With Students Taking To The Streets, Rang De Basanti Proves To Be Prophetic

 Rakeysh  Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti which  opened on January 27  , 2006  was about a group of  college students who  take to the streets to  protest against the  corruption in  our governance and society.

Going by what is  happening  in the country right  now, Rang De Basanti seems eminently  prophetic.

  In an earlier   interview to me  Rakeysh had said,  “As an artiste it is gratifying to know that the film still has a deep relevance to society and to cinema. But it’s also sad that the issues that RDB raised are today more relevant than they were five years ago. But as a citizen of India it is deeply saddening to know that issues of socio-political injustice that the film raised are more alive today than five years ago. I can only cross my fingers and hope that the issues in RDB are not relevant five years from now.”

The  controversial ending which showed the  student  heroes gunning down a corrupt politician was labeled ‘fascist’.

Rakeysh explained, “It wasn’t  a heroic but a poetic ending.  They become heroes because they die. What I’m trying to say is, we got independence from the goras. But we got enslaved  by our own.  Now we’re killing each other. You’re from Bihar. You know what I mean. There can be  no neat solution to the problems we face.  Rang De Basanti  is  a conversation  with the masses.”

  However  Rakeysh Mehra didn’t  want to take  on the  role of the  social reformist. “I’m just a cog in the wheel. Rang De Basanti is a venting of so many ideas simmering within me. Please try to understand, I’m not important. The film is. But I can’t allow myself to be weighed down by these considerations. A lady in Ahmedabad asked me to do more films like Rang De Basanti which provoke thought. But I can’t be holier-than-thou about it. I can’t whip up an identical sincerity and passion within myself. Things that bother you come out on screen. There’re so many other issues other than the ones in Rang De…Just because it worked I can’t take on the role of social reformist. If and when it happens again, it will. I’ve to completely believe in what I do.”