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Rangeela (1995 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Rangeela' is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written, directed and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It stars Urmila Matondkar, Aamir Khan, and Jackie Shroff. The film was A. R. Rahman's debut Hindi film with an original score and soundtrack, as his previous Hindi releases were dubbed versions of his Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films.
The film was a major box office success and received critical acclaim, and was screened at the mainstream section of the International Film Festival of India.
The film won seven Filmfare awards that year, including Best Supporting Actor (Jackie Shroff), Best Choreography (Ahmed Khan), Best Costume Design (Manish Malhotra), Best Story (Ram Gopal Varma), Best Music Director (A. R. Rahman), the R. D. Burman Award (Mehboob), and a Special Jury Award (Asha Bhosle) for "Tanha Tanha".
Plot
A street-toughened orphan by the name of Munna (Aamir Khan) is befriended by some kind folks, whose effervescent daughter Mili (Urmila Matondkar) soon grows to be his best buddy. Both gravitate toward the Mumbai movie industry. While Mili finds occupation as a movie extra, Munna earns his livelihood selling movie tickets in the black market.
Mili has ambitions of becoming an actress. Fortune glances her way when she dances her way into a movie star's attention. This actor, Raj Kamal (Jackie Shroff), arranges for her to be auditioned for the heroine's role in his upcoming movie called 'Rangeela'. Mili's shortcomings amount to distractions, but thanks in no small way to Munna and Raj, she lands the role.
Raj and Munna both fall for Mili, but Mili is too busy making the movie to notice any of this. She starts spending a lot of time with Raj during the filming. Munna tries many times to tell Mili that he loves her, but he is unable to, or Raj gets in the way. Eventually, feeling inferior, Munna decides to leave Mili to Raj, who can give her a better life than he can. The matter is not resolved though, as Mili hears of this on the film's opening night. She asks Raj to help her find Munna, which he does after realizing that Mili seems to love Munna and not him.
Mili stops Munna midway, misunderstandings get cleared up and the lovers unite.
Cast
* Urmila Matondkar as Mili Joshi
* Aamir Khan as Munna
* Jackie Shroff as Raj Kamal
* Gulshan Grover as Steven Kapoor
* Avtar Gill as P.C.
* Reema Lagoo as Mrs. Joshi (Mili's mother)
* Achyut Potdar as Mr. Joshi (Mili's father)
* Rajesh Joshi as Pakya
* Neeraj Vora as Drunk party guest (bluffer)
* Rajeev Mehta as Restaurant Steward
* Nitin Chandrakant Desai
* Ram Mohan as Make-Up Dada
* Shammi as Gulbadan's mother
* Tarun as Tough guy at the shooting
* Suman as Motilal
* Himanshu
* Aditya Narayan as grown up himself (singing in the song "Rangeela Re Remake")
* Saroj Khan as herself (choreographer)
* Remo D'Souza as a background dancer in title song
* Shefali Chhaya as Mala Malhotra (special appearance) Shooting Tara (TV series)
* Madhur Bhandarkar in a special appearance
Reception
'Rangeela' opened to critical acclaim and was declared a blockbuster at the box office, grossing 334 million. It was also the fourth biggest grosser of 1995. Urmila Matondkar became an overnight sensation and a superstar. Her fame and star status were bolstered by hits like "Tanha Tanha" and "Rangeela Re". The costume designer of the film Manish Malhotra also received instant fame. The film proved to be a turning point for Aamir's career, whose chemistry with Urmila was also appreciated. The choreography of 'Rangeela' also deserves a special mention. The amazing dance sequences led by choreographers Ahmed Khan and Saroj Khan were considered classic and appealing. 'Rangeela'
Awards
; 41st Filmfare Awards
'Won'
* Best Supporting Actor Jackie Shroff
* Best Music Director A. R. Rahman
* Best Story Ram Gopal Varma
* Best Choreography Ahmed Khan for "Rangeela Re"
* Best Costume Design '' Manish Malhotra
* Special Award '' Asha Bhosle for "Tanha Tanha"
'Nominated'
* Best Film Ram Gopal Varma
* Best Director Ram Gopal Varma
* Best Actor Aamir Khan
* Best Actress Urmila Matondkar
* Best Lyricist Mehboob for "Kya Kare Kya Na Kare"
* Best Lyricist Mehboob for "Tanha Tanha"
* Best Female Playback Singer Kavita Krishnamurthy for "Pyaar Yeh Jaane"
* Best Female Playback Singer Shweta Shetty for "Mangta Hai Kya"
Soundtrack
The soundtrack featured 7 songs composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics penned by Mehboob and an instrumental theme song. The audio was released in September 1995 by Rahman's mother Kareema. It is listed in almost all lists of best Bollywood soundtracks.
The soundtrack fetched Rahman two filmfare awards, Filmfare Award for Best Music Director and Filmfare R. D. Burman Award for New Music Talent. Mehboob got two nominations for Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist, for the tracks "Kya Kare" and "Tanha Tanha". Swarnalatha, Shweta Shetty and Kavita Krishnamurthy were nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for their respective tracks.
Asha Bhosle received the Filmfare Special Award that year for her rendition of the song "Tanha Tanha".
The song "Yaaro Sun Lo Zara" was originally composed for a Telugu film 'Super Police' (1994) as "Baabu Love Cheyyara". The soundtrack was also released in Tamil, with title 'Rangeela' itself and lyrics penned by Vairamuthu. However, the reused track "Yaaro Sun Lo Zara" was not included in the Tamil version. The soundtrack rights are now acquired by Tips Music Company.
Hindi
Tamil (dubbed version)
All the tracks were written by Vairamuthu.Telugu (dubbed version)
Cultural significance
'Rangeela' is considered to be a cult classic in history of Bollywood.
Despite the film's huge success, It was still regarded as a film ahead of its time as the films made during the early 1990s had dated plots and storylines. Shekhar Kapur called it 'The film of the 21st Century with great music and visuals' at the screening of the film. The presentation of Urmila Matondkar in the film became the talk of the town as it re-invented the image of the Bollywood Heroine. Aamir Khan played an unusual character of a Mumbaiya Tapori in the early stages of his career and that proved to be the milestone for him. A. R. Rahman's music of the film became such a rage that it topped the charts for almost a decade. The songs still remain popular as they have a fresh feel. The film established careers of so many technicians and the people who worked behind the camera.
References
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