Rang De Basanti: Rare pictures

Ten years ago, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and writer Kamlesh Pandey decided to collaborate on a script about how freedom fighters like Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Rajguru continue to inspire youngsters today, who happily drop the pen and join a revolution because the idea of freedom is dear to them. According to a Mumbai Mirror report, after they'd completed it, they shared it with focus groups of young people in Mumbai and Delhi who, to their shock, denounced it. And they decided to rework it. Mehra, who'd gone to the Air Force Bal Bharti School in Delhi, recalled the shell of a MIG -21 aircraft which had stood around the foyer after he read about several MIGs crashing. They were being described as "flying coffins" in the wake of a Rs 2000-crore corruption report.

Soon after the Emergency, in 1980, he'd joined the Delhi University and took active part in political discourses. Those memories crept into the script, along with the night he'd spent with youngsters protesting the Mandal Commission. "Later, I learnt how the authorities had come down on these students. Much of it was censored but I saw some videos which gave me a true picture," he reminisces. Recollections of Nazrul Islam's revolutionary geet and Sahir Ludhianvi's verses, the MIG crashes and the Mandal fires, the martyrs of the past and a group of college friends in the present crystallised into 'Rang De Basanti' which over the last decade, has become mandatory viewing on Republic Day. It opened on January 26, 2006.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's pop patriotic film, ‘Rang De Basanti’ is to complete 10 years on January 26, 2016. The film, which garnered immense accolades from its audience and critics alike, went on to bag several awards at various film festivals across globe including national awards. The cast of ‘Rang De Basanti’ is to now reunite to mark 10 years of its release.

The film, which is based on the theme of patriotism, is a unanimous favourite and is telecasted on television across various channels during Republic day and Independence day. Since the film was set against a patriotic backdrop, taking a page from India's Pre-independence era, the cast and crew of the film was flown from across the world. The crew, which consisted of nearly 194 members, is to now flying back to Mumbai from various parts of India and abroad to bring in 10 years of the cult classic.

Rang De Basanti’s lead, Aamir Khan, who is currently filming for his next, ‘Dangal’ in Ludhiana, is also to fly back to the city for the celebrations. The ‘Rang De Basanti’ team is to have a screening of the film at a Juhu theatre followed by a house party at director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's residence. The event is to be a perfect reunion where all the 194 members of the film will be in attendance.

"But a film is not a solution, it is just a medium to raise your voice. 'RDB' connected in a way I could never imagine, left an indelible mark, stayed on and grew with time," said Mehra. There has been talk of a sequel but Mehra insists he said all he had to and the film has inspired several movies and segments of the society. "More than a movie, it's become a movement," said Mehra, who's busy with 'Mirzya.’