Rang De Basanti

Based on accounts taken from diary entries of her grandfather (a former officer of the British Army in India), a British documentary filmmaker is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters. She requests a group of youngsters, which is indifferent to the state of affairs in India, to act in her film. After they agree and begin filming, a dear friend's death in a airplane crash is attributed to government's corruption. This event metamorphosizes them into passion-driven individuals who are determined to avenge his death.

The film's release faced stiff resistance from the Indian Defence Ministry and the Animal Welfare Board due to certain portions of the film that depicted the use of MIG-21 airplanes and a banned Indian horse race respectively. The film, which was released globally on 26 January 2006, was India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film Category, although it was not nominated for either ceremony. However, it was nominated in the same category at the BAFTA Awards in 2006.

A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned mixed reviews, had two of its tracks considered for the Academy Award nomination. The movie was not only well-received by critics and audiences for its production values, but also had a noticeable influence on the Indian society. In India, besides several technical awards, the film won the Best Movie award at the annual Filmfare Awards among other Bollywood award ceremonies. Along with a gross revenue of US$30 million at the box office making it one of the highest grossing films in the Bollywood since the year 2000,^[4] it had the highest-selling DVD title sales during its time.

Synopsis

They are not enthusiastic at the idea of acting in a film about the independence movement, but Sue wins them over. Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), a political party activist, later joins the group, although he is initially unpopular due to his Hindutva beliefs and contempt for Aslam, a Muslim. In the process of filming, the idealism of India’s revolutionary heroes seeps into the protagonists. They gradually begin to realize that their own lives are not very different from the characters they portray on the screen and that the same state of affairs that once plagued the revolutionaries continues to torment the present generation.^[5]

While filming, Ajay Singh Rathod (Madhavan), Sonia's fiancé and a Flight Lieutenant in the Indian Air Force, is killed when his plane crashes. The government proclaims that the crash was caused by pilot error and closes the investigation. Knowing that Ajay was an ace pilot, Sonia and her friends do not accept the official explanation. Instead, they claim that he sacrificed his life to save hundreds of other lives which would have been lost had he ejected from the aircraft and left the plane to crash into an overcrowded area. They investigate and learn that the crash was due to a corrupt defence minister (Mohan Agashe), who had signed a contract exchanging cheap and illegal MiG 21 aircraft spare parts for a personal favor. To their surprise, they also learn that the key person who was responsible for effecting this deal was Karan's father, Rajnath Singhania (Anupam Kher).

Discontent with the situation, the group and their supporters decide to protest peacefully at India Gate, a war memorial in New Delhi, India. Police forcefully breaks up their protest and in the process, Rathod's mother (Waheeda Rehman) is severely hurt. These young men decide that they must emulate the early freedom fighters and resort to violence to achieve justice. They kill the defence minister to avenge Rathod's death. The minister is speculated to have been killed by terrorists and is hailed as a martyr by the media. To bring forth the true story, the group decides to go public through a radio station. Before they do so, Karan murders his father for his corrupt actions. DJ, Sukhi, Karan, Pandey and Aslam forcibly take over the All India Radio station premises. Karan goes on air and reveals the truth about the defence minister and his wrongdoings. While still on the air, they are all killed in an ambush by the police and commandos.

Cast

Production

Rakeysh Mehra, whose last commercial film was Aks (2001), came up with several ideas for his next venture. While one story was about a group of youngsters that worked in an automobile repair shop, the other was about the life of Bhagat Singh, an Indian freedom revolutionary.^[6] Shortly thereafter, his survey with a group of youngsters in New Delhi and Mumbai showed that the sense of "patriotism had blurred."^[6] While his plans of making a film on freedom fighters were dropped due to this reason, another idea emerged in which a British documentary filmmaker on a visit to India realizes that the native youngsters are far more Western than her.^[6] This new story that eventually formed the basis for Rang De Basanti's script was influenced by Mehra's upbringing, youth and experiences over the years.^[7] His want to join the Indian Air Force while in school, his recollections of listening to Independence Day speeches and watching patriotic films such as Mother India (1957) lent originality to the story.^[6] Though Mehra denies that the film is autobiographical, he confesses that his friends and he are present in the characters. Inclusive of three years for writing the script, Mehra took seven years to research aspects for the story.^[7] When doubts were expressed on Mehra's morale after his last film's failure at the box office, he retorted by saying that it did not affect him at all and his new film will not follow that style.^[8] He added that not only his storytelling technique improved, but also past mistakes helped him improve his filmmaking abilities.^[6] Although not willing to disclose much, he hinted that the film will be "very bright and contemporary in terms of language and identity"^[7] and "it has a very strong message at the end."^[7]

