Contrast Program - Golmaal and Rang De Basanti

Last Sunday we were spoilt for choice. We had 2 once-only shows up for decision. A 14:45 show of Golmaal or a 18:30 show of Rang de Basanti at the other end of the town. So what did we do? Duh! Watch both of course. Left Golmaal when the credits started rolling, jumped into a taxi (a 30$ ride) and arrived just in time for RdB.
Now that was fun. Especially since we could not have watched two more diverse movies. Had I not seen RdB before that I guess I would have skipped Golmaal but since I had and wanted to go only to finally see it on the big screen it was a cool combination. Weird, but cool. And both shows were unique. Golmaal had no subtitles and RdB was a copy that had the Aamir horseriding scene in it.

My Hindi is pretty rudimentary so I was curious as to how much of Gomaal I would understand. Clearly I had the most problems with the word-plays but hey *pads herself on shoulder* I even got some of them. And I had no problems following the plot. Which actually is no big achivement. The film really is, as most reviews stated, a "check your brain at the entrance and enjoy the ride" kind of entertainment. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ajay cant dance for his life. Sharman Joshi has incredibly o-shaped legs and that went very well with the mini-skirt he was wearing in one scene. Arshad had some great Circuit dialogue and Thushar Kapoors Uh-Uh-Ah-Ah voicing mute character should have been annoying but was played with such delight that it was really hilarious.
So watching the four good for nothing guys trying to con everybody (including themselves) for money and the girl was cool. Also the storyline with Paresh Rawal as the blind houseowner who is made to believe that his grandson has come for a visit by the four (Ajay does all the talking, Sharman is the body and the other two are just there to confuse the whole thing) was fun. Again, you had to switch your brain to bypass mode otherwise it would have been really bad. But I did just that and had a ball. So much that I will buy the DVD and watch it again (this time with subtitles).

The Rang de Basanti copy was crap. Really worn out, with some very bad cuts in the middle (the whole Lalkaar and ice block sequences was missing which reduced the impact of the following scenes immensely), sound that kept going from mono to stereo to surround. Cracks and even some frames that had something written on it.
But. But it had the original Rang de Basanti song sequence in it. Its really a pity that the Animal Welfare Board of India used this scene to get some P.R. back at the time for the release of RdB and had it censored. There are some scenes in that version that complemented the song much more beautiful then the one that now is in the final release. And the timing in the song was tighter and plainly better.
But even though it was not as good as it should have been, it still made its impact. The three of our group who had not seen it before, where visibly moved. And I, of course, cried my eyes out. Again.

So, a very cool Bollywood filmi day. If only every Sunday could be like that. Wait. Next Sunday we get to see Sarkar (Abhi and dad and Kay Kay on the big screen. Yay!!) and for the Sunday after an Omkara screening is announced. Bahut Accha. Babasko khuch hoon.

P.S.: Blooger is acting up, so I cant upload any pics. I you still want to see some go to IndiaFM. Here for Gomaal and here for Rang de Basanti.

P.P.S.: I am gone until Sunday again. This time to visit meri nani and meri very pregnant behn. I wont have webaccess down there. But I packed some nice SRK DVDs, Grandma just loves him. There is so no escaping Bollywood. See you all next week.