Rangeela

The Plot idea of "Rangeela" is not original.. its Bollywood inspired by Bollywood itself.

Any guesses ? Well Year -1970 Movie - Mere Humsafar.. only difference here is in the old movie the director played by non other but Balraj Sahini has his eye on the lady and woes to win her, make her career etc., while the poor village boy (Jeetendra) almost looses her to the film world & glamor..

Plot very similar and identical..

Incidentally there is another Aamir Khan movie again inspired by an old blockbuster movie of 1971 and that's Caravan again starring Jeetendra, and the movie is "Mela", but that attempt was a failure, as the Original was too good.

With Rangili "Urmila" dancing tirelessly every quarter of an hour, this movie is a feast from frame 1 to the end. Excellent performances by both Aamir and Urmaila produce some enchanting moments but it is the underplayed role by Jackie that goes to make this movie a complete entertainer. The music by A.R. Rahman is one of its own kind.

A must see.

I didn't know I was missing something until I saw this movie. Ram gopal verma has changed his genre often from love triangle, crime, horror and documentary but Rangeela has a special place among them. Urmila was seduction personified, she danced live a swan while great styling and cinematography added to the charm. Amir khan showed his early shades of tapoori(low-life bum) acting in this movie which was funny at the same time heart warming, later he acted in Ghulam on the similar lines. Jackie can't dance but this is more than compensated by his acting.

Another aspect of the movie are songs and their execution which is even more pleasing to watch than the movie itself. I must watch for any Hindi movie buff and also for a peek into early works for Ram Gopal verma.

Rangeela was the movie that started a new era in Hindi movies - one where the heroines started wearing skimpy outfits without looking vulgar. Prior to this I remember shuddering at Karishma Kapoor's crass numbers in Raja Babu and Khuddar.

This was a movie that was the turning point for 4 major film personalities:

1. Ram Gopal Verma: He was a pretty good director with movies like Shiva in his repertoire, but Rangeela was the movie that really made people sit up and take notice. Subsequently RGV delivered several movies of style and substance, though he did generate some stinkers.

2. A. R. Rehman: OK, this is an unfair statement. Rehman entered the major league with his very first score in Roja. But Rangeela was his first score for a Hindi movie. And what a success it was! It had several foot-tapping numbers, a lot of which are popular even today.

3. Aamir Khan: I became a big fan of Aamir when I watched Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. I later watched some of his earlier movies and really loved his performances. But his performance in Rangeela was mind-blowing. The ease with which he slipped into the "Munna" persona was really praiseworthy and marked a turning point in his career. Hereon he started picking up roles with more nuances and challenges and became a veritable hit as an actor and the industry started referring to him as a "perfectionist".

4. Urmilla: Oh Urmilla! I remember watching the trailers of this movie and thinking, "This movie will survive on the lack of Urmilla's clothes". It probably did, but while watching the movie not once was I thinking about what she was wearing. Prior to Rangeela it was customary for Hindi film heroines to dress up in a manner that did not offend Indian sensibilities. Actresses like Karishma Kapoor and Mamta Kulkarni were frowned upon and in general considered B-grade actresses. Urmilla blew the theory out of the water with this film and overnight established herself as a sensation after quite an indifferent start to her career (I am discounting Masoom, which she did as a child actress). Several of her scenes are referred to even today in reverent terms, albeit in a comical manner: Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Khan referred to the "Banian on a beach" while MC'ing for the Filmfare Awards in 2004, nearly 10 years after the movie. Urmilla in subsequent movies has proved that she can do a lot more than look sexy.

Does the movie have flaws? I would be surprised if it didn't. It stretched the limits of believability a bit thin and some songs didn't need to be present. But I am not complaining. For a ticket price of Rs. 15 those days, it was great value for money. And thanks for boosting four personalities who have, since, been a source for high-value and high-class entertainment!

Rangeela, directed by Ram Gopal Varma (who has made very good and very bad films) is a pretty good musical movie to watch with the family.

Even though the movie had some faults, like a typical and predictable storyline along with some editing mistakes, there were still some good things in this film.

First off, the film itself is clean and more of a family film. It has some pretty funny comedic scenes and I'm sure a lot of kids would enjoy it.

Second, the performances. Urmila Matondkar, who the film is focused on, does a pretty decent and convincing job, and also danced well in the songs. Jackie Shroff had an average performance, his performance was a typical Jackie Shroff performance. Aamir Khan, however, did a great job. In this film he played one of the first tapori street thug type of characters in Bollywood history, and he did very well. He fit in to his character to the finest and maintained the accent and style of his character throughout the film, which is very hard to do. It wows me that this is the same man who was in Andaz Apna Apna the year before. He stole the show for me.

And last, A.R. Rehman's soundtrack. This was one of his finest soundtracks, and all the songs, from "Rangeela Re" to "Yaaron Sun Lo Zaara" were all very melodious, catchy, and overall good songs which helped the film.

Overall this film is a nice film to watch with the family and to watch for Aamir Khan's classic performance.