Having an appreciation for the films produced by Angad Paul, the son of Lord Swaraj Paul, an India-born, British-based businessman, Mehra approached the former. Angad, who was keen to work in India, liked his film's idea and agreed to produce the film.^[9] An announcement made at the end of March 2004^[10] suggested that the film would be made bilingually in English (as Paint it Yellow) and Hindi.^[8]; the English version was later dropped. In response, Mehra said that English language felt alien and that "one can tell a film in just one language."^[6]

After the English version was dropped, writer Kamlesh Pandey, who was until then establishing himself as a writer,^[11] wrote the first draft for the film in Hindi.^[6] Thereafter Mehra and co-writer Rensil D’Silva took over the script and worked on it for about two years.^[6] Subsequently he decided to produce the film along with another producer. This producer, whose identity was not revealed by Mehra, did not spend anything on the film. With only two months away from the onset of the filming schedule, the financial aspect looked uncertain for Mehra. However after Aamir Khan agreed to act in the film, Mehra approached Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Motion Pictures with the script.^[6] Screwvala, who supported Mehra from the beginning of the film's production, apparently had faith in the film.^[12] He reasoned that in historical films, "the treatment and execution is very different from regular masala fare,"^[13] and that such films "find favour with the audience owing to their elaborate sets and period costumes."^[13] Mehra revealed that the film's budget was Rs. 25 crores,^[1] and added that despite the fact that he went a little over the budget, UTV did not cause any hindrance to him.^[6] The combination of David Reid and Adam Bohling, who had previously worked for films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), were hired thereafter. After joining the team as the executive producers for the film,^[1] Bohling and Reid said:

Prasoon Joshi not only wrote some of the film's soundtracks, but also the dialogues for the film.^[14] His first venture into dialogue-writing brought him an award nomination at the annual Star Screen Awards.^[15]

Casting

Aamir Khan agreed to act in the film immediately after reading Mehra's script.^[1] His character, according to Mehra, was of a simple man with a strong sense of integrity and dignity.^[9] For the character in his late twenties, Khan lost about 10 kilograms (22 lb) after following a strict diet and exercise regime.^[1] Speaking about Khan, Mehra thought that despite him being a acclaimed actor, he showed no such airs, and instead he was someone who put a lot of thought behind his character.^[1] Besides Khan, at the time of the film's announcement, Atul Kulkarni and Kunal Kapoor were to form the male cast.^[9] Rang De Basanti's script was being written when Kapoor was the assistant director to Mehra during the filming of Aks.^[16] Upon the announcement of his presence in the film, he expressed his happiness in portraying the character he wanted to.^[16] Kulkarni, who was given biographies and the autobiography of Ram Prasad Bismil (a freedom fighter) as preparation for his character by Mehra,^[17] was appreciated by the latter for his approach to acting and was said to be the most uncomplicated actor.^[1] Besides these three, it was reported that actors Arjun Rampal^[18] and Arjan Bajwa^[19] were also a part of the cast. However, Sharman Joshi, Siddharth Narayan and R. Madhavan played the other male characters. Joshi, who felt that this film would push him to the core of the film industry, confessed that the presence of his co-actors Khan, Madhavan and Kulkarni inspired him to do his best.^[20] On the other hand, Siddharth's foray into Bollywood was an unexpected one. When he was enjoying the success of his Telugu film, Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005), he was not looking beyond the local film industry. It was only after he received a call from Mehra's office and subsequently read the film's script, he decided not to miss the opportunity. Siddharth, having worked as an assistant director previously, was all praise for Mehra's filmmaking abilities and he reportedly said that he was "by far the most ambitious technical film-maker in Indian cinema".^[21] Madhavan, a well-known Tamil cinema actor who played the role of a fighter aircraft pilot, thought that it was amazing to work with Khan.^[22] At a press conference, he was once asked as to why he chose to play a small role in Aamir Khan's film. To this, he replied that from the day he read the script, he was convinced about the film's potential and hence wanted to be a part of it.^[23] Besides the main cast, there is Om Puri, a veteran actor, who appears in only two scenes in the film. About this, he did not have any regrets of doing them and further added that it would be a film "that knocks the lid off all definitions of art and commercial cinema."^[24]

