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== Reception ==
== Reception ==

Critics gave the film a positive response, in particular the ensemble cast's performance and credibility. Though the ''[[Indian Express]]'' spoke well about the film's story terming it as a "transition of the five friends from meaningless to meaningful existence",<ref name="IE_review">{{cite news|title=Movie Review: Rang De Basanti|last=Adarsh|first=Tarun|publisher=[[Indian Express]]|date=[[2006-01-26]]|url=http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=62035|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref> it noted sadly that "the message that the film carries with it tends to get diluted towards the climax."<ref name="IE_review"/> Praising the film for its performances and the cinematography (of Binod Pradhan), the review said that the film will do good business in multiplexes alone.<ref name="IE_review"/> The ''[[Hindustan Times]]'' summarized the film as being a "well-scripted, skilfully crafted [and] thought-provoking entertainer."<ref name"HT_review">{{cite news|title=Is Rang De Basanti India's best bet?|last=Chatterjee|first=Saibal|publisher=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=[[2006-09-26]]|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=e3446020-b25f-40db-8ee1-b88eafffd885|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref> [[Rediff.com]], while appreciating the music, cinematography, dialogues and art direction, said that films like this can easily get into "preachiness". But, the reviewer expressed happiness that this did not happen and Mehra could get his message across well.<ref name"rediff_review">{{cite news|title=Rang De Basanti: young and restless|last=Sivaswamy|first=Saisuresh|publisher=[[Rediff.com]]|date=[[2006-01-26]]|url=http://in.rediff.com/movies/2006/jan/26rdb.htm|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref>

Similar reviews were written by critics outside India as well. The reviewer from [[The Daily Telegraph]] said 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.<ref name"telegraph_review">{{cite news|title=Cut to the quick|last=Foster|first=Peter|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=[[2006-01-27]]|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=F11&blog=asia&xml=/news/2006/01/27/blasia27.xml|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref> The review from the [[BBC]] gave it a [[Star (classification)|five star]] rating and said that it was "an entertaining mix of romance, history and social commentary."<ref>{{cite news|title=Movie Review: Rang De Basanti (Paint It Saffron)|last=Pandohar|first=Jaspreet|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=[[2006-01-25]]|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2006/01/27/rang_de_basanti_2006_review.shtml?display=1|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref> Though the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' spoke highly about the film's production values, the music and the cast, it baulks at certain flaws in the film making. It speaks about Mehra's muddled message of political assassination with poorly developed characters and situations.<ref>{{cite news|title=Movie Review: Rang De Basanti|last=Johnson|first=G. Allen|publisher=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=[[2006-05-05]]|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/05/DDGHDIL8KO1.DTL#flick|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref> Derek Elley of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' praised the technical crew and though he wrote well about [[A. R. Rahman]]'s music, he said it will remain unmemorable. Despite these fine points, he says that "the movie remains disengaging at a personal, emotional level",<ref>{{cite news|title=Rang De Basanti Review|last=Elley|first=Derek|publisher=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=[[2006-02-05]]|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117929483.html?categoryId=31&cs=1|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref> thereby weakening the climax. The [[Bloomberg]] website wrote good about "the raw energy of a young cast and A. R. Rahman's splendidly rousing soundtrack."<ref>{{cite news|title=Aamir Khan's `Rang de Basanti' Has Raw Energy: Movie Review|last=Mohideen|first=Nabeel|publisher=Bloomberg.com|date=[[2006-02-01]]|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=aLgKdgt4AprM&refer=culture|accessdate =2008-03-23}}</ref>

