Rang de Basanti

I haven't posted about movies in a while.. and I didn't even dedicate a post to the two great directors who recently passed away (Bergman and Antonioni). Hopefully I'll have some time to post about some of their movies soon. Yet, now I want to post about another Bollywood movie suggested to me by Amit, and that Lucas and I recently watched: 'Rang de Basanti'
The story is very interesting: a young journalist from UK decides to make a documentary on Bhagat Singh and the other revolutionaries who fought for Indian independence from UK. She arrives and finds out that it's very hard to find the right actors for her documentary. Even the young people who seem to be the best are totally uninterested in the subject of the documentary. Mostly, they want to keep partying, getting drunk and drive around their bikes and trucks. Thus, the first part of the movie (1.5 h) is all dedicated to showing these aspects of their lives and the disappointment of the English director. Slowly, though, the young students get involved in the strength of the documentary. Moreover, at some point, something happens, that really changes their lives (I'm not going to say what because I don't want to spoil the movie). Suddenly the young silly students realize that they may actually do something more important for the world rather than just dancing around or thinking about their own career. The revolutionary words that they were saying when acting for the movie transform into reality, and they start a real 'revolutionary' movement, that inflames students in India. As for every revolutionary, though, their end is doomed..

I have opposing feelings about this movie, a little bit like for the other Bollywood movie I watched. I didn't like the first part very much. I found it boring when they kept showing the rides on the bikes and trucks that lasted for 5 minutes each, with a nice soundtrack behind. The second part, though, is extremely interesting and thought-provoking (apparently the movie really inspired protests and movements in India). The 'awakening' of a generation was very well portrayed. There were also very well-made hints about overcoming differences in religion. And the corruption of Indian parties was shown without soft words. The very final part, though, seemed unrealistic, although the speeches given by the students after their 'awakening' were very powerful.
So, overall, I was left with a good impression - it made me think about India, society in general, and my own life. I don't know if I feel like recommending it, though, because of the first long and honestly boring part (for me). I think it would be great if someone made a different cut of the movie and removed 2/3 of the first part. :)