Rang De Basanti Movie (2006) Interesting Facts, Mistakes

Rang De Basanti Movie Story Summary

The story of six young Indians who assist an English woman to film a documentary on the freedom fighters from their past, and the events that lead them to relive the long-forgotten saga of freedom.

Rang De Basanti Movie Stars

Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Siddharth

Rang De Basanti Movie Storyline

Sue comes to India to make a film on Indian revolutionaries.She is helped by her friend Sonia who introduces her to her friends Karan,Aslam,Sukhi and their head DJ.Sonia's fiance Lt Ajay Rathod also joins the gang when in town.Their gang always gets in trouble with a political member Laxman who opposes their western culture.After many auditions Sue decides to caste DJ and his friend's in her film.She also casts Laxman in a role thus ending his feud with the gang.All things are going well until Ajay dies in plane crash but manages to save everyone on board.The state minister declares that Ajay died due to his own negligence .DJ an his friends can't take shame given to Ajay by minister and decide to fight for justice.Where things will take ugly events due to political games.  

Rang De Basanti Movie Interesting Facts

• 7:30 p.m. was the time when "Bhagat Singh" was hanged to death and it has been captured in the movie. The broken watch of Sue's grandfather shows the same time too.
• Aamir Khan was initially uncertain about taking on the role of DJ, as he was in his 40s and DJ was a 25 year old Punjabi in the film. He eventually accepted, though, and hired a tutor to aid him in Punjabi speech and accents.
• A.R. Rahman worked on the music of this film for three years.
• In India, the color of saffron represents sacrifice. When someone says, "Main rang de basanti", ("paint me saffron") it means that person is ready to be sacrificed for a great cause. Saffron is also a predominant color in the movie.
• India's official entry to the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2007.
• 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.
• Rang De Basanti is based on a poem written by Dushyant Kumar.
• The role played by Siddharth was also initially offered to Farhan Akhtar. But Farhan was not ready to act.
• Arjun Rampal was signed to do the film, but was irritated with director, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's indecisiveness about what he wanted to do with the characters and the script. He called him "very confused" and "unprofessional" and dropped out. Arjun Rampal also stated his regret in even agreeing to do the film in that he lost a lot of good work in the three months he spent committed to it.
• Nelly Furtado was to act and sing in the movie. Once the producers changed, the idea of signing Nelly Furtado was dropped.
• After rejecting the role of DJ, Shah Rukh Khan was also offered the role of Flight Lieutenant Ajay Rathod, but he couldn't do it owing to his busy schedule. Later Madhavan took the part, and this cameo turned out to be the best bet of Madhavan in his career in Bollywood.
• Madhavan, despite being a well-known Tamil cinema actor, took the smaller role of a fighter aircraft pilot because he was convinced of the film's potential and wanted to be a part of it.
• Within a week of the film's theatrical release, illegal copies of the film priced at 10 million Rs. (USD 140,000) were seized at an Indian airport.
• Preity Zinta was offered Soha's role but she declined.
• Shah Rukh Khan was the original pick to play DJ, but the shooting for the film was in Delhi, and Khan was forced to decline because he was shooting Riddle (2005) at the time, and did not want to conflict schedules.
• Rang De Basanti was chosen as India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, though it did not ultimately yield a nomination for either award.
• Hrithik Roshan turned down the role of Karan.
• Randeep Hooda was offered Sharman Joshi's role. Randeep had to turn it down due to Ram Gopal Varma insisting Randeep not work in outside films, since Randeep was in a multi-film contract with Varma.
• The censor board chairman at that time was Sharmila Tagore, mother of Soha Ali Khan (Sonia).
• Rakeysh Mehra took seven years to research and develop the story, including three to write the script.
• Alice Patten was informed that she had won the documentary filmmaker role after she returned home to the United Kingdom.
• While speaking about Aamir experience of visiting the Gurudwara for the first time, he said: It's 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!
• A study of bloggers behavioural patterns during the first month of the film's release revealed a significant increase in public ire towards government and politicians for constantly being mired in corruption and bureaucracy and their inefficiency in providing basic amenities.
• Soha Ali Khan's (Sonia in the film) mother in real life, Sharmila Tagore, was also widowed by an Air Force pilot in her landmark film Aradhana.
• Aamir, Sharman and Madhavan again shared screen as friends in 3 idiots, another praised and successful film which was released in 2009, four years after the release of this film.
• Inspired by the film, Pakistan's national newspaper, Jang, launched a television channel that was to focus on citizens' issues and support public awakening.