Besides the 2007 [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] [[BAFTA Awards|Awards]] nomination for the [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film not in English language]],<ref name="hindu_BAFTA">{{cite news|accessdate=2008-03-21|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200701122168.htm
Besides the 2007 [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] [[BAFTA Awards|Awards]] nomination for the [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film not in English language]],<ref name="hindu_BAFTA">{{cite news|accessdate=2008-03-21|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200701122168.htm
|title=Rang De Basanti gets BAFTA nomination|date=[[2007-01-12]]|work=The Hindu}}</ref> ''Rang De Basanti'' won several awards at the annual [[India]]-based [[Filmfare Awards]] in the same year. It won awards in [[Filmfare Best Movie Award|Best Movie]], [[Filmfare Best Director Award|Best Director]], [[Filmfare Best Music Director Award|Best Music Director]], [[Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance|Critics Best Performance - Male]] (Aamir Khan), [[Filmfare Best Editing Award|Best Editing]] (P. S. Bharathi), [[Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award|Best Cinematography]] (Binod Pradhan) and [[Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent|RD Burman Award for New Music]] ([[Naresh Iyer]]) categories.<ref name="TOI_BAFTA">{{cite news|accessdate=2008-03-21|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Rang_De_Basanti_sweeps_Filmfare_awards/articleshow/1676126.cms
|title=Rang De Basanti gets BAFTA nomination|date=[[2007-01-12]]|work=The Hindu}}</ref> ''Rang De Basanti'' won several awards at the annual [[India]]-based [[Filmfare Awards]] in the same year. It won awards in [[Filmfare Best Movie Award|Best Movie]], [[Filmfare Best Director Award|Best Director]], [[Filmfare Best Music Director Award|Best Music Director]], [[Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance|Critics Best Performance - Male]] (Aamir Khan), [[Filmfare Best Editing Award|Best Editing]] (P. S. Bharathi), [[Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award|Best Cinematography]] (Binod Pradhan) and [[Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent|RD Burman Award for New Music]] ([[Naresh Iyer]]) categories.<ref name="TOI_BAFTA">{{cite news|accessdate=2008-03-21|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Rang_De_Basanti_sweeps_Filmfare_awards/articleshow/1676126.cms

Revision as of 16:34, 23 March 2008

Rang De Basanti
A generation awakens
Directed byRakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Written byRenzil D'Silva,
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Produced byRakeysh Omprakash Mehra,
Deven Khote,
Ronnie Screwvala
StarringAamir Khan,
R. Madhavan,
Alice Patten,
Soha Ali Khan
Waheeda Rehman,
Siddharth Narayan,
Kunal Kapoor,
Atul Kulkarni,Sharman Joshi
Music byA. R. Rahman
Distributed byUTV Motion Pictures
Release dates
January 26, 2006
Running time
157 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesHindi, Punjabi
BudgetRs. 300M (estimated)

Rang De Basanti (Hindi: रंग दे बसंती, Urdu: رنگ دے بسنتی, IAST: Raṅg De Basantī; IPA: [rəŋg d̪e bəsənt̪i], translation: Paint It Saffron[1]) is an Indian film, which was released on 26th January 2006. It was directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (of Aks fame) and stars Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, British actress Alice Patten, Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri, Kiron Kher and Anupam Kher. The music is by A. R. Rahman and the album went on to become a chartbuster. The movie was well-received all over the globe.

While the film was India's entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film Category, it did not make the shortlist for either ceremony. It was, however, nominated for "Best Film Not In The English Language" at the BAFTA Awards in 2006, where it lost to Pan's Labyrinth. However, Rang De Basanti won the best movie award at the 2007 Filmfare Awards.

Synopsis

Struggling British filmmaker Sue McKinley (Alice Patten) comes to India after reading the diary of her grandfather Mr. McKinley (Steven Mackintosh), who served in the British Empire during the Indian independence movement. She plans to make a short film about some of the unsung revolutionary heroes of this independence movement based on the written account of her grandfather. Her friend, Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) helps her find four young men to act in the film: Daljit a.k.a. DJ (Aamir Khan), Karan Singhania (Siddharth), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) and Sukhi (Sharman Joshi).

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. As these young men learn more about the history of the Independence movement during filmmaking, they lose their cynicism and start to consider what they can contribute to society.

