Rang De Basanti (Hindi: रंग दे बसंती, IAST: Raṅg De Basantī; IPA: [rəŋg d̪e bəsənt̪i], translation: Paint It Yellow[2]) is a 2006 Indian drama film written and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. It features an ensemble cast comprising Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and British actress Alice Patten in the lead roles. Made on a budget of Rs. 250 million (US$5.5 million), the filming was completed in and around New Delhi. The story is about a British documentary filmmaker who is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters based on diary entries by her grandfather, a former officer of the British Army in India. Upon arriving in India, she asks a group of five young men to act in her film. They agree, but after they begin filming a friend of theirs is killed in a fighter aircraft crash, with government corruption appearing to be the root cause of the incident. This event radicalizes them from being carefree to passion-driven individuals who are determined to avenge his death. The film's release faced stiff resistance from the Indian Defence Ministry and the Animal Welfare Board due to parts of the film that depicted the use of MiG-21 fighter aircraft and a banned Indian horse race respectively. The film, which released globally on January 26, 2006, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2006 BAFTA Awards. The film was also India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, though it was not nominated for either ceremony. A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned mixed reviews, had two of its tracks considered for the Academy Award nomination. The film was not only well-received by critics and audiences for its production values, but also had a noticeable influence on Indian society. In India, besides several technical awards, the film won the Best Movie award at the annual Filmfare Awards among other Bollywood award ceremonies. Along with a gross revenue of Rs. 1.36 billion (approximately US$30 million) at the box office making it one of the highest grossing films in the Bollywood since the year 2000,[3] it had the highest-selling DVD title sales at the time of its release.[4]
