New Delhi, Sept. 11 -- Rangeela came at us in waves. First Rangeela Re landed on TV and everyone went crazy about Urmila Matondkar. Then, as song after wondrous song released, everyone was talking about A.R. Rahman and his first original Hindi soundtrack. Then Asha Bhosle, singing Tanha Tanha like she hadn't aged since the 1970s. And finally, on 8 September 1995, Ram Gopal Varma's film released, and people couldn't get enough of Aamir Khan's streetwise tough, or tapori.
It's hard to explain to those who didn't experience it first-hand how exciting the run-up to the release was. Director Vasan Bala, 19 when the film released, remembers the feeling of elation coming out of the theatre.
"We hadn't seen the Bombay lingo done this way since Am...