Why Rangeela Re is my all-time favourite Hindi music video

 I remember watching Rangeela after deciding that Jiah Khan in Nishabd was the most alluring thing I’d ever seen on-screen, but with no initial thoughts as to how the film might turn out to be. It was on pure conjectural terms that perhaps Ram Gopal Varma makes girls turn into goddesses. I remember the process of just watching the film so well, if only I could go back in time to watch it again for the first time! The sheer pleasure of not having to use your brain in the least, and to feel, at the same time, something gratifying happening to your sight and sound anyhow. That’s what A.R. Rahman’s music, Manish Malhotra’s designs, and RGV’s heroines do to you. 

And the film starts with a bang! The instant the Rangeela Re song sequence begins, we see Urmila Matondkar in a completely different aura, sashaying off the screen, wearing her iconic printed dress- short, colourful, flowery- with boots and a hat on. All the men in the street have their eyes on her as she throws out her arms in a luscious fashion, showing off her moves and throwing off her hat, grooving to the opening lines of Asha Bhosle’s “Yaai re, yaai re, jor laga ke naache re.” The way Asha Bhosle sings it is very erotic and the lyrics both buoyant and cheering. You might not like it in one go, but you definitely won’t be able to refrain yourself from listening to it repeatedly once you realise that that’s how it is with A.R. Rahman’s music. It takes time to acquaint itself to you. 

The opening of the video in particular made me question if it really is of 1995, it was so ahead of its time and way too westernised. It might have not appealed to the masses.

The presentation of Urmila in the video is more than what a guy could ask for; she  is everything pretty, and both cute and sensual at the same time, and carefree yet ambitious. This is what sets her apart throughout the video. We see her lively and optimistic attitude, and the candy-coloured view of being a famous Hindi film actor. She dazzles us all by her energetic and lovely dancing skills. The scene where she wears a black dress and lip syncs to “Itne cheharon mein

Apne chehre ki pehchan to ho, pehchan to ho/ Bade bade naamon mein

apna bhi naam-o-nishaan to ho, pehchan to ho,” she is as pretty as a picture and so sweet and endearing, one would wish to watch her all day and night just to observe her innocently enticing mannerisms. 

She comes in a different outfit every time- from oversized t-shirts to high waist denim shorts- and each one of them could become a style statement just whenever. It was all sassy and flashy. 

For all I know, it is more about the aesthetics than anything else, though everything is just next to perfection. The colours of the video and the music and sound of the song- everything fits perfectly well. Overall the video is visually appealing and satisfying to the ears.