Paint Me Saffron) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language epic coming-of-age socio-political action crime film written, produced, and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

James oversaw the capture and execution of the three freedom fighters – Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru – at the Lahore Jail and has written in his diary about his admiration for their revolutionary spirit, in spite of his being an officer of the British Empire.

Following a string of unsuccessful auditions, Sue meets Sonia's friends: Daljit "DJ" Singh, Karan Singhania, Sukhi Ram, and Aslam Khan.

The group becomes devastated when Sonia's fiancé, Ajay Singh Rathod, a flight lieutenant in the Indian Air Force, is killed when his MiG-21 jet malfunctions and crashes.

The group decides to publicly clarify their intent behind the assassination, and towards this end, they take over the All India Radio station after evacuating its employees and after alerting Karan's friend Rahul, who works there and is live (on air) at the moment.

[6] Rakeysh said the following in a scriptwriter's conference conducted by the Film Writers Association in the year 2008, "I was making a documentary called Mamooli Ram, on Amul, the milk revolution with Kamalesh Pandey.

[6] This new story, which eventually formed the basis for Rang De Basanti's script, was influenced by Mehra's upbringing, youth and experiences over the years,[4] including his desire to join the Indian Air Force while in school, as well as his recollections of listening to Independence Day speeches and watching patriotic films such as Mother India.

[6] After the English version was dropped, the writer Kamlesh Pandey was brought on board to pen the first draft of Rang De Basanti in Hindi,[6] marking the start of his screenwriting career.

[12] Rang De Basanti suffered a significant setback when one of the initial producers ultimately failed to contribute any funds towards it; the shortfall left production looking uncertain just two months away from the beginning of principal photography.

[8] Khan, who would turn 40 during the shoot, lost about 10 kilograms (22 lb) with a strict diet and exercise regime to more convincingly depict a man in his late twenties.

[16] Early rumours indicated that actors Arjun Rampal and Arjan Bajwa would be amongst the male leads,[17][18] but these roles ultimately were filled by Siddharth and Sharman Joshi.

[22] R. Madhavan, despite being a well-known Tamil cinema actor, took the smaller role of a fighter aircraft pilot because he was convinced of the film's potential and wanted to be a part of it.

In particular, the demands of her emotional scenes in Antarmahal often left her exhausted, thus requiring "a lot of personal overhauling" to ensure that her performance in Rang De Basanti was unaffected.

On similar lines, New Delhi's Modern School at Barakhamba Road served as the location for all the scenes pertinent to All India Radio station, which is shown to be stormed by the youngsters in the film.

Although he was responsible for Khan's rebellious look, Sharman Joshi's (who played Sukhi) lovable persona or Madhavan's dignified appearance, Bhasin credited Bains for her major contributions to the film.

[35] On Rang De Basanti's release, the Film Certification Board of India sought the views of Indian Defence Ministry due to scenes that depicted the use of MiG-21 fighter aircraft.

The soundtrack of Rang De Basanti, which was released by Sony BMG, featured music composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi and Blaaze, an India-based rapper.

[8] In a press conference with pop singer Nelly Furtado, he said that she was to originally have featured on the soundtrack, although this was ultimately prevented from happening due to a change in producers and other factors.

[36] Confessing that the film's soundtrack was his favourite out of all his previous works, Joshi felt that it "was a wonderful experience getting to know the mindset of today's youth and to pen down their feelings".

Regionally defined elements such as a woman's prayer at the Sikh Gurdwara (Golden Temple) and the bhangra harvest dance are incorporated alongside more contemporary, global styles such as hard rock and hip hop to depict the cosmopolitan lifestyle of the youngsters in the film.

[45] Rang De Basanti received its world premiere on 26 January 2006, with high expectations that it would be a success with western audiences,[46] though it also faced ire from several organisations because of certain controversial scenes.

[70] In India, The Hindu reported that with audiences from the metropolitan cities turning out in large numbers, Rang De Basanti was notching up record collections in its opening week.

[79] Saisuresh Sivaswamy of Rediff.com wrote that films like Rang De Basanti can easily get into "preachiness", but believed Mehra got his message across while avoiding this, also appreciating the music, cinematography, dialogues and art direction.

When Rakeysh was questioned about the same in a scriptwriter's conference conducted by the Film Writers Association in the year 2008, he said the following, "So, in 2005, in Allahabad, a bunch of 4 students took the TV station there, and they were shot dead.

[88][89] While discussing if the selection committee's choice was correct, critics felt that the Academy members could have better related with Omkara, an adaptation of Shakespeare's play Othello.

A study of bloggers behavioural patterns during the first month of the film's release revealed a significant increase in public ire towards government and politicians for constantly being mired in corruption and bureaucracy and their inefficiency in providing basic amenities.

Taking cue from the scene in which the protagonists hold a silent, candlelight vigil at New Delhi's India Gate, one such group of demonstrators carried out a similar rally to voice their protest.

[121] Another such massive youth activism was seen in the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case where similar rallies were organised in India, United States and around the world.

[125] Reacting to these strong social reactions, actor Kunal Kapoor thought that the film was just a catalyst that presented "patriotism in a package that the youngsters understood and empathised with".

[128] On similar lines, Kamal Sunavala wrote a play titled Under the Influence which focuses on a young Indian expatriate whose life changes after watching this film.