Aamir Ko Kya Ho Gaya Basanti?

Its inevitable - what goes up has to come down. Its the second film in a row that Aamir Khan has disappointed his fans. Sitting in a lousy Melody cinema hall in Chennai for the 1st Day-1st Show of Aamir Khan's latest flick "Rang De Basanti", one has a lot of expectations. But his fetish for jingoism seems to be driving away the film going masses and splitting him away from superstardom.

Just fail to understand why he has to give lessons on patriotism to the youngsters - RDB actually seems to be a blend of Mani Ratnam's Yuva and Ashutosh's Swades - on India's 57th Republic Day. If the storyline had focused on the interesting aspect of MIGs crashing due to corruption in sourcing parts, it would have made a better impact (It seems there have been 200 MIG crashes so far killing 76 IAF pilots so far...awful!)

The screenplay sags right from the word "Go" and you start wondering whether Rakyesh Mehra actually has a grip on the storyline. Playing the role of a college-goer, you expect Aamir to relive the Dil Chahtha Hai charm - yes he does to a large extent though the wrinkles in his face gives him away. The film begins to gain pace towards the end but to the utter dismay, it has an unexpected climax, by which time it makes no difference to the junta.

If Aamir Khan's intention was to get a message across to GenNext (as was evident during his interaction with youngsters in NDTV), I am sure he has definitely not hit the bulls eye.

This is my review at the end of Day 1. We need to wait for four more days to await the BO verdict ? Anyway, if you are an Aamir Fan, do not miss RDB - its his film though he shares the screen with five others thorughout the 165-minute documentary.