Very few films can be called ‘path-breaking’ in real terms. Rangeela (1995) was one of them. The Aamir Khan-Jackie Shroff-Urmila Matondkar starrer introduced Hindi moviegoers to a new sound of music, composed by A. R. Rahman, and also stood out with its stylish and aesthetic choreography. The credit for the latter goes to Ahmed Khan. He was just 19 when Ram Gopal Varma got him on board and trusted him. Ahmed didn’t let RGV down and went all out. The result: Ahmed won the Filmfare Award for Best Choreography, and the dance steps remain memorable even today.
As Rangeela gears up for a re-release on November 28, Ahmed Khan spoke exclusively with Bollywood Hungama about his memories and a lot more.
What are your first thoughts on the re-release of Rangeela?
It’s a beautiful moment for us. The beauty is that it’s been 30 years since it was released and even today, we are all relevant. We are blessed to be still working (smiles).
Saroj Khan was initially signed as the choreographer. Please tell us why she left the film and how you came on board.
I was her assistant while she was my guru. I was 19 at that time and Saroj ji was very busy. I used to end up doing up her clashes. What I mean is if the dates were clashing, I used to go and handle some of her shoots. Rangeela was one of them. Ram Gopal Varma used to see me more at the rehearsals. He used to keep saying, ‘What Ahmed does is nice’. In fact, he used to prefer that Saroj ji’s dates should clash and I should be on the sets!
One day, I reached the sets and he asked me, ‘Where is Saroj ji?’. I replied, ‘She’s busy and is not in town’. He retorted, ‘But she gave me the dates’! I clarified, ‘Her dates were already given. Rangeela came up in between’. He asked me, ‘What will you do?’. I said, ‘I am here as her replacement’. He smiled, wondering what the 19-year-old kid would do. But when he saw me shoot the first half an hour, he was completely blown. We both clicked, and the ice was broken.
Later, he told me, ‘I am not going to take Saroj Khan in the film. I am replacing her’. I was concerned and asked him why he was doing so with my guru? Then he told me, ‘I can take anybody from the South. But I am telling you all this is because I want you to do my film’. It was like 440-volt ka jhatka (laughs). I asked him, ‘Are you sure I’ll be able to do it?’. He answered, ‘If I was not sure, why would I ask you?’.
I further asked, ‘This is the first time A R Rahman is doing music score for a Hindi film. Are you completely sure that you want to take that risk?’. He replied, ‘Who are you to take that call? That’s my call. And why are you so worried? You have nothing to lose. It’s me who’ll be in a losing position. So, stop acting smart!’. He also made it clear, ‘If you don’t do the film, it won’t go back to Saroj Khan. So, if you feel so loyal to your guru, understand that by working on Rangeela, the film will at least be in your camp’.
I told Saroj ji; actually, I used to call her Saroj Khan. I said, ‘Saroj aunty, he doesn’t want to work with you and he might get someone from South’. Those days, there was an unsaid battle between South choreographers and Hindi choreographers! They were coming and taking over. So, she told me, ‘You do the film. You and Ramu got along. As it is, I don’t understand these kinds of songs. It’s very weird for me’! You see, Rangeela had a very different sound. She also said, ‘Picture ka toh kuch hona nahin hai. Toh tu wapas aa jaana mere paas’! Hence, I had gone out as an experiment. I didn’t expect that Ram Gopal Varma would hold my hands and take me right along with him. I was blessed to have him as my mentor.
The opening credits mention you as choreographer first, after which Saroj Khan is credited for ‘Tanha Tanha’…
I had no idea that he would go all out for me in this manner. Kaun karta hai itna? What that one film gave me, I doubt I could achieve in a decade.
You just mentioned that Ram Gopal Varma was blown away by the first 30 minutes of you working on a song. Which was that song and where was it shot?
We were shooting at Versova Beach in 1994. It was the song ‘Yaaron Sun Lo Zara’. I still remember the first line which I shot. It was, ‘Humko dekho, hum hai yaara, apni marzi ke raja’.
This song was followed by ‘Kya Kare Kya Na Kare’, ‘Mangta Hai Kya’ and ‘Pyar Ye Jaane Kaisa’. There was also ‘Spirit Of Rangeela’, where Jackie Shroff is watching Urmila Matondkar dance. That song took my life! We shot it twice or thrice, as it was not coming out as intended. A R Rahman had provided some symphony. Kisi ke baap ne symphony nahin suni thi India mein uss waqt! For us, a dance track meant tandav, dhol tasha, etc. But that song had a soft symphony. How do you make someone dance to it? Hence, we were not getting the right note. Ram Gopal Varma, however, was supportive. He insisted, ‘Let’s do it again’. Finally, we got it. The last song we did was ‘Yai Re Yai Re’.
A video of the making of ‘Kya Kare Kya Na Kare’ is available on the internet. The lyrics of that song in that video are different and the playback singing seems to be of Abhijeet Bhattacharya. So, just like ‘Spirit Of Rangeela’, was ‘Kya Kare Kya Na Kare’ also reshot?
Ramu, at that time, was experimenting in a very aggressive manner. ‘Kya Kare Kya Na Kare’ was shot by somebody else. Then, he halted the shoot and got Saroj ji on board. He stopped again. Then, he took me and completed the song. And yes, it was sung by somebody else, too. He scrapped that version and got Udit Narayan to sing it. He got the lyrics changed and then I shot it.
Do you recall any other memorable episode from the sets of Rangeela?
The song ‘Mangta Hai Kya’ was being shot at Mehboob Studios. He asked me, ‘Ahmed, how did you like this set?’. I replied, ‘It’s nice but…’. Before I could complete, he said, ‘But it’s not great, na? Let’s not shoot’. And he just walked out! He later told me, ‘We cannot think of just ‘nice’ in Rangeela. It has to be the best’ (smiles).
More Pages: Rangeela Box Office Collection
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