‘Aamir Khan came prepared to cry’: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on Rang De Basanti at 20, says it’s ‘stupid’ to ask if it can be made in today’s times

It is only fitting, then, that Mehra, in an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, reflecting on the legacy of the film, remarked that it will remain relevant till the very end of civilisation, because it is that kind of film. Among other things, he speaks of the creative decisions that defined it, the immense difficulty of getting the project greenlit, its battles with the censors at the time, and the burning question that haunts everyone today: could Rang De Basanti be made in the present moment?

Excerpts edited for clarity and brevity

I want to start with the opening credits which play over Sue’s (Alice Patten) research material, at times, intercut with archival footage. Why such a choice?

The opening credits must immediately establish the film’s tone and signal what lies ahead. In this case, the idea was rooted in Sue McKinley’s discovery of her grandfather James’s (Steven Mackintosh) diary, the officer who oversaw the capture and execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru. That diary becomes the foundation of the documentary she wants to make. Before arriving in India, Sue’s office is filled with research: photographs, documents pinned across the wall. We chose to begin there, but experimented with how it was shot. We used imported tilt-shift lenses, which allow the focus to shift and tilt even in motion. That’s why the images feel unstable, the focus constantly changing, the camera pressing unusually close to the wall.

Talk to me about Binod Pradhan’s camerawork. The usage of Dutch angles, unusual close-ups, distinctive lighting, and even grainy textures at times. What was the thinking behind these choices?

We used Dutch angles only at seminal moments, never for effect. For instance, you’ll notice them when Sue begins to imagine the boys as freedom fighters. It was a way of entering her mind. We also used the technique as a transition, moving from Sue or James’s voiceovers into the documentary layer, and then back into the principal narrative. As for Binod, I often call him “Bingogh”: a mix of Binod and Van Gogh. I genuinely believe that if I were blind and he shot my films, they would look better, because I wouldn’t interfere as much. During the readings, I kept telling him that I saw these characters as a single collective, no lead star, nothing like that, just as one solid group. That idea defined our lens choices.

In the first third of the film, we stayed largely on wider lenses, between 24 and 35mm. There may have been one or two exceptions, but otherwise it was a conscious decision. In the middle third, we shifted to lenses between 50 and 70mm. And in the final third, we moved almost entirely into portrait lenses, 75mm and above. The visual journey mirrors the emotional one: we begin with the group, then gradually isolate them as individuals, creating an increasing sense of claustrophobia. The audience is slowly drawn inwards, forced to focus, to concentrate, to feel the grip of the narrative. And then, in the very last scene, we finally open up, the wide shot of that final stretch, set against mustard fields. You breathe. Until then, the film holds your breathe.

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Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra reveals that Karan’s character, played by Siddharth, was in love with Sonia, played by Soha Ali Khan.

Between the two versions of Paathshaala, Karan (Siddharth) appears to change. In the first, he’s a careless rich brat; in the second, he climbs atop the jeep to salute India Gate. Was this where his internal transformation truly begins?

Karan was, in many ways, the most author-backed character in the film, if there was one. He was also the furthest removed from the idea of India. He wanted to leave for the United States, was the son of a multimillionaire arms dealer, had a fractured relationship with his father, no mother, and only his friends to hold on to. When he begins participating in the documentary, something within him starts to shift, he starts smiling also. So in that salute there is also a smile, he is feeling lighter, he is feeling liberated. And that’s what I wanted every youth of the country to feel: to smile, to be happy. And the only way to be happy is when you do something of substance and not just talk about going to America.

One of the most intriguing moments for me is when Ajay (R Madhavan) proposes to Sonia (Soha Ali Khan). While everyone around them celebrates, the scene slows down to focus on Karan’s reactions. He is genuinely happy for them, but we sense his melancholy, he is brooding, and you can feel that he is hiding his real emotions.

Karan is in love with Sonia. She is not, he is, and she knows that. But it’s like you can love somebody without defining their relationship. Also, I have always felt it’s extremely boring when we have to underline all relationships.

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The film was anything but conventional, and on top of that, it was challenging the establishment. What hurdles did you face while getting it off the ground?

