It’s tough to picture Rang De Basanti without Aamir Khan at its heart, embodying DJ, the charismatic rebel who truly galvanized a generation. Yet, as screenwriter Kamlesh Pandey recently shared, this iconic film nearly featured a completely different lead actor: Manoj Bajpayee.
During a discussion on a YouTube show, Pandey delved into some of the lesser-known tales from the making of Rang De Basanti, including its challenging journey to production and the surprising casting decisions that could have altered the film’s destiny entirely. “We had been roaming around with the script of the film for 6 years, and no one was ready to make that film. We had signed Manoj for the role that Aamir played finally. We thought we would make a small film; we didn’t have a big budget,” Pandey revealed. He continued, “The moment Aamir heard the script, he told us that he wanted to do the film, and he even got AR Rahman to come on the project. UTV, who had rejected the film twice in the past, immediately said yes to it.”
According to Pandey, the initial hesitation from producers stemmed from their inability to grasp the film’s unique concept.
The seamless intertwining of past and present narratives often left many perplexed, with some even completely misunderstanding the story’s core.
