122.173.202.39 at 10:00, 15 August 2021

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Rang Rasiya
| image = Rang_Rasiya_Poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| writer = Ketan Mehta
| screenplay = Sanjeev Dutta
| based_on = The life of [[Raja Ravi Varma]]
| starring = [[Randeep Hooda]] [[Nandana Sen]] [[Feryna Wazheir]] Triptha Parashar Gaurav Dwivedi
| director = [[Ketan Mehta]]
| producer = [[Deepa Sahi]] Aanand Mahendroo Ketan Mehta
| editing =
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2008|11||London Film Festival|2014|11|07|India}}
| runtime =
| language = Hindi English
| budget =
| cinematography = Rail Raltchev Christo Bakalov
| music = Sandesh Shandilya
| country = India
}}
'''''Rang Rasiya''''' (English title: Colours of passion) is an Indian [[erotic films|erotic]] [[drama film]] based on the life of the 19th-century Indian painter [[Raja Ravi Varma]].<ref name="painter_life">{{cite web|title=Ketan Mehta's Rang Rasiya at BFI London Film Fest|url=http://www.screenindia.com/news/STILL-OF-THE-WEEK/351162/|publisher=Screenindia.com|date=22 August 2008|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref> Made as a bilingual, the film is titled ''Rang Rasiya'' in its [[Hindi language|Hindi]] version and ''Colours of Passion'' in [[English language|English]]. The film, directed by [[Ketan Mehta]], is produced by his wife [[Deepa Sahi]] and by Aanand Mahendroo. It stars [[Randeep Hooda]] as the title character and [[Nandana Sen]] as his love interest.

==Script and fictionalization==
Mehta thought that Varma was the most fascinating artist of that era and his character, persona and paintings. He was fascinated with Ravi Varma right from his days at [[Film and Television Institute of India]]. After reading Desai's novel, Mehta felt inspired to make a film based on the life and times of Ravi Varma, and set about formulating the story of his new film.<ref name="nowrunning_mehta">{{cite web|title=No scope for controversy in 'Rang Rasiya': Ketan Mehta |url=http://www.nowrunning.com/news/news.aspx?it=12888 |publisher=Nowrunning.com |date=27 November 2007 |accessdate=22 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008115207/http://www.nowrunning.com/news/news.aspx?it=12888 |archivedate=8 October 2012 }}</ref> He moulded and recast the script to project Ravi Varma as a radical painter, a strident advocate of the artistic license to depict nudity, and as a victim of conservative society. {{According to whom|He felt that this positioning would help the film achieve more traction with the intelligentsia, and ease the path to awards and honours.|date=July 2016}} Given that many of Ravi Varma's paintings are actually used as icons of worship in Hindu homes, this positioning represents a major stretch of the imagination, a major effort at fictionalization. In fact, Ravi Varma was himself of conservative outlook whose paintings indicate that he had a strong preference for decently clad, soft-featured, ladylike gentlewomen and a distaste for brazen hussies. Very few of his works venture into the realms of semi-nudity, and these few forays seem to have been calculated, highly reluctant efforts on his part to appeal to a western audience. Even at that time, art appreciation in the west was in the grip of a progressivist mafia who cherished radicalism and disdained traditional norms. In the present era, Ketan Mehta dealt with a similar environment in India, and this informed the choices he made while developing the script of this film. Also, a simple, lineal depiction of Ravi Varma's life and career would have given the film the look and feel of a documentary, which is what had happened with his previous film, ''[[Sardar (1993 film)|Sardar]]''. Movies require a narrative, as also a certain amount of drama and sensuality, and the script was developed to meet these needs. Mehta came across a relatively minor (and frivolous) court case which had been brought against Ravi Varma for allegedly depicting a Hindu deity irreverent in one of his paintings, and used this to develop a suitable script.

== Production ==
After his last commercial production ''[[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. ''Rang Rasiya'' is an adaptation of the [[biographical novel]] ''Raja Ravi Varma'' authored by the [[Marathi language|Marathi]] writer [[Ranjit Desai]].

===Cast and crew===
[[Image:Raja Ravi Varma.jpg|[[Raja Ravi Varma]]|thumb|right]]
When Mehta first met [[Nandana Sen]] at her house, he saw two life-size reproductions of Raja Ravi Varma's paintings. This indicated to him that she was familiar with the artist and his works, something that he thought would make his job as a director easier. Speaking of the character she was to portray, he said:
<blockquote>"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."<ref name="rediff_sed_nan">{{cite web|title=Meet the seductive Nandana Sen|url=http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2008/jul/22sld1.htm|work=Man's World|publisher=Rediff.com|date=22 July 2008|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref></blockquote>
The much desired controversy regarding "censorship of art" was quickly forthcoming, and Nandana was the willing lynchpin of that achievement. Among several scenes in the film that depict her in various grades of undress, one wide angle shot shows the bare breasts of a skimpily clad Nandana. The [[Central Board of Film Certification]], which [[Regulation|regulates]] the ratings and certification of media in India, duly objected to the scene, terming it nudity.<ref>{{cite web |author=ApunKaChoice|title= Rang Rasiya Censor Board Objects to Frontal Nudity |url=http://apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20080913-0.html |publisher=ApunKaChoice.com |accessdate=13 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Nandana Sen asks for NOC on Rang Rasiya promotions|url=http://www.patrika.com/article/nandana-sen-asks-for-noc-on-rang-rasiya-promotions/48199|accessdate=2 August 2014 |work=Patrika Group|issue=2 August 2014}}</ref>

