Rang Rasiya (Colours of Passion)- Movie Review

Source: http://j.mp/mFvD7K

The second day of the London Indian Film Festival 2011 (LIFF) featured the screening of the Ketan Mehta movie, Rang Rasiya, at the Victoria and Albert museum.

Rang Rasiya is a movie that tells the story of the Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma and his tryst with art, science and technology against the backdrop of religious and conservative British India. Over 500years later the issues tackled in the movie are still pertinent; MF Hussain and the uproar over his art. With many non-Indian characters and being set in British India, the movie is in both English and Hindi giving it a more realistic touch.

Rang Rasiya tells a beautiful story of an unsung Indian hero but as one viewer said, “the movie succeeds in conveying a message but through a torturous journey”. The movie starts off abruptly with many confusing characters; especially that of the wife and Kamini. Fortunately the despite the abruptness the story is not lost. The songs are lovely but don’t do justice to the on-goings of the movie. A song-less movie with a melodious background score would have worked better.

The movie belongs to Randeep Hooda who does an exceptional job as the great Indian painter. He acts convincingly and adds life to the story. Only thing off might be him having a six-pack even in old age (I’m guessing the girls won’t mind). For the actresses, Nandana Sen and Ferena Wazeir do a good job. Ferena performs well in her role though I wish her character was better defined. Nandana Sen acts well and the scene where she breaks down stands out.

Rang Rasiya was completed 2 years ago and has been in the news since then about the controversial nudity scenes by Nandana Sen. This scene is one of the most beautifully and artistically shot scenes. In fact it almost looks like a painting. Kudos to Nandana Sen for taking this bold step, and Randeep Hoodda for complimenting her. Many movies claim to showcase “skin-show” artistically but Rang Rasiya is the only movie to fully embody that statement.

All in all, Rang Rasiya is a lovely movie which tells a wonderful story of India. Definitely worth a watch if only to watch the story of Raja Ravi Varma. The movie is expected to have a proper worldwide release in September 2011.

Movie trivia: There are 3 versions of the movie; an all Hindi version, an all English version and a mixed Hindi and English version