Anurag Kashyap calls Rangeela a game-changer in Bollywood cinema

Cinematic mavericks Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap came together for a rare and insightful conversation recently. This marked the first time the two filmmakers shared the stage for an interview, and as expected, it led to an engaging walk down memory lane, packed with reflections on filmmaking that were as nostalgic as they were thought-provoking.

Anurag Kashyap's thoughts on Rangeela

Anurag Kashyap kicked off the conversation by recalling the moment he became a fan of Ram Gopal Varma. It was after watching Shiva (1990), a film that left a deep impression on him. “I saw Shiva on its second day in theatres,” Anurag remembered. “The poster didn’t even feature a hero’s face—just a hand holding a cycle chain. We were stunned. Back at our Delhi hostel, students were watching it multiple times. We went back three or four days in a row.”

He then recounted his experience of watching Rangeela (1995), a landmark moment for him. “Sriram Raghavan called me up and insisted I watch Rangeela with him at Anupam Theatre in Goregaon. He had a connection with someone on the staff, so we ended up sitting on the stairs to catch the first day, first show,” Anurag said with a laugh.

Reflecting on the impact Rangeela had, Kashyap emphasized, “It began with a song—‘Rangeela Re’—and the choreography was unlike anything we’d ever seen. Every dance sequence in Hindi cinema since then has evolved from that style, with few exceptions.”

Anurag went on to make a striking observation about the film’s broader influence. “I genuinely believe Rangeela changed the cinematic language, consciously or not. Before that, dialogues were mostly in Urdu—actors delivered lines they often didn’t understand. But Ramu changed that by bringing in writers like Neeraj Vora and Sanjay Chhel.”

He concluded with admiration, “If Rangeela hadn’t happened, or if those writers didn’t exist, the colloquial, spoken language in cinema wouldn’t have come in. I probably wouldn’t have had a space in the industry at all.”