After his last commercial production Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), Mehta chose to make a film on the 19th-century painter, Raja Ravi Varma's life.

Rang Rasiya is an adaptation of the biographical novel Raja Ravi Varma authored by the Marathi writer Ranjit Desai.

[2] When Mehta first met Nandana Sen at her house, he saw two life-size reproductions of Raja Ravi Varma's paintings.

Speaking of the character she was to portray, he said: "To me, she was the perfect woman to play the muse of an artist who sparked off debates about censorship of art.

Among several scenes in the film that depict her in various grades of undress, one wide angle shot shows the bare breasts of a skimpily clad Nandana.

[11] Rang Rasiya had been languishing in post-production from 2008 due to the Censor Board's objection with certain scenes that involved nudity.