During such a time, 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 don't 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 safely, leaving the aircraft to crash in an overcrowded area. They investigate and learn that the crash was due to a corrupt Defense minister (Mohan Agashe). Through Rajnath Singhania (Anupam Kher), Karan's father, he had signed a contract for cheap, spurious MiG 21 aircraft spare parts in return for a personal favor.

Not content to accept this as "just the way things are done", the group and their supporters decide to protest peacefully at India Gate, a war memorial in New Delhi, India. Police forcefully break up their protest and in the process, Rathod's mother (Waheeda Rehman) gets severely hurt. These young men decide that they must emulate the early freedom fighters and resort to violence to achieve justice. They kill the defense minister to avenge Rathod's death. The minister is speculated to be killed by terrorists and instead, he is considered a martyr by the media. To bring forth the true story, the group decide 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 speaks out the truth about the defense minister and his wrong doings. While the world is listening to this, they are all killed in an ambush by the police and the commandos.

Cast

Production

Rakeysh Mehra, an advertisement director, whose first film was Aks (2001), came up with several ideas for his next venture. While one such story was about a group of youngsters, who worked in an automobile garage shop, the other was about the life of Bhagat Singh, an Indian freedom revolutionary.[2] Shortly thereafter, his survey with a group of youngsters in New Delhi and Mumbai suggested that the sense of "patriotism had blurred".[2] As a result, while his plans of making a film on freedom fighters were dropped, another one cropped up. This new story, which eventually formed the base for Rang De Basanti's script, spoke of a British documentary filmmaker, who on her visit to India, realizes that the youngsters are far more Western than her.[2] He added that this story came from his upbringing, youth and experiences over the years.[3] He said that 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) brought originality to his story.[2] He, however, denied that the film was not autobiographical, but confessed that he and his friends are present in the characters. When asked about the extent of time he took in coming up with the story, he said that for researching aspects of the story, it took him seven years inclusive of three years for writing it.[3] The filming was intended to be done bilingually in English (as Paint it Yellow) and Hindi.[4] In early 2004, doubts were expressed on Mehra's morale after his previous film, Aks, did not fare well at the box office. To this, he replied that its failure did not affect him at all and added that Rang De Basanti will not follow that style.[4] He also added that his storytelling technique had improved and that he had learned from his past mistakes.[2] Though not willing to disclose much, he said that the film will be "very bright and contemporary in terms of language and identity"[3] and that "it has a very strong message at the end."[3]

Having appreciated the films produced by Angad Paul, son of Lord Swaraj Paul, an Indian-based, British-born businessman, Mehra approached the former in his office. Angad, who was keen to work in India, liked his idea and agreed to produce the film.[5] Accordingly, an announcement for the film bilingually followed at the end of March 2004.[6] However, after working on the film's draft in English, the idea of filming it was dropped. Mehra said that the language felt alien and that "one can tell a film in just one language."[2]

ज़िंदगी जीने के सिर्फ़ दो ही तरीके होते हैं । एक, जो हो रहा है होने दो, बरदाश्त करते जाओ । या फिर ज़िम्मेदारी उठाओ उसे बदलने की। (translation: There are only two ways to live life: Tolerate things the way they are... Or, take responsibility to change them)
File:DJ Karan RDB.jpg
One of Prasoon Joshi's dialogues in the film that brought him an award nomination. (l-r) Daljeet Singh (Aamir Khan) and Karan Singhania (Siddharth Narayan) at the All India Radio station.
CharacterDaljeet Singh
ActorAamir Khan
First used inRang De Basanti