We were fighting for finances forever. It was just two months before shooting, and my earlier producers, one from America, one from the UK, had to be legally removed from the film because they never performed. They never showed up. They never provided the money. I kept investing my own funds. That, of course, was not enough; I’m not a rich guy. Finally, we had to mortgage our office first, and then our house in Pali Hill, just to keep pre-production running. But despite this, the original producers still didn’t come through. They kept saying, “Take that actor; why are you doing this? Go for a known face for this one.” I understand collaboration, but I hate interference of any kind because it spoils the film. Not for any egotistical reason, it’s because I believe there needs to be singularity in the vision.

There’s a particular scene where Aamir Khan’s character DJ finally breaks down in front of Sue. He felt he hadn’t performed up to the mark because it was initially supposed to be shot another day, but you changed plans last minute. What happened there?

Nothing much. We were supposed to shoot that scene on a Monday, and come Monday, everyone reported, and I saw Aamir. His eyes were all red. I felt he was over-prepared. I didn’t want him to come into the scene with so many tears already in his eyes. My idea was that the angst, frustration, and sadness, all of it should just burst out naturally. So I told Aamir, “We are not shooting.” And he said, “You cannot do this. I’ve been preparing for it all last week, and now if you touch me, my tears will follow.” I said, “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” So we didn’t shoot it. He was grumpy for a while, but he’s very cool in such situations, and I love him. We kept shooting for the entire week, and then on Thursday, I told him, “We’ll shoot that scene now.” He said, “You can’t do it.” I said, “Let’s just try.” And in one single take, we got it. I’m sure if we had shot it on Monday, it might have been a better scene, as Aamir himself has been saying. But at that point, my job was to direct, and I did what felt right for the film. These are just all the fun, cool things that happen on a film set.

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Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra talked about how the release date of Rang De Basanti was pushed by a week due to hurdles amid a censor board row.

Since its release, the ending has always been a point of contention, and even now people remain divided about it. But were you certain it should end that way? 

Yes, absolutely. I always knew that’s what I wanted. But just before the release of the film, when we had edited the final version, it was supposed to release in January, and it was the end of December while we were finishing the background score and giving the final touches, I kept feeling that something was missing. So I guess it was the 26th or 27th morning when I woke up and told Bharathi (the editor) what was missing. The thing was, these boys had lit the fire, but it hadn’t spread. So I called Radhika Roy at NDTV and said I needed her help. I told her I wanted to shoot all over India in the next three days with her crew and her cameras. That day itself, I flew to Bangalore and shot at the engineering college with the kids there. From there, I took a flight to Calcutta to Jaipur, my assistants went to Srinagar, Indore, Delhi, and back in Bombay. We covered 7–8 cities in two and a half days, and that’s when the film was completed. I remember Aamir was getting married in Panchgani at the same time, and he told me, “Don’t come for my wedding, finish your film.”

A lot of people today keep wondering if a film like Rang De Basanti could be in times like these.

It’s a stupid question. If you want to do something, do it. It’s a choice. If your heart is in the right place, your intentions are pure, and you are dying to tell a story, then you have to tell it. There is no such thing as “in these times.” While the film was relevant 20 years ago, it will be relevant 200 years later.

I ask this because I feel what people mean when they say it can’t be made today is that many filmmakers struggle to get such anti-establishment political narratives off the ground. A huge section of people believe that even if RDB were made now, it would never see the light of day, it wouldn’t get released because it wouldn’t pass the censors.

See, all this is supposition and conjecture. You have to do it to find out. Even when we made RDB back then, the bureaucrats at the Defence Ministry told us: “Don’t call a MiG a MiG, don’t call a Defence Minister a Defence Minister, you won’t get a Censor Certificate. You have to remove the scene on television where the Defence Minister says: ‘The soldiers aren’t in their senses, but high on spirit while flying the planes.’ You can’t do all of this.” I said, “All of this is derived from real life. I have facts to support everything.” They said, “Your film is releasing on 19th January. It will take six weeks for the film to go through the process, and you will suffer.” I said, “Take six years, don’t take six weeks. We will release it after six years, it’s okay.” These are facts. When we stuck to our guns, it went up to the Defence Minister and sailed through. Originally, it was supposed to release on 19th January, but it released on 26th. What happens, happens for the good, we got a Republic Day release.