Celebrating ‘Rang De Basanti’ - This classic Bollywood film was released 2 decades ago on January 26

On January 26, 2006, ‘Rang De Basanti’ hit theatres across India, and the rest is history. The iconic patriotic film is still revered as one of the most iconic movies in cinema, and rightfully so. Born from the mind of famed director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the film still serves as a relevant message in today’s day and age. The film starts with a couple of college students starring in a film project without a care in the world. Slowly, as one thing after the other unfolds, their eyes open to the reality of the world, which includes corruption and injustice. After someone close to them passes away because of such practices, they choose to take action in their own way to get justice. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the director of ‘Rang De Basanti’, was betting a lot on his second directorial film of his career. While talking to PTI recently about the film’s anniversary, Mehra shared that the team went through a lot of struggles to get the beloved film out on the big screen. He shared that the project had been in development for almost two years, since he had a hard time trying to find funding. He praised his team for sticking around for that long, despite not knowing whether ‘Rang De Basanti’ would ever come to fruition or not. Not only that, but after development, the film was even banned. He shared his experience with the matter, citing that “Rang De Basanti' was banned. We fought it out. Then, finally, the establishment saw the intention of the film. The film was viewed by the then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, and the three heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force in a theatre in Delhi. So, it had gone up to that level. You don't tell stories thinking about whether they will be allowed (to release) or not. Then stories will never come out if you think of the result and not the process.”The story revolves around a British filmmaker who comes to India to make a film on 5 freedom fighters after finding out about them in her grandfather’s diary. She recruits a group of carefree college students to star in her film. As things unfold and somebody close to them is affected because of the government’s corruption, they transform from these carefree people to these people who seek justice and find their purpose. The film, even 20 years later, serves as a reminder of the patriotic spirit of the youth and how important they are to bring change in society. The film starred names like Atul Kulkarni, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Alice Patten, Waheeda Rehman, and Soha Ali Khan.