• The media uses the terms "RDB" (abbreviated title of the movie) and "RDB effect" while referring to instances of public activism on matters of public interest.
• Doraha Fort , near Ludhiana or popularly known as the RDB fort got its moment of fame after a crucial scene from Rang De Basanti was shot here.
• In May 2014, Rang De Basanti was released on Blu-ray (plus steelbook edition) which is about 8 years after it's theatrical release.
• When Rakesh Mehra started the film in 2002, it was to be a Indo/ British production to be made in English and Hindi. Manoj Bajpayee was signed for Aamir Khan's role and Vivek Oberoi for Siddharth's role. Atul Kulkarni was signed too, but for which role was not specified.
• It received critical acclaim, winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film, and being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2006 BAFTA Awards.
• Mehra gave Kulkarni biographies of Ram Prasad Bismil as preparation, including Bismil's autobiography.
• Om Puri appears in a two-scene cameo as Aslam's staunch Muslim father.
• Soha Ali Khan and Alice Patten immediately became Mehra's clear favourites for each of their roles during casting,[21] which led to Patten flying to Mumbai for a screen test with the entire cast.
• The military aircraft they created was so realistic that the Indian Air Force called to check the producer's permission of using an actual MiG-21.
• The film contained scenes of a MiG-21, a controversial aircraft in the Indian Air Force, which has a long history of fatal accidents in India.
• Rang De Basanti received its world premiere on 26 January 2006, with high expectations that it would be a success with western audiences, though it also faced ire from several organisations because of certain controversial scenes.
• After the special screening, the defence ministry did not insist on any cuts, but on their recommendation more names were added to the slide that dedicates the film to deceased MiG pilots.
• After hiring international experts for the film's publicity, the marketing expenditure for the film grew to 40 percent of the total production budget of 250 million Rs. (USD 3.5 million). This expenditure was unprecedented in Bollywood because usually the Indian filmmakers spend only about five percent of their production budget on marketing.
• 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.
• Shahid Kapoor was offered Siddharth's role but had issues with his character.
• The literal meaning of the title can be translated as "Paint me with the colours of spring".
• Upon release, the film broke all opening box office records in India.
• A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned positive reviews, had two of its tracks considered for an Academy Award nomination.
• Mrs. Kavita Gadgil whose son, late Flight Lieutenant Abhijeet Gadgil was killed when his MiG-21 fighter crashed, objected to the film's release because 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 Abhijeet Gadgil.
• Prashant Narayanan was offered a part but later was dropped from the film.
• Atul Kulkarni and Kunal Kapoor were publicly attached to the film by the time it was officially announced; Kapoor had been the assistant director to Mehra during the filming of Aks and was already familiar with the material Mehra had been developing.
• Having previously worked as an assistant director, Siddharth praised Mehra as being "by far the most ambitious technical filmmaker in Indian cinema".
• The Delhi Tourism department was happy to encourage filming in the city if it helped promote tourism, though any filming near India Gate was prohibited due to the ensuing bureaucratic paperwork.
• 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 stiff competition from films such as Krrish, Omkara, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Lage Raho Munna Bhai.
• Unlike other Indian films with jingoistic overtones, many young Indians could relate well to the characters of this film.
• Soha, portraying the pilot's fiancée, was filming Rituparna Ghosh's Antarmahal and David Dhawan's comedy Shaadi No. 1 concurrently with her work in Rang De Basanti.
• In particular, the demands of Soha's emotional scenes in Antarmahal often left her exhausted, thus requiring "a lot of personal overhauling" to ensure that her performance in Rang De Basanti was unaffected.[2
• To use a historical location for filming, they had to seek permissions of seven officials ranging from the local police to the Archaeological Survey of India office.
• Some filming was done at Amritsar's Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara.
• Star Aamir Khan, with his knowledge of Hindi and Urdu, worked with Rahman and Joshi for the film's soundtrack.
• While discussing typical Bollywood soundtracks, Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, a professor of music at Colorado College noted that Rahman integrated traditional Punjabi cultural elements within his music for this soundtrack.
• Overseas collections from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia were collectively put at over 60 million Rs. (USD 840,000) for the same week.
• Critics gave the film an overwhelmingly positive response, in particular the ensemble cast's performance and credibility.
