Politics and Film: An Analysis of Rang De Basanti
Rang De Basanti
Saahir Mulla
Politics & Film
POL128 – 021
Prof. Hartt-Fournier
Nov. 30th, 2011 “Don’t just complain about the system. Do something about it.” It’s only so often that a movie comes along which manages to seamlessly tackle society’s unaddressed issues, while maintaining its true authenticity as a form of entertainment for the general public. Rang De Basanti (Rakeysh Mehra, 2006) is a clear cut example of this, as it manages to break all the pre-established barriers in the Bollywood industry by directly exposing the corrupt and dysfunctional ways of Indian society, revealing an encoded message on protesting against Indian politics and governance, and how it’s helped spark a rebellious movement in a generation of children that were once fearful for the future state of their country. Indian society has been historically plagued by authoritative political figures that have misused their positions of power and mercilessly corrupted India, as five regular students choose to take a stand and fight the system, being forced to resort to violence just to have their voices heard. The social influence and effect that this film has had on Indian society is an admirable feat; one that’ll be remembered and acknowledged for many years to come.
The plot unravels with a British woman (Sue) who travels to India in the hopes of shooting a movie on Indian revolutionary figure Bhagat Singh, a man who heroically rebelled against British imperialism in India’s fight for freedom. She ultimately settles on casting a group of college students for the main roles (DJ, Karan, etc.); ones who couldn’t take her project any less seriously. They initially treat it as a joke, but when a mutual friend of theirs is murdered as a result of political corruption; the repulsive state of their country’s governmental system begins to sink in, as a sense of awakening washes over all of them. They begin to understand the reasoning behind the past freedom fighters that risked
Saahir Mulla
Politics & Film
POL128 – 021
Prof. Hartt-Fournier
Nov. 30th, 2011 “Don’t just complain about the system. Do something about it.” It’s only so often that a movie comes along which manages to seamlessly tackle society’s unaddressed issues, while maintaining its true authenticity as a form of entertainment for the general public. Rang De Basanti (Rakeysh Mehra, 2006) is a clear cut example of this, as it manages to break all the pre-established barriers in the Bollywood industry by directly exposing the corrupt and dysfunctional ways of Indian society, revealing an encoded message on protesting against Indian politics and governance, and how it’s helped spark a rebellious movement in a generation of children that were once fearful for the future state of their country. Indian society has been historically plagued by authoritative political figures that have misused their positions of power and mercilessly corrupted India, as five regular students choose to take a stand and fight the system, being forced to resort to violence just to have their voices heard. The social influence and effect that this film has had on Indian society is an admirable feat; one that’ll be remembered and acknowledged for many years to come.
The plot unravels with a British woman (Sue) who travels to India in the hopes of shooting a movie on Indian revolutionary figure Bhagat Singh, a man who heroically rebelled against British imperialism in India’s fight for freedom. She ultimately settles on casting a group of college students for the main roles (DJ, Karan, etc.); ones who couldn’t take her project any less seriously. They initially treat it as a joke, but when a mutual friend of theirs is murdered as a result of political corruption; the repulsive state of their country’s governmental system begins to sink in, as a sense of awakening washes over all of them. They begin to understand the reasoning behind the past freedom fighters that risked
References: Rang De Basanti. Dir. Rakeysh Mehra. Perf. Amir Khan, Soha A. Khan and Siddarth. 2006. UTV Motion Pictures, 157 Mins. Interpellation – Althusser Encoding and Decoding – Stuart Hall Ideological State Apparatus – Louis Althusser Repressive State Apparatus – Louis Althusser