After the idea of an English version was dropped, writer Kamlesh Pandey, who was until then establishing himself as a writer,[7] wrote the first draft for the film in Hindi.[2] Thereafter, Mehra and co-writer Rensil D’Silva took over the script and worked on it for about two years. Subsequently, he decided to produce the film along with another producer. This producer, according to him, did not spend anything on the film, and with only two months away from the onset of the filming schedule, all looked hazy for Mehra. However, after Aamir Khan agreed to act in the film, Mehra approached Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Motion Pictures with his script.[2] Screwvala, the eventual co-producer of the film, who backed him from beginning, said in one of his interviews about the faith he had in Mehra's film.[8] He reasoned out that in historical films, "the treatment and execution is very different from regular masala fare,"[9] and that such films "find favour with the audience owing to their elaborate sets and period costumes."[9] Mehra said that the film's budget was Rs. 25 crores,[10] and added that despite the fact that they went over the budget, UTV did not say anything.[2] Mehra further hired the combination of David Reid and Adam Bohling, who had previously worked for films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). After joining his team as the executive producers for the film,[10] Bohling and Reid, according to Mehra, said:

The only reason we're here, suffering in the heat with you and accepting half the salaries we are used to out there is just because of your script. We don't know who is who in your film; we've never seen a Hindi film. But your script turned us on, and we're here to work on it.[10]

Prasoon Joshi, who composed the film's soundtrack and background music, began writing dialogues for the first time with this film.[11] This first venture of his brought him an award nomination at the annual Star Screen Awards.[12]

Casting

Aamir Khan agreed to act in the film immediately after reading Mehra's script.[10] His character, according to Mehra, was of a simple man with a strong sense of integrity and dignity.[5] For the character in his late twenties, Khan lost about 10 kilograms (22 lb) after following a strict diet and exercise regime.[10] Speaking about Khan, Mehra said that despite him being a big star showed no such airs and, instead he was someone who puts a lot of thought behind his character.[10] Besides Khan, at the time of the film's announcement, Atul Kulkarni and Kunal Kapoor were said to form the male cast.[5] Rang De Basanti's script was being written when Kapoor was the assistant director to Mehra during the filming of Aks.[13] Upon the announcement of his presence in the film, he expressed his happiness in portraying the character he wanted to.[13] Kulkarni, who was given biographies and the autobiography of Ram Prasad Bismil (a freedom fighter) as preparation for his character by Mehra,[14] was appreciated by the latter for his approach to acting and was said to be the most uncomplicated actor.[10] Besides these three, it was reported that actors Arjun Rampal[15] and Arjan Bajwa[16] 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.[17] 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 said that he was "by far the most ambitious technical film-maker in Indian cinema".[18] Madhavan, a well-known Tamil cinema actor who played the role of a fighter aircraft pilot, said in an interview that it was amazing to work with Khan.[19] 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 said 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.[20] 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 said that it would be a film "that knocks the lid off all definitions of art and commercial cinema."[21]

After Mehra saw Soha Ali Khan, daughter of yesteryear actress, Sharmila Tagore, and Alice Patten, a British actor, during the casting, he said, "I fell in love with both -- they were just so perfect for the roles."[22] Patten, the daughter of Chris Patten, a former Conservative politician and the last Governor of Hong Kong, came from a colonial background. After reading the film's script, she 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.[23] 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. She said that she "had to undergo a lot of personal overhauling to get into the characters of [her] next films."[24] Besides these two lead actresses, there was Kirron Kher, who played mother to Khan's character. She said that acting in the film took her back to schooling days. She was convinced about the film and said that it was a path-breaking, cult film.[22]

Filming

The entire filming schedule lasted six months beginning February 2005. When shooting first began, Mehra made an announcement to his crew saying that they would have holiday only in July.[10] The film, which was shot in New Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Punjab,[25] was officially launched at a hotel on February 1, 2005.[26]

Since the film's story was based on the graduated students from Delhi University, who refuse to evolve from the comfort of their alma mater. However, instead of filming at the actual locations, other locations were picked for the purpose. One such scene is where Soha Ali Khan is filmed at the Indian Habitat Center that masquerades as the 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 these students in the film.[27] In fact, the Delhi Tourism department said 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.[27] 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.[28] Nahargarh Fort, which oversees the city of Jaipur, was another such historical location where filming for one of the songs was done.[29] Besides these locations, the filming was also done at Amritsar's Golden Temple. Aamir Khan, a Muslim by belief, said while speaking about his experience of visiting the temple for the first time:

