Rang Rasiya

Rang Rasiya

Promotional poster for the film
Directed by Ketan Mehta
Produced by Deepa Sahi
Aanand Mahendroo
Ketan Mehta
Written by Sanjeev Dutta (screenplay)
Ketan Mehta
Starring Randeep Hooda
Nandana Sen
Feryna Wazheir
Triptha Parashar
Music by Sandesh Shandilya
Cinematography Rail Raltchev
Christo Bakalov
Release dates
  • November 2008 (London Film Festival)
  • 7 November 2014 (India)
Country India
Language Hindi
English

Rang Rasiya is an Indian drama film based on the life of the 19th-century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma.[1] The film is directed Ketan Mehta, produced by Deepa Sahi and Aanand Mahendroo. It stars Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen and a newcomer Feryna Wazheir in the lead roles.

Production

After his last commercial cinema Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), Mehta chose to make a film on the 19th-century painter, Raja Ravi Varma's life. Incidentally both these movies were based on a subject from the 19th century. His new film is an adaptation of a Marathi writer Ranjit Desai's biographical novel Raja Ravi Varma. This bilingual in English and Hindi is titled as Colour of Passion and Rang Rasiya respectively. Mehta thought that Varma was the most fascinating artist of that era and his character, persona and paintings fascinated him from his days at Film and Television Institute of India. After reading Desai's novel, he formulated the story of his new film.[2]

Raja Ravi Varma

When Mehta first met Nandana Sen at her house, he saw two life-size reproductions of Raja Ravi Varma's paintings. This assured him that she was familiar with the artist and his works, and made his job as a director easier. Speaking of the character she was to portray, he said:

"To me, she was the perfect woman to play the muse of an artist who sparked off debates about censorship of art. She has that child-woman quality, which was so much a part of Sugandha's personality."[3]

Speaking about her character, Sen said that "Varma saw in her Sugandha Bai the face and soul of a goddess. (For him) she is passionate, possessive and hungry for love."[3] To portray this character, Sen was required to dress and look like a young Maharashtrian woman with long hair, light eyes, waist chain and a nose ring. In addition, she also gained five kilos for the character since she had to look voluptuous. She was helped with her familiarily with the physical patterns in Varma's paintings of women, such as, "the way they tilt their hip, the way they play with their hands. Though the film has a few scenes in which she had to expose, she chose to do it because she thought that the sensitive scene formed the story's basis. Although it was not an easy decision to take, she felt absolutely comfortable while performing the scene.[3] One such scene is a wide angle shot that shows a bare breast of a skimpily clad Sen. Though this scene was aesthetically shot, the Central Board of Film Certification, which regulates the ratings and certification of media in India, objected to it and ordered for a review based on consensus.[4][5]

Mehta saw Hooda's previous films Risk and D. [2] In this film, he played the role of Raja Ravi Varma in two phases — first as a 60-year-old and then as a 20-year-old in a span of 10 days.[6] As a preparation for his role, Hooda tried to learn the basics of painting. He was happy working in the film and said that his acting skills were well-groomed by Mehta's abilities.[7]

Besides Hooda, since Mehta wanted to work with new faces, he introduced a Scottish actress and another from India. Paresh Rawal was also set to play an important role.[2] Triptha Parashar, whom Mehta spotted in an advertisement, was immediately offered the role of a princess without auditioning.[8] Feryna Wazheir, who was born to Kashmiri parents in Britain, plays a Parsi girl in the film.[9]

Sangita Kathiwada is the creative consultant and Niharika Khan, the award winning designer is the costume designer.[10]

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Rang Rasiya is composed by Sandesh Shandilya and lyrics are written by Manoj Muntashir

Track listing

No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "Rang Rasiya (title)"  Sunidhi Chauhan, Keerthi Sagathia 4:01
2. "Kahe Sataye"  Roop Kumar Rathod, Sunidhi Chauhan 3:57
3. "O Kamini"  Sonu Nigam, 3:39
4. "Anhad Naad"  Kailash Kher, Anwar Khan 4:38
5. "Sun Balam"  Rajashwari Pathak 3:56
6. "Rang Rasiya (Re-mix )"    5:15
Total length:
 24:06

Release

The film was screened at 2008 The Times BFI London Film Festival.[11]

Rang Rasiya had been languishing in post-production from the year 2008 due to the Censor Board's objection with certain bold scenes that involved paint and nudity. It has been given the release date of 7 November 2014.[12] special screening at Mumbai on 6 November 2014, expected box office Collection is around 5 Crore on first day.

Critical reception

Subhash K. Jha said Rang Rasiya is the best film of the year and gave it 5 stars.[13] The star cast of the film especially, newbie Feryna Wazheir was highly appreciated for her role in the film.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya at BFI London Film Fest". Screenindia.com. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "No scope for controversy in 'Rang Rasiya': Ketan Mehta". Nowrunning.com. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Meet the seductive Nandana Sen". Man's World. Rediff.com. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  4. ↑ ApunKaChoice. "Rang Rasiya Censor Board Objects to Frontal Nudity". ApunKaChoice.com. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  5. ↑ "Nandana Sen asks for NOC on Rang Rasiya promotions". Patrika Group (2 August 2014). Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  6. ↑ K. Jha, Subhash (22 September 2007). "Randeep back in the gym to get in shape". Nowrunning.com. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  7. ↑ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (29 September 2007). "Portrait of an artist". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  8. ↑ Sahgal, Geety (15 August 2008). "Good going". Screenindia.com. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  9. ↑ Ghosh, Aparajitha (16 September 2007). "Bollywood newbie Feryna Wazheir is an angelic beauty! Hollywood Actor Jim Boeven was cast as Ravi Varmas friend Fritz Schleizer.". Screenindia.com. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  10. ↑ De Cunha, Uma (25 July 2008). "Connecting film with other art forms". Screenindia.com. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  11. ↑ "Ketan Mehta's Rang Rasiya to screen at London Film Fest". Businessofcinema.com. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  12. ↑ "Rang Rasiya to release on November 7, 2014". indialglitz.com. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "'Rang Rasiya' - thank god For Raja Ravi Varma". Ians Live. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.

External links