Mehta saw Hooda's previous films ''[[Risk (2007 film)|Risk]]'' and ''[[D (film)|D]]''.<ref name="nowrunning_mehta"/> 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.<ref name="hooda">{{cite web|title=Randeep back in the gym to get in shape |url=http://www.nowrunning.com/news/news.aspx?it=12088 |last=K. Jha |first=Subhash |publisher=Nowrunning.com|date=22 September 2007|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref> 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.<ref name="hooda_paint">{{cite news|title=Portrait of an artist |url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/09/29/stories/2007092950850100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108031535/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/09/29/stories/2007092950850100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 November 2012 |last=Nagarajan |first=Saraswathy |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=29 September 2007|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref>

[[Paresh Rawal]] plays an important role in the film.<ref name="nowrunning_mehta"/> Triptha Parashar, whom Mehta spotted in an advertisement, was immediately offered the role of a princess without [[audition]]ing.<ref name="triptha">{{cite web|title=Good going |url=http://www.screenindia.com/news/Good-going/348396/|last=Sahgal|first=Geety|publisher=Screenindia.com|date=15 August 2008|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref> [[Feryna Wazheir]], who was born and raised in the [[UK]] to [[Kashmiri people|Kashmiri]] parents, plays a [[Parsi]] girl in the film.<ref name="wazheir">{{cite web|title=Bollywood newbie Feryna Wazheir is an angelic beauty! Hollywood Actor Jim Boeven was cast as Ravi Varmas friend Fritz Schleizer.|url=http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20070916-3.html|first=Aparajitha|last=Ghosh|publisher=Screenindia.com|date=16 September 2007|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref>

Sangita Kathiwada is the creative consultant and Niharika Khan, the award-winning designer is the [[costume design]]er.<ref name="designer">{{cite web|title=Connecting film with other art forms|url=http://www.screenindia.com/news/Connecting-film-with-other-art-forms/338890/|last=De Cunha|first=Uma|publisher=Screenindia.com|date=25 July 2008|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref>

==Cast==
* [[Randeep Hooda]] as [[Raja Ravi Varma]]
* [[Nandana Sen]] as Sugandha
* Gaurav Dwivedi as Raj Varma
* [[Vipin Sharma]] as Paachan
* [[Paresh Rawal]] as Seth Govardhan Das
* [[Jim Boeven]] as Fritz Schleicher
* [[Feryna Wazheir]] as Frenny
* Rashaana Shah as Kaamini
* [[Darshan Jariwala]] as Chintamani Maharaj
* [[Suhasini Mulay]] as Sugandha's mother Bakubai
* [[Sachin Khedekar]] as Dewanji Madhavrao
* Triptha Parashar as Poorutarthy
* [[Vikram Gokhale]] as Keshav Shastri
* [[Sri Vallabh Vyas]] as Sugandha's father Hirachand
* [[Tom Alter]] as Justice Richards
* [[Ashish Vidyarthi]] as Raja Thiurmal
* [[Rajat Kapoor]] as Auctioneer
* Shamim Ahmed Shaikh as Old Man Praying

==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack of ''Rang Rasiya'' is composed by [[Sandesh Shandilya]] and lyrics are written by ''[[Manoj Muntashir]]''

===Track listing===
{{Track listing
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| total_length = {{Duration|m=24|s=06}}
| title1 = Rang Rasiya (title)
| extra1 = [[Sunidhi Chauhan]], [[Keerthi Sagathia]]
| length1 = 4:01
| title2 = Kahe Sataye
| extra2 = [[Roop Kumar Rathod]], Sunidhi Chauhan
| length2 = 3:57
| title3 = O Kamini
| extra3 = [[Sonu Nigam]],
| length3 = 3:39
| title4 = Anhad Naad
| extra4 = [[Kailash Kher]], Anwar Khan
| length4 = 4:38
| title5 = Sun Balam
| extra5 = Rajashwari Pathak
| length5 = 3:56
| title6 = Rang Rasiya (Re-mix )
| length6 = 5:15
}}

== Release ==
The film was screened at 2008 [[London Film Festival|The Times BFI London Film Festival]].<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|title=Ketan Mehta's Rang Rasiya to screen at London Film Fest |url=http://businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=9454 |publisher=Businessofcinema.com |date=12 August 2008|accessdate=22 August 2008}}</ref>

''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 a release date of 7 November 2014.<ref name="fp">{{cite web|title= Rang Rasiya to release on November 7, 2014 |url= http://www.indiaglitz.com/rang-rasiya-to-release-on-november-7-2014-hindi-news-114740|publisher=indialglitz.com|date=22 September 2014 |accessdate=7 October 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ananthabhadram]]
* [[Makaramanju]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|1239276|Rang Rasiya}}
* {{Facebook}}

[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:Indian erotic drama films]]
[[Category:Indian biographical films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:2008 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ketan Mehta]]
[[Category:2010s erotic drama films]]
[[Category:Biographical films about painters]]

Rang Rasiya - Revision history

122.173.202.39 at 10:00, 15 August 2021