• Friday, January 27, 2006

• Country:

  India

• Language:

  Hindi

• Runtime:

  157 min

2006

Rang de Basanti' is a film about awakening. About standing up for ones beliefs. Where the spirit of rebellion transcends time and age. A young idealistic English filmmaker, Sue, arrives in India to make a film on Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and their contemporaries and their fight for freedom from the British Raj. Owing to a lack of funds, she recruits students from Delhi University to act in her docu-drama. She finds DJ (Aamir Khan), who passed out five years back but still wants to be a part of the University because he doesn't think there's too much out there in the real world to look forward to.

Karan (Siddharth), the son of Industrialist Rajnath Singhania, who shares an uncomfortable relationship with his father, but continues to live off him, albeit very grudgingly.

Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), is a middle class Muslim boy, who lives in the bylanes near Jama Masjid, poet, philosopher and guide to his friends.

Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), the group's baby, innocent, vulnerable and with a weakness for only one thing - girls.

Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), the fundamentalist in the group, the only one who still believes that politics can make the world a better place and finally Sonia

Soha Ali Khan - the sole girl in the group, tomboy and vivacious spirit, engaged to Ajay (Madhavan) - the dashing air pilot. These youngsters could be anyone of us today and their lives mirror the kind of lives the youth of today lead - namely a self centered and materialist

Goofs

• Anachronisms: During one of the flashback sequences - set prior to 1947, the historical characters are on a roof of a building. In the distance is another large building, and, on its roof, is a large satellite dish.
• Continuity: In the scene where Sue says 'Undher say awaaz aye gee' and the Sukhi burps, Karan throws his cigarette on the floor and steps on it (you hear him do it). Then in the very next shot he does it all over again and the 'under say awaaz' scene is still going on.

Taglines

• A Generation Awakens.

Trivias

• The film was to be made both in Hindi and English versions. The English version was to be titled "Paint It Yellow". The plans for the English version were dropped subsequently.
• In India, the color of yellow represents sacrifice. When someone says, "Main rang de basanti", ("paint me yellow") it means that person is ready to be sacrificed for a great cause. Yellow is also a predominant color in the movie.
• Aamir Khan was initially uncertain about taking on the role of DJ, as he was in his 40s and DJ was 25 years old Punjabi in the film. He eventually accepted, though, and hired a tutor to aid him in Punjabi speech and accents.
• Hrithik Roshan turned down the role of Karan.
• 'Shah Rukh Khan' was the original choice for Fl. Lt. Ajay Rathod's character, but he couldn't do it owing to his busy schedule.
• Shah Rukh Khan was the original choice for Flight Lieutenant Ajay Rathod's character, but he couldn't do it owing to his busy schedule. This cameo turned out to be the best bet of Madhavan in his career in Bollywood.
• Rang De Basanti is based on a poem written by Dushyant Kumar.
• A.R Rehman worked on the music of this film for three years.
• India's official Entry to the Oscar's for the "Best Foreign Language Film" category in 2007.
• The film went under severe controversy - first there was some uncertainty over shooting appropriate scenes inside the Amritsar Golden Temple; then the Indian Air Force requested an advance screening and caused an uproar on scenes showing corruption in the Indian Government and Air Force and the cover-up of an accidental plane crash; and finally, the 20-second horse race was cut on claims of cruelty to animals from the Animal Welfare Board.

Awards

1. Award for Technical Excellence
   Event: Awards of the International Indian Film Academy
   Result: Won
   Category: Best Song Recording
   Recipient(s): A.R. Rahman
2. BAFTA Film Award
   Event: BAFTA Awards
   Result: Won
   Category: Best Film not in the English Language
   Recipient(s): Ronnie Screwvala
3. Filmfare Award
   Event: Filmfare Awards
   Result: Won
   Category: Best Actor - Critics
   Recipient(s): Aamir Khan