After Mehra saw Soha Ali Khan and Alice Patten during the casting, he reportedly said, "I fell in love with both -- they were just so perfect for the roles."^[25] Patten felt that it was a well-written, contemporary story and that her character had depth. After the auditioning, she was flown to Mumbai for a screen test with entire cast. After she got back home to United Kingdom, she was informed of her selection for the role of the British documentary filmmaker.^[26] On the other hand, Soha was chosen to enact the character of the pilot's fiancé. While Rang De Basanti was being filmed, Soha was also acting in Rituparna Ghosh's Antarmahal and David Dhawan's comedy Shaadi No. 1. Despite the fact that Antarmahal contained a lot of emotional scenes that left her exhausted, she made sure not to show shades of that character in her other two films. To ensure this, she "had to undergo a lot of personal overhauling to get into the characters of [her] next films."^[27] Along side the two lead actresses, Kirron Kher plays mother to Khan's character. She was convinced that the film would be a path-breaking cult film.^[25] While filming, it was reported that actors Siddharth Narayan and Soha were romantically involved with each other.^[28]

Filming

The filming schedule lasted six months beginning February 2005. When shooting first began, Mehra made an announcement to his crew saying that they would enjoy their holiday only in July.^[1] The film, which was shot in New Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Punjab,^[29] was officially launched at a hotel on February 1, 2005.^[30]

Instead of filming at the actual locations from the script, other locations were selected for picturisation. One such scene is where Soha Ali Khan is filmed at the Indian Habitat Center that masquerades as the Delhi University. On similar lines, New Delhi's Modern School at Barakhamba Road served as the location for all the scenes pertinent to All India Radio station, which is shown to be stormed by the youngsters in the film.^[31] The Delhi Tourism department felt that if the city's tourism gets promoted, they'd rather support such activities. However, they dropped short of this offer when it came to any filming near India Gate due to the ensuing bureaucratic paperwork.^[31] Similar issues with bureaucracy were faced by Mehra while filming at the Jaipur Fort. To use a historical location for filming, they had to seek permissions of seven different officials ranging from the local police to the Archaeological Survey of India office.^[32] Nahargarh Fort, which oversees the city of Jaipur, was another such historical location where filming for one of the songs was done.^[33] Besides these locations, the filming was also done at Amritsar's Golden Temple. For Aamir Khan, a Muslim by belief, it was for the first time that he was playing a North Indian Punjabi character and hence it took him some time to get the right dialect and diction.^[34] While speaking about his experience of visiting the temple for the first time, he said:

Once the locations were finalized, the team of Lovleen Bains and Arjun Bhasin was chosen for designing the look of the film. Bhasin had previously worked for Mira Nair's film, Kama Sutra (1996) and Farhan Akhtar's contemporary film, Dil Chahta Hain (2001) that featured Aamir Khan. He was referred to Mehra by Khan due to their previous association. Since the film start men in their late twenties, Bhasin designed their look accordingly. Though he was responsible for Khan's rebellious look, Sharman Joshi's (who played Sukhi) lovable persona or Madhavan's dignified appearance, Bhasin credited Bains for her major contributions to the film.^[35] Khan's hair was styled by Avan Contractor, who came up with soft curls falling over Khan's forehead. This new look, which took Contractor one hour to come up with, surprised the audience at the film's launch.^[30]

