Tuesday 6 July 2021

Rang De Basanti

 Hello ! 


I am Nidhi Jethava and I am a student of MK Bhavnagar Bhavnagar university department of English. In this blog I am going to discuss postcolonial criticism in popular Bollywood movie, ' Rang De Basanti'. 


So discuss some of the important aspects of movie which reveal this theory. 


Before discussing postcolonial theory in these movie.  I would like to give you a brief indication about  what does postcolonialism mean ?


About Postcolonialism. 






Postcolonialism, the historical period or state of affairs representing the aftermath of Western colonialism; the term can also be used to describe the concurrent project to reclaim and rethink the history and agency of people subordinated under various forms of imperialism. Postcolonialism signals a possible future of overcoming colonialism, yet new forms of domination or subordination can come in the wake of such changes, including new forms of global empire. Postcolonialism should not be confused with the claim that the world we live in now is actually devoid of colonialism.

Postcolonial studies in ‘Rang De Basanti’



Rang De Basanti (transl. Paint it Saffron) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language drama film written, produced and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and co-written by Rensil D'Silva.


The film follows a British film student traveling to India to document the story of five freedom fighters of the Indian revolutionary movement. She befriends and casts five young men in the film, which inspires them to fight against the corruption of their own government. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor and British actress Alice Patten. The film was shot primarily in New Delhi.


The film was released globally on 26 January 2006, the Republic Day of India. Upon release, the film broke all opening box office records in India, becoming the country's highest-grossing film in its opening weekend and holding the highest opening-day collections for a Bollywood film. It received critical acclaim, winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film, and being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 BAFTA Awards. Rang De Basanti was chosen as India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, though it did not ultimately yield a nomination for either award. A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned positive reviews, had two of its tracks considered for an Academy Award nomination. In India, Rang De Basanti won Best Movie at the Filmfare Awards.


This movie consists of so many aspects for thinking like feminism, postcolonialism, colonialism, historicism etc.


So let’s discuss this movie with postcolonial aspects. 


This movie is divided into two plots. One is about documentaries which consist of the theory of anti colonization. Another is globalization which consists of the theory of postcolonialism. 


Gandhi vs Revolution :- 


So many events took place in the movie which consist of this postcolonial theory. In the initial part of the movie we can see Sue who is playing a very important role in the making of the documentary when she came to India we can see the affection towards foreign people. Her project does not get approved by the producers who believe that ‘Gandhi sells.’ Refusing to forgo it, Sue decides to continue with this project on her own as she decides to go to India and make the film.


Aggression :- 


 Karan depicts an invasive approach in his desire to go to America once he gets his degree. A similar evasive approach and even a sense of revulsion is exhibited by his father who does not want Karan to be a part of the ‘country's drainage.’


Violence and suppression :- 


Bolter and Grusin's theoretical explanation of the distinction between immediacy and hypermediacy, although pertaining to new digital media, is meaningful in understanding the film-within-the-film strategy in Rang De Basanti. In  this movie we can see the violence and suppression. In both the plots we can see this element.





Thank You......

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