Well, I'm all painted... in yellow

There aren't too many times that scenes from current Bollywood flicks play peek-a-boo in my dreams. The last film that visited my other world was 1947-Earth. With due respects to Deepa Mehta's prowess, I still believe that the images in my dreams are not from her film, but from Bapsi Sidhwa's most brilliant book Ice-Candy Man (Cracking India). Nonetheless the film moved me and I still close my eyes, at times, to see Ice-candywala's (played by Aamir Khan) cold kohl-lined eyes look away as the mob batter Ayah (played by Nandita Das) and Lenny (played by Miah Sethna) screams on. Sublime performances, exemplary vision, flawless direction, ruthless betrayal or plain over-reaction -- I will never know what makes me re-run that scene in my head over and over again...

... till the time I saw Rang De Basanti last week.
http://www.rangdebasanti.net/

Rang De... attempts to present a long lost ideology to today's viewers (I insist it's for every viewer, irrespective of age). The film is about a group youngsters who decide to break the cocoon of their mundane lives and do something drastic, something revolutionary. They rewind in time and live a slice of our historical revolutionaries' lives by taking one step, which seems right to them, to avenge their friend's tragic death. They pay the price of their actions with their lives and that's where the movie ends...

... and my dreams begin. I can't forget Karan's (played by the intense Siddharth) haunting eyes, both while he plays the rich, brooding Mr Singhania and Bhagatsingh (in the docu-drama). The eyes that - are completely uninterested when DJ (played by Aamir Khan, again) and Laxman (played by Atul Kulkarni) fight, secretly admire Sonya (played by Soha Ali Khan), ooze passion while he plays the part of Bhagatsingh, unapologetic after he shoots the defence minister, shed tears when he's trying to take his father into confidence and smile with relief after he tells the nation about what they had done.

It's his eyes that I dream about all the time and keep wondering about the worlds we youngsters live in and don't live in. We are missing out on so much that we can do to undo certain things. By this I don't mean we become like our historical revolutionaries. What I am trying to drive home is the fact that we needn't be complacent all the time.

This film surely has shaken me from my presumed comfort-zone. I no longer want to be a mute spectator. I'd rather take one step to see if that can make a difference. And I am sure it does. One human step cannot shake foundations, but it can cause a slight stir. That''s what, I guess, makes the difference. It's like slight quiver that you experience just when you are about to be really scared...

I believe that the little quiver is enough for many be afraid, sit up and listen to you. Only that step can lead you to the bright yellow we call sunshine, which permeates everything and lights up the world.