In post-production, the visual effects were handled by Tata Elxsi's Visual Computing Labs. The military plane they created for the film was so realistic that the Indian Air Force called to check the producer's permission of using an actual plane.^[36]

Music

The soundtrack of Rang De Basanti, which was released by Sony BMG, featured music composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi^[37] and Blaaze, an Indian-based rapper.^[38] From the film's announcement in April 2005, Rahman was slated to compose the music.^[9] He once said in a press conference that pop singer Nelly Furtado was to feature in the soundtrack. However, change in producers and other factors resulted in her not featuring in any of the tracks.^[39] Aamir Khan, with his useful knowledge of Hindi and Urdu,^[40] worked together with Rahman and Joshi for the film's soundtrack.^[29] In addition, Mehra and Rahman chose him to sing for one of the soundtracks.^[41]

Joshi, one of the lyricists, was impressed with the director, Rakeysh Mehra, who was ready to adjust to his style of writing and creativity.^[37] Confessing that the film's soundtrack was his favorite out of all his previous work, Joshi felt that it "was a wonderful experience getting to know the mindset of today’s youth and to pen down their feelings."^[42] Speaking about one of his songs, Luka Chuppi, in which veteran Lata Mangeshkar sang a duet with Rahman for the first time,^[29] Joshi said that the song was not initially thought of. While discussing the scene about a mother's loss of her son with Rahman, he had come up with lyrics that suggest of both of them playing hide-and-seek with the sad reality of the son being hidden forever.^[43]

Release

After expectations of its box-office success from the media, the movie premiered around the world on January 26, 2006.^[47] The film, which was scheduled to release two weeks prior to its theatrical release, faced ire from several organizations because of certain controversial scenes. The film contained scenes of a MIG-21, a controversial airplane in the Indian Air Force, which has a long history of fatal accidents in India. Promptly, the Indian Defence Ministry raised concerns and this caused the Indian censor board to urge the filmmakers to seek clearance from the ministry.^[48] Accordingly, Khan and Mehra screened the film for the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee along with other top officials from the armed forces.^[49] One Air Force official reportedly said that it was "not a review, but a preview."^[49] After the special screening, the defence ministry did not insist on any cuts, but upon their recommendation, more names were added to the slide that dedicates the film to deceased MIG pilots.^[50] After this clearance, the Animal Welfare Board raised objections on the use of animals in the film. Though the filmmakers had obtained No-Objection-Certificate from the board officials, Maneka Gandhi, a well-known animal rights activist and member of the welfare board, found flaws in this certificate.^[51] Subsequently, this certificate was revoked and with only a few days left for the world premiere, Mehra personally requested Gandhi to re-consider her objection. After another viewing, the board cleared their objection stating that the use of animals in the film was natural and justified. However, after they recommended the deletion of a 20 second scene that depicted a banned horse race conducted by the Nihang Sikhs, the filmmakers deleted this scene.^[52]^[53] A woman whose son was killed when his MIG-21 airplane crashed, objected to the film's release becaue she believed that the film was loosely based on her son's life and the producers should have shown her the film. In response, Kamlesh Pandey, one of the writers of the film, said that the film was not inspired by the woman's son.^[54]

The film was screened at several international film festivals. In 2006, it premiered in France with the Lyon Asiexpo Film Festival,^[55] the Wisconsin Film Festival,^[56] and the Morocco-based International Film Festival of Marrakech.^[57] As a part of the publicity, the cast, including Khan, visited prominent University campuses in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune with an intention of interacting with the students.^[58] After hiring international experts for the film's publicity,^[59] the marketing expenditure for the film grew to 40% of the total production budget of Rs. 25 crores. This expenditure was unprecedented in Bollywood because usually the Indian filmmakers spend only about 5% of their production budget on marketing.^[60] Out of the Rs. 10 crore (100 million) marketing campaign, Rs. 2 crore (20 million) came from the producers while the rest was obtained through brand tie-ups and partnering.^[61]

