“We are proud to be Indians, especially our generation, since we know that we are part of a progressive nation. We are moving ahead,” says Kunal Kapoor, Aslam of Rang de Basanti, the secular poet who sings patriotic songs. Kapoor says, “We do not need a revolution. But we need to change ourselves from within and this is something which is not being done.” Related to the theme of independence, Rang De Basanti (RDB) proved to be a big hit. In conversation with Kunal Kapoor, Ajay Sharma finds out how Kunal sees sixty years of independent India.

You played the role of a young poet and the character of Ashfaqullah Khan. Did you feel the same passion that revolutionaries of the period must have felt?

All these freedom fighters were extremely normal people. They were all young, younger than me, I guess, when they were struck by patriotism and the willingness to sacrifice their lives for the country. When I played that character, I realized that they had very strong nationalistic feelings. Reading about them in books does not give a clear picture, but when I needed to portray the character, I realized it’s not such a simple thing. And not only myself, but the whole RDB team of youngsters found it difficult to play those characters. People then had a very different mindset as compared to today. Although very normal, they were still different.

What have we lost in the last sixty years which these revolutionaries had given us? Did you feel anything during your shoot?

Yes, I realized that Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqullah Khan, Sukhdev and Rajguru were only saying that we should realise where stand and what we are doing for our nation. I feel that their words are still relevant. Whatever we are, wherever we are, if we are doing things honestly at our level, it will mean a lot to our country. It’s not important that we do big things, extraordinary things. Little service at our own level is enough.

According to your generation, which were the most important turning points which can be termed as progressive?

I think the economic upliftment of people that began during Manmohan Singh’s days as Finance Minister changed the complete picture of India. This led to a very open economy. And now it is said that we will be among the top three industrial nations of the world in the next ten years.

RDB’s theme tried to connect today’s generation of India to the concept of independence. However, it takes the youth to a hopeless end. Fundamentally, has the movie failed to create a ‘revolution’?

No, the youth did not fail in RDB. They said, don’t sit quietly. We don’t have to fight the foreigners, our fight has come to an end, but the effort is important. What RDB showed was the effort to find a solution by those six youth. According to me, even 60 years back, there must have been times when we would have felt that our efforts are meaningless; but that was not the case. Every effort has its own importance. In reality, the problems and their solutions lie within us. The film tries to take us to that end, even though superficially it looks like a failed solution. Many people have said to me too that RDB asks the youth to take up weapons. But that is not the case, the film says that even in the most hopeless situations we can make some effort to put things right. The boys take over All India Radio in the end just to take their voice to the people. The final effect is that we realise that everything is not right, we don’t come out of the theatre feeling that everything is fine. The film leaves behind an uneasy feeling. We see the enemy within ourselves now, not outside.

So, was the youth anti-establishment in the film?

No, it tried to say that these youth were not against any system. Rather, they were trying to fight against the evils within themselves.

Kunal Kapoor

Kunal Kapoor  portrays Aslam in RDB, a character from a ‘minority’ family. He is fighting against many existing evils within his own community. The boy, tall and with beautiful eyes, also has a beautiful heart, through which come out lovely poems. He has risen above the limitations of his own religion and this is one reason why sometimes he has to face opposition from his own family. Aslam spends most of his time with his friends, outside his home, dreaming about freedom from the ills of society.

Kunal Kapoor started his career as an assistant director with Rakesh Mehra for the movie Aks. However, the urge to become an actor was stronger and proved to be fruitful. He is also attached with Naseeruddin Shah’s theatre group.