It's we one of the most peaceful places I've been to. As you enter the place there's a certain serenity that surrounds you. I really enjoyed being there. The first shot we took was of our feet entering the water just as you pass the doorway of the temple. The water was cold but it was great![30]

He further added that 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.[30] While filming, it was reported that actors Siddharth Narayan and Soha were romantically involved with each other. On noticing this, Soha's family comprising of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, a former Indian cricketer, Sharmila Tagore and Saif Ali Khan, an actor himself called Siddharth home to make sure of his intentions.[31]

Coming to the technical department, Lovleen Bains and Arjun Bhasin were the key people in 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 his previous association. After knowing from the script that it was about ex-students in their late twenties, Bhasin developed the actors' 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.[32] Besides Khan's wardrobe, his hairstyle 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.[26] Coming to the special effects in the film, which was handled by Tata Elxsi's Visual Computing Labs, it so happened that the military plane it created for film was so realistic that the Indian Air Force called to check the producer's permission.[33]

Music

Main article: Rang De Basanti (soundtrack)

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[34] and Blaaze, an Indian-based rapper.[35] Rahman was slated to compose the music at the time of the film's announcement in April 2005 itself.[5] Rahman 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 being there on it.[36] Aamir Khan, with his useful knowledge of Hindi and Urdu,[37] worked together with Rahman and Joshi for the film's soundtrack.[25]

Joshi, one of the lyricists, said that he was impressed with the director, Rakeysh Mehra, who was ready to adjust to his style of writing and creativity.[34] Confessing that the film's soundtrack was his favorite out of all his previous work, Joshi said that it "was a wonderful experience getting to know the mindset of today’s youth and to pen down their feelings."[38] Speaking about one of his songs, Luka Chuppi, in which veteran Lata Mangeshkar sang a duet with Rahman for the first time,[25] 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.[39]

Release

After expectations from the media, the movie premiered around the world on January 26, 2006.[40] The film, which was scheduled to release two weeks ago, faced ire from several organizations because of certain controversial scenes. Due to scenes of MIG-21 airplane being shown in the film, the Indian Defence Ministry raised concerns and this prompted the Indian censor board to require the filmmakers to seek clearance from the ministry.[41] One Indian Air Force official said about the film, which was made entirely without the armed forces support, that it was "not a review, but a preview."[42] Accordingly, Khan and Mehra screened the film for the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee along with other top officials from the armed forces.[43] After watching the film, the defence ministry did not recommend any cuts, but upon their recommendation, more names were added to the slide that dedicates the film to deceased MIG pilots.[44] After this clearance, the next hurdle was in the form of the Animal Welfare Board that raised objections on the use of animals in the film. Though the filmmakers had obtained no objection certificate from this board, Maneka Gandhi, a well-known animal rights activist and member of the welfare board, found flaws in this certificate.[45] 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 their recommendation to delete a 20 second scene that depicted a banned horse race, the filmmakers chose to abide by this.[46] Besides these major objections, there was a mother of an Indian Air Force pilot, whose son was killed when his MIG-21 airplane crashed, objected to the film's release. She said that since the film was loosely based on her son's life, her objection was because the producers did not first show her the film. In response, Kamlesh Pandey, one of the writers of the film said Waheeda Rehman's character was not inspired by her.[47]

After scathing through these teething problems, the film had its theatrical release worldwide. Furthermore, the film was screened at several international film festivals. In 2006, it premiered in France with the Lyon Asiexpo Film Festival,[48] the Wisconsin Film Festival,[49] and the Morocco-based International Film Festival of Marrakech.[50] 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.[51] Besides this, the marketing expenditure for the film was 40% of the total production budget of Rs. 25 crores. Screwvala said that this expenditure was unprecedented in Bollywood and added that usually the Indian filmmakers spend only about 5% of their production budget on marketing. They leave the rest to the film distributors, who, although are good at getting films into theaters, but are often out of touch with consumer tastes.[52]

