More curiosity over 'Rang De Basanti' as release is postponed

Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) The curiosity to see Rakeysh Mehra's "Rang De Basanti" grows by the day after the much-touted film's release date was postponed to Jan 26.

The Aamir Khan-starrer was postponed from this Friday (Jan 20) to Thursday (Jan 26 - Republic Day), adding to the growing curiosity about the film.

No one, not even the film's crew, has seen "Rang de Basanti".

"Not even my six-year-old daughter Bhairavi. But one of her friends saw it very long ago when we had completed the film. And now poor Bhairavi can't hear the end of it," chuckles Rakeysh.

On Thursday, Rakeysh was in Pune for the Pune Film Festival where "Rang De Basanti" was supposed to be screened. However, the screening was cancelled.

Explains Rakeysh: "It was a big blow to all of us who were there - Aamir, Soha Ali Khan, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor and Siddharth, and for the audience. We were supposed to screen 'Rang De Basanti' as the Pune festival's closing film.

"But with the release being postponed to next Thursday, it didn't make sense to show the film to the festival. It was okay to screen it at Pune this Thursday when the film's commercial release was the next day... not any more.

"Anyway, we all went up on stage and said sorry to the audience. They were extremely gracious and curious about the film. They asked a thousand questions. I hope the curiosity remains alive until the film's release."

Interestingly, the postponement of "Rang De Basanti" has led to a no-release situation in theatres this week.

"No other filmmaker, big or small, was willing to take on 'Basanti'. In spite of Aamir's last film ('Mangal Pandey') not being up to the mark and Rakeysh Mehra's last film 'Aks' causing a public perplexity," observes filmmaker Hansal Mehta.

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Rang De Basanti