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It all ads up for this man

With his pulling off a coup with Rang De Basanti, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra tells mini Anthikad-Chhibber he has no complaints

PHOTO OF MEHRA: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

THE FUNDAS Rakeysh Mehra (above right) has proved that technical glitz can never replace solid content

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a content man these days and it is all to do with colours, basanti or yellow in particular. "It is the colour of the harvest, of sacrifice and of hope," explains the soft-spoken director of Rang De Basanti that has converted the Freedom Struggle into the most happening gig and patriotism, the hippest style accessory.

With Rang... the 42-year-old adman-turned-filmmaker has comprehensively proved that irrespective of how many razor sharp cuts and steadycam shots you have in a film, it is content that reigns supreme.

"Isn't that a no-brainer?" Rakeysh demands. Then what happened to his debut feature Aks, the paranormal thriller, which was as slick technically as it was muddled plot-wise. "I am very proud of the technical aspects and the acting of Aks. Having said that, I admit the screenplay had a long way to go. See, it was an idea in my head, we were very excited about it and it moved from concept to execution too quickly. It should have simmered in my head for a couple of years and then I am sure it would have turned out to be a more coherent film. But Aks made its mark and is studied and I am asked to talk about the film so it has not been a washout."

So would it have been better if Rang... had been his debut feature? "It was not ready, na... " says Rakeysh who has directed over 250 commercials for biggies like Pepsi, Reliance, Dabur, Bajaj Auto, BPL, Wills, Toyota and ICICI, many of which have awards nationally and internationally.

Years of research

"Rang... is the result of seven years of research and four years of writing," says Rakeysh who before Aks, directed the Big B in the music video "Eir Bir Phatte". "What I have taken from the ad world is technique but it should stand shoulder to shoulder with the story. It is a tool to tell the story in a visually appealing manner."

Eye-popping visuals

Technically the film rocks from cinematographer Binod Pradan's eye-popping visuals to P.S. Bharathi's intuitive editing and how can we forget the maestro A. R. Rahman's luscious music score? "The contributions have been tremendous. Binod was my alter ego. He sat in for the one-month workshop we had before we started shooting. I bounced my ideas off him. Bharathi is from Bangalore and she is also one of the creative producers. Hers was a very strenuous job as she was editing while shooting was in progress."

Rakeysh says A.R. Rahman who has used the Gurbani to haunting effect "has created magic. He has used location-centric sound, for instance, the Gurbani in the Golden Temple, Gregorian chants in a church and so on. He has reached inside the story and extracted a kind of depth that I am eternally thankful for; he has kept the pace of the film with music. If I were to put it metaphysically, the visuals are the physical representation of a film while the music is the soul."

The film has used sync sound which, Rakeysh says, "is the way films should be made. That is how films are made world over and just because we have dubbed our films forever, it does not make it the right way to make films! In India, there are problems because we are a crowded country and there are not many sound stages but we should move towards location sound."

The film had its share of controversy with objections from the Defence Ministry and the Animal Welfare Board. "It was the proudest moment of my life when we had a screening for the Defence Ministry and they said the film overall had a positive message." But his experience with the Animal Welfare Board was not so happy. "The cut they demanded of the Nihang sequence totally broke my heart. It is disheartening that even if you wish to follow the law, there is no proper process and information is not readily available."

Working with Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan was "a breeze. He was graceful enough to keep the story and the film above his stardom." Rakeysh categorically states the film "does not propagate violence. The Defence Minister is killed an hour before the end of the film. That is even before the pre-climax mark. The boys realise the futility of their action."

Rang.. is very different from Aks because, "I believe in genres. I don't believe in mixing it up. Next I would like to work on a comedy or a thriller. And I don't write stories for actors. If you do that, you are limited. Stories should give birth to characters and characters to actors."

Cult status

With the film gaining cult status, which movies would figure in Rakeysh's list of favourites? "These list things are always difficult. But anyway here goes: Lagaan, Guide, Bandit Queen, Mother India, Do Ankhen Barah Haat, Kagaaz ke Phool, Garam Hawa, Sholay and so on... "

The 120 days of non-stop shooting were "all memorable. So many things happened, Madhavan became a father, people got together, relationships happened, broke up, it was like family with its share of ups and downs."

Rakeysh changed the spelling of his name for numerological reasons. "My sister changed it and I always listen to the women in my life!"

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