In India, there was a report carried out by The Hindu, a daily newspaper, that said that with audiences from the metropolitan cities turning out in large numbers, film was notching up record collections in its opening week.[53] Not surprisingly, 55% of the film's revenues came from multiplexes from these cities.[54] 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.[53] Released in about 60 theaters in United States, while the film's opening weekend grossed about $700,000, it ended up to earn $2.2 million in 10 weeks of its screening.[55] With $27 million alone coming from the Indian territory, the film earned $30 million as revenues worldwide.[55]

Only within a week of the film's theatrical release, pirated copies of the film that was worth Rs. 1 crore were seized at an Indian airport.[56] Besides this, a report carried out by The Times of India, another daily newspaper, highlighted piracy on the internet where movies like Rang De Basanti could be downloaded freely.[57] 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.[58] As per their previous thoughts, the DVD was released in March 2006. 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. Besides this, the DVD and its corresponding VCD release earned Rs. 30 billion as revenues.[59]

Reception

Critics gave the film a positive response, in particular the ensemble cast's performance and credibility. Though the Indian Express spoke well about the film's story terming it as a "transition of the five friends from meaningless to meaningful existence",[60] it noted sadly that "the message that the film carries with it tends to get diluted towards the climax."[60] Praising the film for its performances and the cinematography (of Binod Pradhan), the review said that the film will do good business in multiplexes alone.[60] The Hindustan Times summarized the film as being a "well-scripted, skilfully crafted [and] thought-provoking entertainer."[61] Rediff.com, while appreciating the music, cinematography, dialogues and art direction, said that films like this can easily get into "preachiness". But, the reviewer expressed happiness that this did not happen and Mehra could get his message across well.[62]

Similar reviews were written by critics outside India as well. The reviewer from The Daily Telegraph said 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.[63] The review from the BBC gave it a five star rating and said that it was "an entertaining mix of romance, history and social commentary."[64] Though the San Francisco Chronicle spoke highly about the film's production values, the music and the cast, it baulks at certain flaws in the film making. It speaks about Mehra's muddled message of political assassination with poorly developed characters and situations.[65] Derek Elley of Variety praised the technical crew and though he wrote well about A. R. Rahman's music, he said it will remain unmemorable. Despite these fine points, he says that "the movie remains disengaging at a personal, emotional level",[66] thereby weakening the climax. The Bloomberg website wrote good about "the raw energy of a young cast and A. R. Rahman's splendidly rousing soundtrack."[67]

Besides the 2007 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards nomination for the Best Film not in English language,[68] Rang De Basanti won several awards at the annual India-based Filmfare Awards in the same year. It won awards in Best Movie, Best Director, Best Music Director, Critics Best Performance - Male (Aamir Khan), Best Editing (P. S. Bharathi), Best Cinematography (Binod Pradhan) and RD Burman Award for New Music (Naresh Iyer) categories.[69]. It also won the prestigious 2007 International Indian Film Academy awards for the Best Movie, Best Supporting Actress (Soha Ali Khan), Best Screenplay (Rensil D'Silva and Rakeysh Mehra) and Best Music among other technical awards.[70][71] Apart from these, the film won eight awards apiece at the 2006 Global Indian Film Awards[72] and 2007 Star Screen Awards[73], and six at the 2007 Zee Cine Awards.[74]

See also

References

  1. ^ Rang De Basanti review - BBC
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jha, Subhash (2006-02-03). "It's so much fun to raise the bar". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-03-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d Sen, Raja (2006-01-12). "Rang De is not a war film". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2008-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b Iyer, Sandhya (2004-04-20). "Mehra to paint the town yellow". The Times of India. Retrieved 2008-03-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  64. ^ Pandohar, Jaspreet (2006-01-25). "Movie Review: Rang De Basanti (Paint It Saffron)". BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  70. ^ "Latest winners and nominees". http://www.iifa.com. International Indian Film Academy. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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  74. ^ "Rakyesh Mehra gets Best Director trophy at the Zee Cine awards". The Hindu. 2007-04-02. Retrieved 2008-03-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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