• The DVD release sold more than 70,000 copies over six months, and as a result the film was the highest selling title at the time of its release.
• The review from the BBC gave it the highest possible five star rating and added that it was "an entertaining mix of romance, history and social commentary".
• Despite Mehra's belief that his film did not stand a chance at the Oscars, the efforts to publicise the film in the United States began earnestly.
• The film was selected as India's official entry to the 79th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film but it was not Nominated.
• In the Indian media, frequent referencing of the film was evident, with many brands using pictorials from the movie.
• With 1.23 billion Rs. (USD 17 million) alone coming from the Indian territory, the film earned more than 1.36 billion Rs. (USD 19 million) worldwide.
• Arjun Rampal was signed for one of the 3 second leads. After he had been kept in waiting for 3 months he was replaced with the actor from south Siddharth. Aamir Khan's insecurities and fears were reported to be at the root of the replacement.
• Sight & Sound magazine conducts a poll every ten years of the world's finest film directors to find out the Ten Greatest Films of All Time. This poll has been going since 1992, and has become the most recognized poll of its kind in the world. In 2012 Dutch enfant terrible filmmaker Cyrus Frisch voted for Rang De Basanti. Frisch commented that: "corruption became the subject of fierce debate in India after the major success of this film among youngsters."
• Rani Mukherjee was the first choice for Soha Ali Khan's role.
• It was the highest-grossing film in its opening weekend in India and had the highest opening day collections for a Bollywood film.
• Khan, who would turn 40 during the shoot, lost about 10 kilograms (22 lb) with a strict diet and exercise regime to more convincingly depict a man in his late twenties.
• Instead of filming at the actual locations from the script, other locations were selected for picturisation.
• For Aamir Khan, a Muslim, it was for the first time that he was playing a North Indian Punjabi character and it took him some time to get the right dialect and diction.
• Before its theatrical release, the producers tied up with several top brands to help in the marketing the film.
• The producers collaborated with LG Group, Berger Paints, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Petroleum for promotion of the film.
• The producers tied up with several media partners such as MSN India, Channel V and Radio Mirchi to further enhance their marketing efforts.
• Accordingly, 55 percent of the film's revenues came from multiplexes in these cities.
• Intense political discussions spurred on by the film's influence were observed.
• Besides instigating political thought and discussions, it evoked social awakening for many.
• The film was declared "Blockbuster" by Box Office India.
• During filming, reports indicated that co-stars Siddharth and Soha had become romantically involved with each other.
• Bureaucracy were faced by Mehra while filming at the Jaipur Fort.
• On Rang De Basanti's release the film certification Board of India Sought the views of Indian Defence Ministry due to parts that depicted the use of MiG-21 fighter aircraft. But after viewing the movie the ministry found no problems and allow UTV to release. There were also some issues with Animal Welfare Board due to banned Indian horse race.
• Development of Rang De Basanti originated with several ideas Mehra came up with early on but later dropped or greatly evolved into new directions.
• Early rumours indicated that actors Arjun Rampal and Arjan Bajwa would be amongst the male leads, but these roles ultimately were filled by Sharman Joshi, Siddharth Narayan and R. Madhavan.
• Rang De Basanti marked Siddharth's Bollywood debut, following on the success of his Telugu film Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana.
• The film, which was shot in New Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Punjab, was officially launched at a hotel on 1 February 2005.
• Nahargarh Fort, which oversees the city of Jaipur, was another such historical location where one of the songs was filmed.
• Once the locations were finalised, the team of Lovleen Bains and Arjun Bhasin was chosen for designing the look of Rang De Basanti.
• The soundtrack to the 2006 film Rang De Basanti was released by Sony BMG on 8 December 2005 and had its music composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics in Hindi and English by Prasoon Joshi and rapper Blaaze.
• In post-production, the visual effects were handled by Tata Elxsi's Visual Computing Labs.
• In a press conference with pop singer Nelly Furtado, Rahman said that she was to originally have featured on the soundtrack, although this was ultimately prevented from happening due to a change in producers and other factors.
• screenwriter and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Rahman were reported to have chosen Aamir Khan to sing for one of the songs, though his recorded performance turned out to be more a poetic recitation.
• The title track was used at a flash mob at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai on 27 November 2011 in honour of those who died in the 26/11 attack.
