When Rangeela hit theatres in 1995, it ended up being a cultural phenomenon, with director Ram Gopal Varma’s stylish vision, AR Rahman’s revolutionary music and Manish Malhotra’s era-defining costumes. At the heart of that change was also a young Ahmed Khan, who reset rules with his choreography.
Khan, who was barely out of his teens, was given the mammoth task of choreographing Aamir Khan and take RGV’s vision forward.
Rangeela gave him his first Filmfare Award and a major push to his career as a choreographer. As Rangeela re-released in the theatres recently, Khan talks to us about being encouraged by RGV to “behave like a naughty child” behind the camera, to designing a new movement vocabulary for Urmila and Aamir. He recalls winning his first Black Lady and the pride on his late mother’s face that he will never forget.
Excerpts:
You received your first Filmfare Award at an early age for Rangeela. How did you feel at that exact moment when your name was announced as the winner?
I went completely numb when my name was called on stage. The only thing I remember is looking at my mother, who was in tears. She was in disbelief too, thinking that her kid, who was a young, lean and nervous kid, had achieved something like this. I lost her a couple of years ago. But I could see that happiness, pride and contentment in her eyes back then. I can’t forget that moment.
How was the experience of working with stars like Jackie Shroff, Aamir Khan and Urmila Matondkar?
I had already been working with them as an assistant choreographer and also did films with them as a child actor. There was a rapport, but it wasn’t upfront. But they accepted me as the choreographer, and that was sweet of them. Aamir has always been like a friend. It was comfortable for me.
Urmila was in my age group, and we were the protégé of Shekhar Kapur. She did Masoom and I did Mr. India. So, that connect was also there somehow. We all knew that we want to achieve something with this film and that’s what we all worked for.
How did RGV’s vision and shooting style influence the way you designed the choreography? What brief did you get from him?
Ram Gopal Varma has guts. He has a strong belief in himself. He believed in himself and that’s why he took a boy like me to do such a big musical. It could have gone wrong and affected him. But he was a risk taker and there was some calculation to it. He told me to go all out and break all the rules. RGV said, “I want you to behave like a naughty child and shoot this film. If you try to act like a professional, then I have tons of them waiting in the market.” That gave me a solid push and that’s how I ended up giving all that I had.
And this film gave me my first award, connections within the industry and a career breakthrough. I thank him for whatever he’s done for me.
How did Aamir and Urmila approach the dance numbers and what were the biggest challenges during preparations?
Urmila was used to more of a Bollywood-ish dancing style. But she had agility and an Indian oomph.
She carried the western choreography well. And with the clothes Manish Malhotra gave her, she looked pretty and became the national crush back then.
For Aamir, the brief was to give him movements that would suit his body. I gave him a lot of hand stretches and broader movements, which he executed well.
I remember, for the song Yai Re Yai Re, I got a certain brief from RGV and told him that I’d choreograph it and show it to him. After watching the entire choreography, he just started clapping. He told me that I had demolished his vision. He thought it would be a heavy post-production song but after seeing my choreography, he scrapped his entire idea of doing it in post-production or giving visual effects. He decided it would be pure dancing and Urmila had to learn each and everything. That’s when I realised that things can change if you do something beyond somebody’s thinking.
And I appreciate RGV for scrapping his vision and not bringing his ego into it.
Was there any song or step in Rangeela that almost got changed, rejected, or debated heavily during the making?
I don’t think that there was any step of that sort because I was new and that was the only thing I had in my hand. I was well prepared with all my choreography. Aamir, Urmila and Jackie Shroff just followed along because they realised I was a young kid.
They did not argue with me. They supported me in my vision. The music was also very different. AR Rahman had done a phenomenal job, and it was much ahead of its time. I would definitely retreat into a shell if anyone objected to my choreography.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: filmfare.com
