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Post by emily on Jun 30, 2015 6:16:11 GMT
I said in the other film that I wasn't gonna write something up about this film until tomorrow. But whatever. I'm not tired, and I'm hyped up listening to the soundtrack. So I knew right off the bat that Rangeela was going to be different. It just had that "different" feel to it. So after sitting through the credits, shouting out all the names of the stars pictured (PRITHVI! RAJ! REKHA! BIG B!) I sat down to watch this absolute powerhouse of a movie. '90s Bollywood flicks are very hit and miss for me. This was a hit. The plot worked well, nothing felt contrived, and I never felt like things were going over the top, which is the feeling I get sometimes from other films of the decade. And this had a vibe that other films didn't; it was raw, it was intense, and it wasn't ashamed to be sexy the whole way through. "Sexy" is a great way to describe this movie. The three leads hit it out of the park. Urmila...man, I was bowled over by her. This was the first film I've seen her in and all I can say is, "Wow." Sassy, sexy, yet a good-hearted girl. I was bahut impressed. Jackie Shroff was intense, and I liked him better than anything I've seen him in so far. And Aamir...well. You all know how much I love that dude. I've always thought he was looking sexiest around mid-90s, and this movie confirmed it for me. The scruffy vagabond look works very well for him. Oh, and, uhm...he also acted very well; one of his best performances, which is saying something about Mr. Perfectionist. Let's talk about the music. What a debut by Rahman. Every song is absolutely electric. It's hard to pick favorites, but I'd say "Yaaron Sun Lo Zara," "Hai Rama," and "Kya Kare Kya Na Kare" are probably my top three. And the picturizations to go along with them are droolworthy. The desert scenes in "Hai Rama" makes "Suraj Hua Maddham" look like child's play. (Sorry, SRKajol fanclub, of which I am a member...just being honest!) And I just love the choreography throughout. So often Bolly choreo is so formulaic and repetitive; every dance move in this film felt so fresh, and that was refreshing. {SPOILER}
The only let-down for me about this film was the ending. It felt so...anticlimactic. I knew going in that Mili would end up with Munna. That was a given. But it felt so disappointing as the film built up this sizzling chemistry between Kamal and Mili and then, "Oh I don't like you at all, I love Munna." What?! I mean, maybe that was the desired attempt...to throw the audience for a loop. But instead of surprise, I felt a lot of disappointment - and I feel Jackie's character was very shortchanged. But hey, Aamir gets the girl, so can't really complain...
Anyway, there are my thoughts. At least thus far. Will probably add more in the morning.
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gulfam
Junior artiste
Posts: 60 
Favorite actor: Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan
Favorite actress: Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone
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Post by gulfam on Jun 30, 2015 14:13:52 GMT
Hi Emily, totally agree with you on Urmila, she is fantastic in this movie. Was this your first Ram Gopal Varma film? He can be VERY hit and miss as a director. But you need to check out Kaun? which is directed by him and also stars Urmila (plus Mast, Satya and Bhoot). Urmila was Varma's muse throughout the 90s and early 00s and it really shows in the way he captures her in certain scenes. It's a shame he's now forgotten how to direct and his treatment of women in his films is now misogynistic and degrading.
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Post by moviemavengal on Jun 30, 2015 14:33:46 GMT
emily I knew you were going to love Rangeela! Isn't Aamir off the charts great in this movie? And I totally agree that Jackie Schroff has never been better that I have seen him than in this film. Urmilla was also a revelation to me! I totally agree that the choreography in this film is feels so completely different and fresh. To me it felt like modern dance, and the music is just fantastic. I've now seen Raja Hindustani and Rangeela for the first time within two weeks of each other, and comparing the two Aamir roles is interesting because the films I think came out just one year after the other. The two roles are both rough, sometime hot heads, but part of the joy of watching Aamir is that the two characters are also so different from each other. Raja, despite being a tough taxi driver, seems incredibly innocent at the beginning of Raja Hindustani. He's like a puppy following memsahib Aarti around. In Rangeela, Aamir starts out as a very crafty world weary street hustler, but he shows his inner vulnerable longing and pain to the audience, if not to Urmilla's character. I love Aamir in both roles, but I think his acting in Rangeela is just something really, really special.
