Rang De Basanti (lang-hi??? ?? ????? IASTRa?g De Basant?, IPA-hns?r??? de? b??s?nti?IPA; English (English language) translation: Paint It Saffroncite newstitle=Movie Review: Rang De Basanti (Paint It Saffron)last=Pandoharfirst=Jaspreetpublisher=BBCdate=2006-01-25url==2008-03-23) is a 2006 (2006 in film) Indian (Cinema of India) drama film written and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. It features an ensemble cast comprising Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan (R. Madhavan), Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and British (British people) actress Alice Patten in the lead roles. Made on a budget of Rs. (Indian rupee) 250 million (US$ (United States dollar)5.5 million), the film was shot in and around New Delhi.

The story is about a British documentary (Documentary film) filmmaker who is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters based on diary entries by her grandfather, a former officer of the British Army in India. Upon arriving in India, she asks a group of five young men to act in her film. They agree, but after they begin filming a friend of theirs is killed in a fighter aircraft crash, with government corruption appearing to be the root cause of the incident. This event radicalizes them from being carefree to passion-driven individuals who are determined to avenge his death.

The films release faced stiff resistance from the Indian Defence Ministry (Ministry of Defence (India)) and the Animal Welfare Board (animal rights) due to parts of the film that depicted the use of MiG-21 (Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21) fighter aircraft and a banned Indian horse race respectively. The film was released globally on 26 January 2006 and subsequently was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (BAFTA Award for Best Film) at the 2006 BAFTA Awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts). Rang De Basanti also was chosen as Indias official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards (List of submissions to the 79th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film) in the Best Foreign Language Film category, though it did not ultimately yield a nomination for either award. A. R. Rahmans soundtrack, which earned positive reviews, had two of its tracks considered for the Academy Award nomination. The film was not only well-received by critics and audiences for its production values, but also had a noticeable influence on Indian society. In India, the film did well at many of the Bollywood awards ceremonies, including a win for Best Movie at the Filmfare Awards.