When Rang De Basanti was released in 2006, it shook the nation with its thunderous impact and its cultural reverberations can be felt even today, two decades later. It was a critical and commercial hit and has stood the test of time. With a plot revolving around the youth of the country and the corruption of its leaders, it asked an important question: If it was you, what would you do? It went on to have real social impact, inspiring protests and candle light marches; a movie which was way ahead of its time.
The point of conflict in the plot revolved around the famous Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter jets which were actually engaged by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and had been since 1963. These fighter jets were as controversial as they were iconic. There wasn’t much it couldn’t do – a multi tasker, its roles extended to air combat and defence, reconnaissance, ground attack and training of fighter pilots. It is understandable why it was employed for as long as it was.
The most produced supersonic jet in aviation history, it was morbidly dubbed “the flying coffin” in its later years. The Soviet-era fighter was called so, because it had led numerous pilots and civilians to their deaths. Since 1970 it had been plagued by safety issues, with over 170 Indian pilots and 40 civilians dying due to accidents according to the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD). According to the United States Department of Transportation, more than half of the 840 aircrafts built between 1966 and 1984 were lost to crashes and at least 14 crashes happened between 2010 and 2013 according to a New York Times report. Improper maintenance and poor quality of the replacement parts were alleged by Wing Commander Sanjeet Singh Kalia in his petition to the High Court, himself a MiG-21 crash survivor, to have been causes that led to their frequent crashes.
Today, after 62 long years of employment by the Indian Air Force, the MiG-21 has finally been retired by the government. Though its legacy has been marred by the countless lives that were lost, it will be remembered as a warhorse that was once inseparable from the IAF brand, having faithfully served the country across 4 armed conflicts with Pakistan.
How Rang De Basanti inspired a whole generation
Rang De Basanti left no stone unturned when it came to dealing with heavier political issues; the filmmakers were unafraid of speaking on otherwise touchy subjects despite the risk of censorship. It featured a star-studded cast with heavy hitters such as Amir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Siddharth, Soha Ali Khan, Alice Patten, Waheeda Rahman, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Anupam Kher and Kirron Kher.
The movie focused on a coming-of-age plot about a group of happy-go-lucky students who were cast in a documentary about the nation’s most iconic freedom fighters who were a part of the Indian revolutionary movement; The initiative of which, was taken by a young British film student who travelled to India inspired by her grandfather’s memoirs chronicling the lives of said revolutionaries as a colonel of the British Army.
The progression of the plot oversaw the character development of the students who began to identify with the rebels they were cast as and began questioning the regime. The catalyst of the film was the death of their pilot friend Ajay Rathod (played by R Madhavan) in a MiG-21 jet crash which leads them to fight against the evils of their own government. The film beautifully juxtaposed the actions of the British imperialists with the suppression of the current in-universe government machinery and attempted to convey a message of fighting for the right thing and not being afraid of challenging authority. They shone a light on the real-life issue of the MiG-21 crashes which had claimed the lives of many airmen by then.
According to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra the film was born – in collaboration with Kamalesh Pandey – out of anger. During a speech in the Indian Screenwriters Conference (2008) he said, “We were sitting in a small hotel room in Nanded, drinking. We started singing songs, and we both realized we liked similar songs. And so Rang De Basanti was born. He was angry with the system, I was helpless with the system. We wanted to do so much. But we really can’t do anything and it was born out of anger.”
The film went on to noticeably impact Indian society. It served as a social awakening for many, as observed by youth activism via protest on several public interest issues. Political discussions ramped up everywhere in the country and abroad, and there were many candle-lit vigils and civil protests for injustices happening in the nation; In the cases of the murders of Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo, such activities and public participation was observed. In Indian media, this phenomena began to be termed as the “RDB effect”, with RDB being an abbreviation for the film. It truly sparked a fire that lit up the citizens of India from within.
The retirement of the MiG-21
Having been at the source of such scandal, that a film which inspired much social activism in India was made about it, the MiG-21 was finally deemed obsolete by the government and put to rest. On Friday, September 26 at 12:05 PM, six Bison variants soared above Chandigarh one final time as a last hurrah, led by Air Chief Marshall AP Singh. A water cannon salute was given to honour these jets on landing.
Chandigarh was chosen as the final resting place as it was also the place where they were first inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1963. Squadron leader Priya Sharma, India’s seventh woman fighter pilot also accompanied the Air Chief in formation. Home Minister Rajnath Singh was in attendance, as were several high ranking officials according to a report by NDTV.
Thus, the plane which once graced India’s skies and protected its boundaries for over six decades, has finally been put to rest. An aircraft which symbolized Indo-Russian ties, it was a trusty guardian of India’s sovereignty but now the time has come to finally bid it goodbye.