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Post by emily on Jun 30, 2015 15:52:43 GMT
Hi Emily, totally agree with you on Urmila, she is fantastic in this movie. Was this your first Ram Gopal Varma film? He can be VERY hit and miss as a director. But you need to check out Kaun? which is directed by him and also stars Urmila (plus Mast, Satya and Bhoot). Urmila was Varma's muse throughout the 90s and early 00s and it really shows in the way he captures her in certain scenes. It's a shame he's now forgotten how to direct and his treatment of women in his films is now misogynistic and degrading. This was my first Ram Gopal Varma film, yes. I'll have to see some of the others you mentioned. I was very impressed with Urmila. I've now seen Raja Hindustani and Rangeela for the first time within two weeks of each other, and comparing the two Aamir roles is interesting because the films I think came out just one year after the other. The two roles are both rough, sometime hot heads, but part of the joy of watching Aamir is that the two characters are also so different from each other. Raja, despite being a tough taxi driver, seems incredibly innocent at the beginning of Raja Hindustani. He's like a puppy following memsahib Aarti around. In Rangeela, Aamir starts out as a very crafty world weary street hustler, but he shows his inner vulnerable longing and pain to the audience, if not to Urmilla's character. I can definitely agree with the innocence vs. street-wise differences in those characters. Another difference between the two characters IMO is that Raja Hindustani is more that typical over-the-top masala character, whereas I think Aamir in Rangeela is much more grounded. It may just be my opinion on the two movies - Raja Hindustani is still a bit much for me (especially the comedic parts), whereas it took no effort for me to instantly love Rangeela. It was a much more subdued movie. Aamir does hot-head, shades of gray characters very well. Rangeela & Fanaa are probably my two favorite roles of his. |
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odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
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Post by odadune on Jul 1, 2015 0:55:14 GMT
Basically I liked this alot too, I think it's a nice little fairy tale about the film business that shows some of the dark side while still insisting that there are basically decent people in that line of work as well. The three leads are all very good in it. Gulshan Grover's take on the film director character amused me a lot, and I remember reading somewhere that this was an early project for Manish Malhotra, where he distinguished himself by giving a lot of thought to the costuming as a component of the characterization. Aamir dresses like a real tapori, not like a movie version of a cool tough guy. Urmila dresses like a lower middle-class girl with big dreams...except when she dresses like a movie star. And so on. Ram Gopal Varma's technical craftsmanship was far above most other things going on in the 90s, but he's been going downhill since sometime in the early 00s-basically, he kept getting drunker and sleazier and weirder as he got older, climaxing recently with a couple of fairly to very bad movies, a weird session of public lamentation and rending of garments about Jiah Khan's death that seemed to be more about him than about her (she was a discovery of his, appeared in his Lolita knockoff with Amitabh Bachchan), and getting sued by Sridevi and her husband for using her name as part of the title of a South Indian film he was making. Bring over this conversation about the ending from the other thread: Moviemavengal: I like Rangeela as well, although I can't help wondering how Aamir's character is supposed to support himself and a wife at the end.  I think he'll just emotionally support Urmilla in her acting career. I can see him being a hard driving agent/manager once he gets acclimated to the biz, and not letting her be taken advantage of. It's funny how we can all watch the same movie and come away with different impressions and conclusions. Admitedly, it's been a really long time since I've seen Rangeela. What I do remember about Aamir's character was that he was a hot-head; I can't see a person like that becoming a hard driving agent/manager. {Heres my take on it}I could see Jackie Shroff's character becoming a mentor/advisor to Urmilla and helping her avoid pit-falls. However, I think that Aamir's character would be too much of a jealous hot-head to allow this and so, eventually, Urmilla would quit acting, stay in her old neighbourhood with Aamir as her husband and become a stage-mum. Do we even know what Aamir's character does in terms of a job? All I remember is him lying about or hanging out with his friends. I would hope that the resonsibility of supporting a wife, and later on, kids would make Aamir's character find some kind of decent job and allow him to hold his tongue when necessary. However, since he's such a ht-head I doubt he'll be able to hold down a job for too long. Aamir was a black market ticket seller -- a scalper, if you will. Can't see a hot head being an agent/manager? He would be a Bollywood Ari from Entourage --based on the real life hot head Ari Emmanuel. But to your point -- he could be too jealous to actually help her. |
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Post by chrisanthi on Jul 1, 2015 7:46:58 GMT
All this talk about Rangeela is making me want to see it again - especially all the talk about the ending but I don't think that I'm in the right state of mind to see it. However, I have taken aout the dvd so that it's easily accessible when I do feel like seeing it. I also think that Jackie Shroff's character was short-changed but, then again, I am biased since I like Jacike Shroff and am not particularly fond of Aamir. emily I too like Urmila and I've liked every film that I've seen her in except for Daud. My favourite Urmila film (hands down and without a doubt) is Ek Hasina Thi - her role here is completely different from Rangeela; she's so good as is Saif. I also liked Dewangee with Ajay and Akshaye Khanna though I feel that this is more Ajay's movie. The next film I want to talk about is Pinjar. I'm conflicted about this film; on the one hand I liked it and it is undoubtedly well-made and well-acted on the other hand, it is the most emotionally draining movie I've ever seen - at the end I felt like I'd been run over by at least a dozen steam rollers. I know people who have seen Pinjar and, whilst they thought that it was sad, they found other films sadder; I, on th eother hand, thought that the films they mentioned were sad but nothing like Pinjar (maybe it just struck a chord with me). I say this because I don't want to put anyone off seeing it because I think that it's a film that should be seen but, on th eother hand, it's good to be prepared. Pinjar was the first film I saw with Manoj Bajpayee and I have absolutely loved the guy ever since. There's a lot of scenes where he's not saying anyting but just looking at Urmila and you can see every emotion he's feeling in his eyes - he's absolutely amazing; hands down, and without a doubt, the best actor in Bollywood. I second gulfam 's recommendation of Satya (I haven't seen the other films recommended). |
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Post by MrB on Jul 1, 2015 11:46:45 GMT
I definitely second the recommendation of Mast - it's RGV at his best, and Urmila is very good in it. Every frame exudes a love of film, and there are many lovely touches, not least being the pom pom girls who suddenly pop up in a knife fight during Na Govinda.
