Rang De Basanti - Complete yet incomplete
(for all those who have seen the movie - no plot given)

STRONG LINKS
The Idea and some scenes that stand out for me
- I think the very thought of making an attempt to awaken the young generation, by means of a film is to be appreciated. So Kudos to Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra and D'Silva.
- The blending of flash back scenes from our freedom struggle like the Jalianwallah Baug, Kakori loot, etc. and the current happenings is done with great panache. Just loved each sequence. Beautiful connectivity, no sudden/irrelevant eruptions. The scene where the gang sits watching themselves on the screen/documentary, the meloncholy silence of the atmosphere, their expressions after that and Madhavan's entry with "koi marr gaya kya?" was too good.
- Delhi University auditions of students for their roles - Hilarious!!
- the interaction between the gang in the Lounge about the country, youth, politicians, corruption, etc.
- DJ's onscreen chemistry with Sue (Alice Patton)
- Aamir's interaction with his mom (Kiron Kher) for the first time is hilarious and both of them are adorable.

The spoken words
"Khoon jo ab na khaula, woh khoon nahi, paani hai
jo desh ke kaam na aaye, bekaar woh jawaani hai"
(saw the movie once and heard this line just once in the start - it is etched in my heart until eternity)

''ek paav past mein, ek paav future mein, isi liye hum apne present par moot rahe hai''
(Aamir utters it in a frivolous fashion onscreen it sounds more tongue-in-cheek than cheesy.)

"Is this the world of God?"
(rendered by the man who plays McKinley in a church with anger and remorse in his eyes - Makes me go one step further into becoming a dogmatic atheist)

Ground breaking Music
A R Rehman is a musical genius according to me and needs no appreciation. Background score is amazing!! Great lyrics by Prasoon Joshi

Need I say anything about chart-toppers Pathshaala and the title track sung by Daler Mehendi (for someone who hates him, this one came as a surprise)
Ik Onkaar by Harshadeep Kaur is excellent symphony, there's not much music actually, her voice itself is mesmerising
Aslam, Nacim and ARR do a great job of Khalbali, though it sounds like a stereotype Arabic number, the exotic beats and desi touch gives it a good flavour.
The vim and vigour in Naresh Iyer and ARR's voice coupled with the tinkling and effervescent notes of the guitar makes Roobaroo enthralling.
Mohit chauhan - frontman of Silk route soothes the ears with the poetic khoonchala.
Luka Chuppi according to me, is yet another masterpiece of the GOD - A R Rehman. My only complain is why does Lata have to sing every one of those true blue mother or message-giving songs. Like I said before, Lata should stop singing. The saving grace was Rehman's voice making- up to her flaws (if I may say so), reminding me of his extremely heart rendering Ye jo Des hai mera (Swades)

Song-sequence Picturisations
Every song exhibits excellent direction, timeliness and cinematography. Screenplay by Rensil D'Silva is good. The best part is that none of the songs are fully played in the movie. Every song starts instantaneously yet is relevant to the situation, is incomplete going by the audio version yet is enough to drill into your heart and instill the mood.
An exception here was the eccentric and gentle tu bin bataye. Though the song is pretty good, why did Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) have to cry when her boyfriend, Ajay(R Madhawan) proposes to her? I mean, how stereotype is that!

Aamir Khan - This, I had to do as a loyal fan. A special attention to him is required here owing to my penchant for him and his sizzling-scorch of a performance in Rang de. Like I said before, Aamir yet again proves to be an actor in the true sense of the word and one who can never shatter the expectations of his fans. The word 'perfect' is imperfect to describe his delivery in the movie. May it be the Narcissistic- dare- devil-coolguy-on-campus - DJ merrymaking with "tim-tim-lak-laks" or the friendly "bhen-da-takkas", may it be the politically conscious activist- with- renewed-strength rendering ardently the Lalkaar or some truely inspiring lines - Aamir lives upto his character and the seriousness of the movie with his much-lauded Punjabi cum Haryanvi accent.

Others
Atul Kulkarni does a typical and predictable role but is as usual at his best, living upto the theatre-guys-are-great-actors kinda image. His eyes speak volumes.
Alice patton is indeed very very good. With her naturally accented Hindi and no awkward deliveries, Alice lives upto her role. I loved the way she said, "tumhaari maa ki aankh"
Siddharth of whom I had absolutely no hopes of after I saw his disastrous debut - Boys (a Tamil Maniratnam flick.) His performance was a surprise package to me. His cynical nature and attitude towards the country is well enacted by himself. He gives a decent performance in Ray bans, jackets, cigarettes and with his quiet mannerisms.
Kunal Kapoor is serene, poetic, harmless and one of those who plays a not-very-integral yet no-nonsense role. Better than his performance in Meenaxi.
Sharman's comic timings and interactions with Aamir are sure to make you laugh. He proves that he can think beyond Styles and Shaadi no.1s
Soha Ali Khan has improved and taken good long strides after her previous few flicks, still I feel she needs to go a long way. A role as intense as this came too soon in her career.

WEAK LINKS
Though, the message of 'a generation awakens' is rendered successfully at the end of 180 minutes, I felt it could have been delivered in a much better manner. In other words, the generation awakens, but now what? How can you and me as youngsters make a difference? Should we all join defence/police/politics? Or kill all corrupt politicians of the country? Will that solve the root problem? All these questions remain unanswered though many of these options which are provided in the movie are still debatable. So, all of this makes the movie a complete yet incomplete one.
The way the whole episode of the Defence minister and the gang's attempts to execute him on his morning walk seemed very superfluous. Given that the gang is not made of professional-killers, they could have still thought a bit more complex.

My Quote
"Well, watched another good Aamir Khan movie. Initially appeared to be a strange mix though of Arthur Miller's All my sons and Shaheed Bhagat Singh. The conflicts and difference of opinions are not portrayed too loudly. All said and done, the movie is youthful, contemporary and can be a joyful experience. But, could definitely have been better."