I must admit, I went to see the movie for Randeep Hooda.
I saw him first in Monsoon Wedding. He had a side role there. A good role, but not the leading role. He made other movies, but I did not see any of those. Not even the acclaimed D Company. I happened to see Highway much after it released early this year. The movie made me sit up. Not only was it an amazingly well made movie, it also starred Randeep Hooda in the grey role of a criminal who falls for the girl he kidnaps. He was fabulous as Mahabir Bhatti in Highway, and I wanted more.
Hence, when Rang Rasiya released, I wasted no time in booking my ticket.
I must also admit, I knew Raja Ravi Varma was a famous painter, and I had seen his prints here and there. I knew he was at times derided as a kitschy Calender Artist. Then there was a sudden revival of interest in the artist and he was spoken of highly once again. All this I knew, but knew hardly anything about him.
I did go to see Randeep Hooda, and he delivers magnificently as the artist. But I came away intrigued by this Painter. His life and times, as depicted in the movie, are very interesting. Right away, I downloaded the book that the movie has been based on, Ranjit Desai's 'Raja Ravi Varma'. I have also read a few pages of Deepanjana Pal's book, 'The Painter'. Believe me, it carries a wealth of information about the times Raja Ravi Varma grew up in.
Ketan Mehta creates stunning visuals in the movie. The actors, all of them, act wonderfully. Randeep Hooda is of course an accomplished actor. The movie has Darshan Jariwala, Paresh Rawal, Ashish Vidyarthi, Tom Alter, Vikram Gokhle in several roles. The beautiful Nandana Sen plays Sugandha, the muse/soulmate (as per the movie) of the Painter. Nandana's Bengali diction gets in the way at times, but she is perfect as the woman who inspired the painter with her lissome body, her thick, curly tresses and grey eyes.
There is a bit of nudity and a few sex scenes in the film. But it is done very tastefully. There is one stunning sequence where the Painter and his muse color each others as a sort of an elaborate foreplay before making love. It was handled so aesthetically that it was not titillating, just very sensous..
The movie can be classified as an art movie. Alas, such movies rarely draw crowds. Years ago I saw the brilliant "Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi" which had just a few people in the hall. This movie also had hardly any viewers. It is sad that the same people who throng the halls for movies like 'Kick' and 'Happy New Year' will not step out for a lovely film like this.
This movie has beautiful songs as well. The music is composed by Sandesh Shandilya and they lyrics are by Manoj Muntashir. Here is one of songs which has been ringing in my ears.
I saw him first in Monsoon Wedding. He had a side role there. A good role, but not the leading role. He made other movies, but I did not see any of those. Not even the acclaimed D Company. I happened to see Highway much after it released early this year. The movie made me sit up. Not only was it an amazingly well made movie, it also starred Randeep Hooda in the grey role of a criminal who falls for the girl he kidnaps. He was fabulous as Mahabir Bhatti in Highway, and I wanted more.Hence, when Rang Rasiya released, I wasted no time in booking my ticket.
I must also admit, I knew Raja Ravi Varma was a famous painter, and I had seen his prints here and there. I knew he was at times derided as a kitschy Calender Artist. Then there was a sudden revival of interest in the artist and he was spoken of highly once again. All this I knew, but knew hardly anything about him.
I did go to see Randeep Hooda, and he delivers magnificently as the artist. But I came away intrigued by this Painter. His life and times, as depicted in the movie, are very interesting. Right away, I downloaded the book that the movie has been based on, Ranjit Desai's 'Raja Ravi Varma'. I have also read a few pages of Deepanjana Pal's book, 'The Painter'. Believe me, it carries a wealth of information about the times Raja Ravi Varma grew up in.
Ketan Mehta creates stunning visuals in the movie. The actors, all of them, act wonderfully. Randeep Hooda is of course an accomplished actor. The movie has Darshan Jariwala, Paresh Rawal, Ashish Vidyarthi, Tom Alter, Vikram Gokhle in several roles. The beautiful Nandana Sen plays Sugandha, the muse/soulmate (as per the movie) of the Painter. Nandana's Bengali diction gets in the way at times, but she is perfect as the woman who inspired the painter with her lissome body, her thick, curly tresses and grey eyes.
There is a bit of nudity and a few sex scenes in the film. But it is done very tastefully. There is one stunning sequence where the Painter and his muse color each others as a sort of an elaborate foreplay before making love. It was handled so aesthetically that it was not titillating, just very sensous..
The movie can be classified as an art movie. Alas, such movies rarely draw crowds. Years ago I saw the brilliant "Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi" which had just a few people in the hall. This movie also had hardly any viewers. It is sad that the same people who throng the halls for movies like 'Kick' and 'Happy New Year' will not step out for a lovely film like this.
This movie has beautiful songs as well. The music is composed by Sandesh Shandilya and they lyrics are by Manoj Muntashir. Here is one of songs which has been ringing in my ears.
