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There are many in this country who question the decision of the FFI to nominate Rang De Basanti for the Academy Awards next year, citing their preference for Omkara or Lage Raho Munnabhai, (even KANK) as the best of this year's Bolly-fare.

While most of the choices are truly meritorious (who can remember another year where so many films were so well-made and received such enthusiastic responses from cine-goers and critics, alike?), Rang De Basanti has that little extra edge over all others, at least according to this writer.

Let's talk technical.

Rang De Basanti scores over its fellow films in most technical aspects, right from editing to special effects. An instance in point would be the scene where Aamir Khan's two avtaars - DJ and Chandrashekhar Azad - are juxtaposed on the screen, one in glorious colour, the other in stark sepia. That single visual (one of many) is emblematic of the dualities in the film, whether of the past versus the present, or of people who try to right wrongs and end up becoming the wrong-doers themselves.

And let's not forget what great editing and special effects have gone into making these kinds of juxtapositions and flashbacks possible. At par with, or even better than Rang De Basanti would be Dhoom 2 and Krrish whose action sequences were - there's no other word for it - superbly slick, if reminiscent of the Mission Impossible series.

Now, let's talk plot.

Omkara, brilliant film that it was, is not original in its story-line, however universal it may be. Vishal Bhardwaj acknowledges the same in the opening credits of the film by sub-titling the film as "An Adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello". Bhardwaj's greatness lies in the completely clever way he imported medieval Italy and made it rural Uttar Pradesh. The same greatness is enhanced by the kind of performances he has culled from his actors, whether it is Billo Chaman Bahar (Bipasha Basu) or the inimitable Langda Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan).

Lage Raho Munnabhai has a truly interesting story-line, particularly in terms of cause-and-effect. Picture this: a thug has fallen for a radio-jockey just by listening to her programme and through unfair means, he manages to win a date with her. In trying to impress her, he bites off more than he can chew and is forced to learn Gandhian philosophy so he can get another date with her. The rest is, as they say, history (pardon the pun!). Director Rajkumar Hirani is a brilliant film-maker because of the seamless way he has told a story. One simple comedy attains so many nuances that are bound to touch several chords in several groups of people - the lonely and aged, the youth, the Gandhians, those that have been targeted by unscrupulous builders (and we know there are many) and that is just naming a few.

Rang De Basanti, on the other hand, has not one story brimming with multiple issues, but multiple stories brimming with few, yet identifiable issues. A need to change a corrupt status quo is just one them. Other stories include one of the latch-key kid who resents his father but does not mind living off him; the twenty-something university student who does not want to graduate (read, not grow up); a rediscovery of the past; a reckoning with the present; and finally, a realisation that the future has to be shaped, and shaped by the present's generations.