by Shaan. But after watching the new series for a few months now, I am afraid to say that I have been quite disappointed by the show.
I am sure there is a lot more talent in our youth than this show seems to present. Most of the contestants on the show have been rather mediocre. Of course, there have been some exceptions too - Nihira Joshi, Saandeep, Gopal, Richa (Mukherjee?), to name a few. But overall, the quality of the singing has been less than pleasing. I believe the contestants need to put in more practice into their singing and try to improve their performance.
However, the bright point in the show’s history was the children’s special. Those young kids performed superbly and were far superior to the regular college age contestants.
The less said about the judging the better. The decisions have mostly seemed to be very arbitrary, and the scoring excessively generous. It is one thing to encourage youngsters in the development of their musical abilities, but quite another thing to overlook their flaws and pretend that they are awesome. Unfortunately, most of the judges have been doing the latter. A good judge would not only point out what the singers did wrong but also make suggestions on how they can improve themselves.
Overall, although I think the show is a brilliant idea to showcase the musical talent of our youth, the execution of this current series has failed to harness the real talent that continues to remain hidden from the world. In my opinion, this show is simply promoting mediocrity among our youth, instead of spurring them on to achieving greatness.
I know I am going to make some enemies by being so critical of this highly acclaimed show, but this is what I honestly felt on seeing the show. However, I still continue to watch the show regularly because the occasional good singer who does come on the show just makes the wait worth it all.
(Originally posted on MS on April 23, 2003)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
