The image of four young men jumping in the air care-free, arms stretched out from the movie “Rang De Basanti” starring Aamir Khan, quite dominated the early part of 2006 and still lingers on in the memory of many a cinemagoer. It was once again on display at Terminus 1 in Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, where the acclaimed movie’s screenplay, titled “Rang De Basanti: The Shooting Script” – published by Om Books International – was launched by its writer, director and producer, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The international trailer of the film too was launched on this occasion.
Rakeysh won the National Award for Best Director and also the Filmfare award in 2006. Apart from these, the film was nominated for BAFTA award for Best Foreign Language Film.
In a candid interview with the Friday Review, Rakeysh went on to discuss his films, the creative process and much more.
Excerpts from the interview:
The film came out in 2006. Don’t you think it is late for the script to be released now, eight years later?
Not really, this is quite a common practice. You see the film scripts being released 10, even 15 years after the films have seen their theatre release. As the publishing industry develops, it is more viable to release the script as a book now. This is a book which would appeal to a wide range of people, fans of the film, students of cinema, collectors would all relate to it.
Which of your films are closest to you? And what is significance of does “Rang De Basanti” hold to you?
That is a very unfair question. All of movies are special to me, it’s like asking a mother to pick among her children. All of my films have some special significance to be. “Aks” was my first film, there can only be one first film. “Delhi-6” rose out of the communal tensions which I was witness to, “Rang De Basanti” rose out of my anguish I felt in college about happenings such as Tiananmen Square, the Emergency, it comes out of youth. “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” came from my fascination with sports, and the sport heroes of my youth. My next film, “Mirziya” comes out of the impact a short story I read in college had on me. So all these films do have significance, and they all do arise out of my life.
How did the response generated by the movie make you feel?
It was very humbling, I never expected it. I hoped it would connect but I never expected such a response to it. But then it clicked with people at the time, it spoke of their frustrations, their anguish, they could relate with it.
How much emotional investment does making a film involve?
A film involves a lot of emotional investment, it comes out of your imagination, it is shaped by your vision. It is very close to you.
Does the commercial success of the film affect your perception of it?
A film not being a commercial success does break your heart, but then you don’t make movies to earn money, you make them to tell a story, and if you manage to tell the story with integrity and compellingly, it is successful at the box office too. But for me success and failure are a part of the process, for me life is just one film, and my different films are a part of it. But then again, we are also entertainers, so it our responsibility to entertain the audience.
