Rang De Basanti, a critical and commercial hit, has clocked 16 years of its release today. Surprisingly, we are still talking about the film, and even after 16 years, it is relevant. Helmed by director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Sharman Joshi, and Kunal Kapoor, there were so many factors that made the film special.
The story of five friends, the path-breaking performance of Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, Kunal Kapoor, and Siddharth, and of course the music by AR Rahman made the project one of a kind. The subject of Rang De Basanti will always be topical, as it talks about the struggle of people with the government. While people are quite updated on the accolades it won, not everyone is aware of the hurdles that came during the shooting of the film. As the cult film clocks 16 years of release, let’s look at some not so popular incidents that took place back then:
Omprakash Struggled To Cast ‘This’ Character
Rang De Basanti’s cast was picked very wisely. Apart from Aamir, Sharman, Atul, Soha, Kunal, the film also starred Madhavan and British actor Alice Patten. Omprakash in his autobiography, The Stranger in the Mirror, revealed that he faced a big problem casting Karan Singhania – one of the characters of the film.
Omprakash Wanted Hrithik Roshan:
Hrithik Roshan was Omprakash’s first choice for the role of Karan Singhania. When the actor was offered the role, he did not agree. Following this, Omprakash had requested Aamir to talk to Hrithik. Aamir had even visited Hrithik’s house and tried his best to convince him but it just didn’t work out.
This role was also offered to Abhishek Bachchan, but the actor also refused to play it. Omprakash tried all means to get one of the Bollywood biggies in the film, and a month before the shooting – Tamil actor Siddharth was finalized. Notably, Siddharth had not done any Hindi film before Rang De Basanti.
Shah Rukh Khan was the director’s choice for Flight Lieutenant Ajay Rathod
Omprakash also wanted to rope in Shah Rukh Khan for the film. He wanted the actor to essay the role of Flight Lt Ajay Rathod. The director had gone all the way to America to narrate the story of Rang De Basanti to Shah Rukh as back then he was shooting for Swades. Shah Rukh had expressed his inability to do the film as he had a tight schedule and was not able to carve out dates for the shooting. The role was played by Madhavan.
Aamir Hired a Punjabi Tutor
Aamir is called Mr Perfectionist for all the right reasons. The 40-year-old Aamir played the role of a 25-year-old young man and he did it pretty well. The viewers were convinced that, in no way, Aamir looked like a 40-year-old man. The actor had blended in well with the role he portrayed. Not only did Aamir work on his fitness and physique but also hired a teacher to learn Punjabi.
