Rang Rasiya - Movie Review

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen; Director: Ketan Mehta; Rating: *** (3 stars)

India is a land of stories; stories of the Gods & Goddesses, stories of the fairies and the humans, stories of the good and the evil. Are these stories just a part of our mythology or is it someone's creativity at its best. Is it a sin for someone to use their creativity to convey these stories? Ketan Mehta's Rang Rasiya is the tale of a celebrated painter who dared to do the forbidden. It's a story of an artist's creative independence, and the whole wide world standing against it. Whenever tales of what happens behind closed doors is brought out in broad day light, the most affected are the norms and standards set by the people prevalent in our pretentious society. Ironically we celebrate the birth of a child, but the reason for a child's birth is often considered as something that is bad and sinful. India where the Ajanta & Ellora caves and the Khajuraho Temples are famous for their sculptures, which portray the celebration of one's on body, but yet it's all just a sin.

Rang Rasiya - Colors Of Passion is an Indian drama film based on the life of the 19th-century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma and his muse Sugandha. India - end of the 19th century. The famous artist Raja Ravi Varma is arrested and charged with obscenity, immorality and hurting religious sentiments of the people. His offence is painting nudes of Indian mythological characters. A court session begins... Woven with the case is the classic love story of the artist and his muse - Sugandha. Together they create the most amazing works of art. Her beauty inspires him to create exquisite paintings based on themes from Indian mythology and classic literature. She becomes his muse, his inspiration...his love. The film is a tale of Raja Ravi Varma's passions, his obsessions and his fierce struggle for creative freedom.

When we speak about the performers in this controversial film, how can one avoid Randeep Hooda. He essays the character of Raja Ravi Verma. He has carried off the character with so much poise and ease that one hardly feels its Randeep on screen. He emotes passion for his paintings as well as the women in his life, with equal intensity. Though he comes out to be a very shrewd person on screen, but his ideologies are very logical, that one wants him to emerge as a winner. He does falter a little in emotional scenes, but overall Randeep Hooda is quite a pleasant surprise to see in the film. Nandana Sen, plays Suganda, in the film, who is the muse of Raja Ravi Verma. Acting per se Nandana doesn't do much performance wise, but she definitely looks pretty on screen. Her major fault is dialogue delivery, which ruins the entire scene eventually.

Other characters form an integral part of the movie. The movie showcases the beauty and the rich culture across our country which is wonderful to see. As the name suggests the movie is very colourful and vibrant. The editing could have been crisper, though the censor board might have chopped off most of the movie (Pun intended).

Overall the movie a worth a watch, if you hold a fetish for art and stories behind their inspirations and artists. Obviously it is not one of the mass entertainers, but it is a classic tale said in a classy, colourful, sensuous and seductive fashion, in the most elegant manner.

Anita Menon