The soundtrack, which was first released commercially in early December 2005, met with good success. Since Rahman's last musical success, Saathiya, was back in 2002, there were many expectations from the media.^[62] Though it received above average ratings in the reviews after its release,^[63]^[64]^[65] the soundtrack was well-appreciated by the audiences in subsequent time. Not only that one of the tracks Masti ki paatshaala (translation: Classroom of Fun) was reportedly voted as the 'Song of the year' for 2006 by leading Indian television channels,^[66] but also two tracks were to be considered for an Academy Award nomination.^[67]

Prior to its theatrical release, the producers tied up with several top brands to help in the marketing the film. An alliance was formed with The Coca-Cola Company by releasing special edition bottles to commemorate the film's release, a first of its kind in Bollywood. Besides this, the music CDs and cassettes were co-branded with the cola company along with the launch of the sale of collectibles from the film.^[68] Provogue, a well-known clothing retail chain in India, launched a special limited edition clothing merchandise targeting the youth of India.^[69] Besides these, the producers joined hands with LG Group, Berger Paints, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Petroleum.^[61] The producers tied up with several media partners such as MSN India, Channel V and Radio Mirchi to further enhance their marketing efforts.^[70] A video game launched by an Indian mobile content company was based on an adaptation of the film's plot.^[71]

In India, The Hindu reported that with audiences from the metropolitan cities turning out in large numbers, film was notching up record collections in its opening week.^[72] Accordingly, 55% of the film's revenues came from multiplexes in these cities.^[73] While the opening week box-office collections from Mumbai, the home of Bollywood, were reported to be over Rs. 4 crores, theaters in New Delhi earned about Rs. 2 crores. Throughout the country, the cumulative collections in the first week was about Rs. 8 crores. Overseas collections from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia were collectively put at over Rs. 6 crores for the same week.^[72] Released in about 60 theaters in United States, while the film's opening weekend grossed about $700,000, it ended up in earning $2.2 million in 10 weeks of its screening.^[2] With $27 million alone coming from the Indian territory, the film earned $30 million worldwide.^[2]

Within a week of the film's theatrical release, pirated copies of the film priced at Rs. 1 crore were seized at an Indian airport.^[74] A report carried out by The Times of India highlighted piracy on the internet where movies like Rang De Basanti could be downloaded freely.^[75] To counter this, UTV Motion Pictures launched anti-piracy raids on local retailers in New York City, Houston and Dallas, which consist of a fairly large Indian diaspora. This was to ensure that there would be no pirated DVD sales before its intended DVD release on March 15, 2006.^[76] The DVD release broke sales records: sales was the highest selling title of its time, selling more than 70,000 copies in six months time. The DVD and its corresponding VCD release earned Rs. 30 billion.^[77]

Reception

Critics gave the film a positive response, in particular the ensemble cast's performance and credibility. Though the Indian Express spoke positively of the cinematography and the film's story, it noted that "the message that the film carries with it tends to get diluted towards the climax.^[78] Praising the film's cast for its performance and the cinematography of Binod Pradhan, the reviewer wrote that the film would be successful with the urban audiences.^[78] The Hindustan Times summarized the film as being a "well-scripted, skilfully crafted [and] thought-provoking entertainer."^[79] A Rediff.com reviewer, while appreciating the music, cinematography, dialogues and art direction, thought that films like this can easily get into "preachiness"; this did not happen and Mehra could get his message across well.^[80] The Hindu appreciated script writer, Pandey, for writing a story that would have been a difficult film to make, but it added by saying that the transformation of the youngsters into heroes seemed poetic. Besides this, though the screenplay, direction and the cast were also well-appreciated, the reviewer felt that Rahman's soundtrack lacked pace.^[81]

