REVIEW:Summer 2007, another RDB?
Summer 2007 opens with a peasant setting himself ablaze in a farm. The scene moves to three college kids, medical students at that, on a hilltop in a jeep, smoking a joint and talking casually about fast cars and rape incidents (sic). It's a typical rich guy gang studying in a private med school and fooling around with Xboxes and girls, without any worry in the world as such.
The gang of five: Rahul aka Butter (Sikandar Kher) is the non-committal cool dude, Qateel aka Qats (Arjan Bajwa) is the smooth one who gets all the chicks, while 'Bugs' Bagani (Alekh Sangal) is the eternal flirt but never gets any girl. Vishakha aka Mother T (Gul Panag) is the rich Ms Goody-Two-Shoes, while Priyanka aka Pepsi (Uvika Chowdhary), is the wannabe diva.
PICS: Making of Summer 2007
A good part of the first half of Summer... goes in showing us how urban, rich, cool, selfish and uninterested the protagonists are as regards the happenings in the rest of the country, or even the rest of their college campus. Sounds like Rang De Basanti? Well, there's also an Atul Kulkarni-like student politician, Prakash, but not so intense and spiteful. He's fighting the elections, but our gang of five is least bothered about his causes – whether it's outsiders entering the campus and teasing girls, or the institution repeatedly asking for money from the students.
When Prakash challenges Rahul, he decides to fight the elections and beat Prakash. And so, a new party is formed, The Studds, posters are put up and a manifesto drawn with an agenda to throw out all political parties from the college. But as Rahul's popularity rises, the picture gets bigger and the 'real' political party in the area comes into action.
Threatened for life, The Studds decide to give the elections a miss, but not before messing up Prakash's chances too. The five carry on for their rural internship, which they think will be nothing but a vacation and an escape from elections. (It's kinda strange that students go for an internship at their whim and fancy. And also, which college will have elections when a whole batch of students is going to go away?)
But as soon as our Famous Five reach their village in Vidarbha, they are introduced to the reality of a whole family of farmers who has poisoned itself. The cries of the villagers echo in the theatre as the interval happens, and one gets optimistic the film would have some meat in the next one-a-half-hours.
Next Page: Second half is gripping