• The soundtrack won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award, and had two of its tracks, "Khalbali" and "Luka Chuppi", considered for an Academy Award for Best Original Song nomination.
• According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 19,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's third highest-selling.
• Confessing that the film's soundtrack was his favorite out of all his previous works, Joshi felt that it "was a wonderful experience getting to know the mindset of today's youth and to pen down their feelings".
• Regionally defined elements such as a woman's prayer at the Sikh Gurudwara (Golden Temple) and the bhangra harvest dance are incorporated alongside more contemporary, global styles such as hard rock and hip hop to depict the cosmopolitan lifestyle of the youngsters in the film.
• Accordingly, Khan and Mehra screened the film for the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee along with other top officials from the armed forces.
• 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 and Blaaze, an India-based rapper.
• The Indian Defence Ministry raised concerns, causing the Indian censor board to urge the filmmakers to seek clearance from the ministry.
• Although the filmmakers had obtained a 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.
• Out of the 100 million Rs. (USD 1.4 million) marketing campaign, a fifth of it came from the producers while the rest was obtained through brand tie-ups and partnering.
• As a part of the publicity, the cast, visited prominent University campuses in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune with an intention of interacting with the students.
• Provogue, a well-known clothing retail chain in India, launched a special limited edition clothing merchandise targeting the youth of India.
• Since Rahman's last musical success, Saathiya, was back in 2002, there were high expectations from the soundtrack in the media.
• The soundtrack, first released commercially in early December 2005, generally received above average reviews.
• A video game launched by an Indian mobile content company was based on an adaptation of the film's plot.
• The music CDs and cassettes were co-branded with the cola company along with the launch of the sale of collectibles from the film.
• The opening week box-office collections from Mumbai, the home of Bollywood, were reported to be over 40 million Rs. (USD 560,000), theatres in New Delhi earned about half of Mumbai's revenue.
• Released in about 60 theatres in the United States, the film grossed 31 million Rs. (USD 430,000) in its opening weekend and earned 99 million Rs. (USD 1.4 million) within 10 weeks.
• 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.
• The Hindustan Times summarised the film as being a "well-scripted, skilfully crafted [and] thought-provoking entertainer".
• The Hindu credited Kamlesh 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. Although the screenplay, direction and the cast were also well-appreciated, the reviewer felt that Rahman's soundtrack lacked pace.
• Music composer A. R. Rahman performed several concerts across the East Coast to promote the film.
• Rakesh Mehra wanted to sign Abhishek Bachchan for Siddharth's role. He later decided not to because he did not want Abhishek in a supporting role.
• The film was initially titled "Ahuti".
• Siddharth made his debut in Bollywood with this film.
• Many critics claimed that unlike most Aamir Khan films where he hogged the limelight here he plays one of the characters and Siddharth plays the lead.
• Rang De Basanti had a noticeable impact on Indian society.
• Film features India Gate in one of its scenes.
• Iconic beer drinking scene from film with Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi's free fall from the public water tank of the Nahargarh fort.
• Film written, produced and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and co-written by Rensil D'Silva and Aamir Khan.
• It features an ensemble cast comprising Aamir Khan, Siddharth Narayan, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and British actress Alice Patten in the lead roles.
• Film made on a budget of 250 million Rs. (USD 3.5 million).
• it was shot in and around New Delhi.
• The film was well received and praised for strong screenplay and dialogues.
• The story is about a British documentary filmmaker who is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters based on diary entries by her grandfather, a former officer of the Indian Imperial Police.
• The film was released globally on 26 January 2006, the Republic Day of India.
• The film was well received by critics and audiences for its production values and had a noticeable influence on Indian society.
• In India, Rang De Basanti did well at many of the Bollywood awards ceremonies, including a win for Best Movie at the Filmfare Awards.
• It was co-produced by Shahnawaz Ali.
• It started with Ashfaqullah Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, went on to Chandrashekhar Azad and so on.
• Rang De Basanti suffered a significant setback when one of the initial producers ultimately failed to contribute any funds towards it; the shortfall left production looking uncertain just two months away from the beginning of principal photography.