The film received mixed reviews from critics outside India. The reviewer from The Daily Telegraph thought that it was neither a typical Bollywood movie with the song-and-dance routines, nor a Western movie relying on character, dialogue and plot, and this might end up as a film that will please neither audience.^[82] The review from the BBC gave it a five star rating and added that it was "an entertaining mix of romance, history and social commentary."^[3] Though the San Francisco Chronicle spoke highly of the film's production values, the music and the cast, it baulks at certain flaws in the film making such as Mehra's muddled message of political assassination and poorly-developed characters and situations.^[83] Derek Elley of Variety praised the technical crew and though he positively reviewed A. R. Rahman's music, he said it will remain unmemorable. Despite these points, he says that "the movie remains disengaging at a personal, emotional level",^[84] thereby weakening the climax. The Bloomberg website wrote positively about "the raw energy of a young cast and A. R. Rahman's splendidly rousing soundtrack."^[85]

Since the film "reflected contemporary Indian reality and had cinematic excellence", it was chosen as India's official entry for the 79th Academy Awards despite a stiff competition from films such as Krrish, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Omkara and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.^[86]^[87] While discussing if the selection committee's choice was correct, critics felt that the Academy members could have better related with Omkara, an adaptation of Shakespeare's play Othello.^[79]^[88] Despite these qualms and Mehra's belief that his film didn't stand a chance at the Oscars,^[89] the efforts to publicize the film in the United States began earnestly. Music composer, A. R. Rahman performed several concerts across its East Coast to promote the film. Besides his efforts, producer Screwvala planned to utilize resources and expertise from his partners in 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Pictures for organizing its publicity efforts.^[90] When the nominations in the foreign film category didn't feature this film, it sparked off debates on whether the film should have been India's entry to the Oscars. In one such debate on a television channel that involved Screwvala, the selection committee was questioned about its knowledge of the requisite artistic criteria for such award ceremonies. While one outcome of the debate was on how Omkara would have been a better choice, the other discussed about the West-centric sensibilities of the Academy members. However, results from a simultaneously conducted SMS poll indicated that 62% felt that the film was the right choice to the Oscars.^[91]

Social influence

Before and after the film's release, the Indian society was influenced by the film. A study of the bloggers' behavioral patterns during the first month of the film's release revealed that there was a significant increase in government and politicians drawing ire for their inefficiency in proving basic amenities, corruption, bureaucracy. Intense political discussions spurred on by the film's influence was observed in these patterns.^[99] While commenting on the movie sparking discussions among people, writer D'Silva said that "it has struck a chord somewhere."^[100] Besides instigating political thought and discussions, it evoked social awakening for many. While some discussions rallied on how the citizens should support and contribute to non-governmental organizations to exercising simple citizen duties of paying taxes and voting, the others contemplated on how to become more responsible towards the country.^[101] Several young Indians could relate to the movie because it spoke their language and evoked patriotism from them.^[102]

While such reactions were observed on the Internet, youth activism took to streets to protest on public interest issues. A direct impact was on the 1999 Jessica Lall Murder Case, one of the high-profile murder cases in India. After the court judgment a month after the film's release, the main accused as identified by many witnesses was acquitted because of inefficient prosecution and hostile witnesses.^[103] The acquittal of the main accused sparked intense civil protests and media campaigns that sought his re-arrest. Taking cue from the scene in which the protagonists carry out a silent, candlelight vigil at New Delhi's India Gate, one such group of demonstrators carried out a similar rally to voice their protest.^[104] Shortly after the protests, a survey was conducted to assess reasons for the sudden upsurge in people's social involvements. 18% of the respondents felt that movies like Rang De Basanti was the main reason behind it.^[105] Another such massive youth activism was seen in the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case where similar rallies were organized in India, United States and around the world.^[106]^[107] Another social outcry, after the release of the film, was against introduction of reservation for socially backward classes in educational institutions. Young doctors and engineers joined hands in peaceful rallies in major cities across India.^[108]

In the Indian media, frequent referencing of the film was evident with many brands utilizing pictorials from the movie.^[109] In addition, the media also uses the terms "RDB" (abbreviated title of the movie) and "RDB effect" while referring to instances of public activism on matters of public interest.^[110] When the 2007 Delhi University Student Elections focused more on the important issues facing the students unlike the previous years, one among them referred to this as the "RDB Syndrome".^[111] On similar lines a play, which was influenced by the film, is based on the "RDB effect". The play's storyline focuses on a young Indian expatriate whose life changes after watching this film.^[112]

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