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Post by emily on Jul 1, 2015 15:15:26 GMT
chrisanthi I'm actually really intrigued by Pinjar now. I actually do like "emotionally steam-rolling" movies...I feel like they're cathartic, in a way. And yes, Manoj Bajpayee is intense...a great actor. I also now want to check out Deewangee, as I just love Akshaye Khanna.
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gulfam
Junior artiste
Posts: 60
Favorite actor: Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan
Favorite actress: Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone
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Post by gulfam on Jul 2, 2015 12:18:35 GMT
Alongside Rangeela, some of Urmila's best films are...
Judaai
Satya
Mast
Kaun?
Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya...
Bhoot
Tehzeeb
Pinjar
Ek Hasina Thi
But for those who haven't seen Kaun? It's one of the best RGV/Urmila collaborations (even though the DVD has the subtitles out-of-sync for the first half of the film)
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mala
Dancing in the chorus
Posts: 13 
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Post by mala on Jul 4, 2015 2:22:15 GMT
Oooh!! It makes me so happy to see this movie getting so much love on here! I remember the old Bollywhat boards thread mostly just mentioned Jackie's speedo.  And I had forgotten all about some of these movies you guys are mentioning! Totally second Ek Haseena Thi, Pinjar, Tehzeeb, and to a lesser extent, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya and Mast (if you're an Urmila fangirl). |
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odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
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Post by odadune on Jul 4, 2015 3:28:46 GMT
Oooh!! It makes me so happy to see this movie getting so much love on here! I remember the old Bollywhat boards thread mostly just mentioned Jackie's speedo. Or were going on about the male-gaze-y bits focused on Urmila, which I found to be pretty mild after watching RGV's "Naach". |
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aspiringfilmmaker
Junior artiste
Posts: 87
Favorite actor: Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, SRK, Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra
Favorite actress: Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Shraddha Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Kriti Sanon
Upcoming release you're most excited about: Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Brothers, Dilwale, All is Well
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Post by aspiringfilmmaker on Jul 12, 2015 22:34:38 GMT
Thanks to the original poster for bringing up such a wonderful film to memory. Rangeela was undoubtedly one of the best films of the 90's and far ahead of its time, with crisp, realistic dialogue and believable situations that didn't reek of "filmi" melodrama. And of course, the three leads were simply superb - Aamir Khan balanced delightful wit with emotional vulnerability, Urmila was cheerfully innocent and carried off the sensuality without being vulgar, and Jackie Shroff was excellent as the melancholy superstar disillusioned with his fame. One wishes Ram Gopal Varma would come back to this type of wholesome genre instead of the trash he's churning out these days.
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Post by chrisanthi on Aug 26, 2016 22:25:19 GMT
I rewatched this tonight and for some reason, it just seemed to drag - honestly I thought it would never end. I remember that a while ago we had had a discussion about the ending. Ok it was always apparent that Milli would end up with Munna. I did wonder how they would live and I thought that Milli would have lead a pretty miserable life stuck in the neighbourhoood she so wanted to leave. This time around I thought that the ending just didn't ring true - ok I don't watch Bollywood for reality and believability but it does have to make sense within the context of the move. We have this girl whose dream, ever since she was a child, was to be an actress; a girl who failed the same class three times because she was taking dance classes so that she could be an actress; someone who wanted something better from life; who was ambitious and worked hard to achieve her dream (ok she was also lucky) and who wanted to leave her neighbourhood. And this girl is going to end up with the guy who scalps cinema tickets; who doesn't want a job; who's completely content with his life; has no ambition and no aspirations of leaving the neighburhood? Nuh, it would never happen.
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Since Sept. 6, 2022, Chiloka has not been reachable. (