• after Aamir Khan agreed to act in the film, Mehra approached Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Motion Pictures with the script. Screwvala, who supported Mehra from the beginning of the production, had faith in the film,
• The budget was reported as Rs. 250 million (approximately USD 5.5 million), and, despite going a little over the initially planned budget, Mehra did not have any serious disagreements with UTV.
• Aamir Khan agreed to act in Rang De Basanti immediately after reading Mehra's script.
• Mehra described Khan's character as a simple man with a strong sense of integrity and dignity.
• Lakh Tandon played the role of Aamir's Grand Father and Kirron Kher played the mother of Khan's character.
• When shooting began, Mehra made an announcement to his crew saying that they would enjoy their holiday only in July.
• One such scene is where Soha Ali Khan is filmed at the India Habitat Center that masquerades as the University of Delhi.
• Since the film's plot focused on men in their late twenties, Bhasin designed their look accordingly.
• Bhasin 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.
• Bhasin had previously worked on Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) and Dil Chahta Hai (2001), the latter of which featured Aamir Khan, and he was referred to Mehra by Khan due to their previous association.
• Khan's hair was styled by Avan Contractor, who came up with soft curls falling over Khan's forehead.
• 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.
• From the film's announcement in April 2005, Rahman was slated to compose the music.
• Joshi, one of the lyricists, was impressed with the director, Rakeysh Mehra, who was ready to adjust to his style of writing as well as his creativity.
• The film was screened at several international film festivals.
• In 2006, it premiered in France with the Lyon Asiexpo Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival and the Morocco-based International Film Festival of Marrakech.
• One of the songs, "Masti Ki Paatshaala" (translation: "Classroom of Fun"), was voted as the "Song of the year" for 2006 by leading Indian television channels, while two compositions were considered for an Academy Award nomination
• In India, The Hindu reported that with audiences from the metropolitan cities turning out in large numbers, Rang De Basanti was notching up record collections in its opening week.
• Currently, the film holds the record for the highest-grossing film to be released in January.
• Throughout the country, the cumulative collections in the first week was about 80 million Rs. (USD 1.1 million).
• A report carried out by The Times of India highlighted copyright infringement on the Internet where movies like Rang De Basanti could be downloaded freely.
• Rang De Basanti was released on Blu-ray (plus steelbook edition) in May 2014.
• The film also received positive reviews from critics outside India.
• The Bloomberg website wrote positively about "the raw energy of a young cast and A. R. Rahman's splendidly rousing soundtrack".
• When the nominations in the foreign film category did not feature this film, it sparked off debates on whether the film should have been India's entry for the Oscars.
• producer Screwvala planned to use resources and expertise from his partners in 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Pictures for organising its publicity efforts.
• Following the release of the film, another social outcry was against the introduction of reservations for socially backward classes in educational institutions.
• Saisuresh Sivaswamy of Rediff.com wrote that films like Rang De Basanti can easily get into "preachiness", but believed Mehra got his message across while avoiding this, also appreciating the music, cinematography, dialogues and art direction.
• 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.
• The climax was rewritten by Aamir Khan, who didn't like the idea of them running away, suggesting they should have a last stand resembling that of Bhagat Singh. Years earlier, Khan had written his own story with the climax in a radio station, which he adapted for the climax of Rang De Basanti.
• This movie was shown to minister of defence as this movie depict the killing of defence minister. However, he took no objection and film was released.
• The film's script originally had a different climax, originally showing the protagonists on the run.
• A major point of criticism the film faced was regarding the possibility of Army attacking students in a radio station.
• 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.

Rang De Basanti Movie Mistakes

• 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.
• There's a scene that features Aamir Khan wheeling his bike, but it can clearly be observed that it's really a stunt rider.
• 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.
• Approximately 66 minutes into the film, Kirron Kher's character Mitro says that Udham Singh killed General Dyer, the brigadier-general responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, but in reality he killed Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India.

Useful External Links

Rang De Basanti Movie on Wikipedia 

Rang De Basanti Movie on IMDB