The Ram Gopal Varma classic, costarring Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff, was re-released on Friday, reaffirming its cult status among fans who still remember every song, line and emotion. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Urmila said the film evokes an instant wave of joy even today.
“Instead of memories, it's a big flash of happiness, excitement, thrill… Everything just comes to your mind the minute you say Rangeela,” she said, adding that the film holds a rare, almost magical place in the hearts of viewers.
“The film almost made the time stand still at the point when it was released. Very few movies get that place in people's hearts… It's unbelievable how people remember the name of my character. When I'm at the airport, they call me by my character’s name.”
Despite starring opposite two of the era’s biggest icons, Urmila recalls being focused solely on giving her best. “At that time, I was only trying to do my job to the bestest of my capabilities because I was pitted against 2 actors who were not just huge stars of the time, but whose movies I've seen in my school and had totally crushed on them,” she revealed. “I was actually acting against them with some phenomenal music by AR Rahman… I was only trying to do my best.”
Urmila points out that Rangeela’s longevity proves that simplicity, sincerity and strong writing matter more than grand budgets.
“It's not a movie made on a great budget. It was made on a minimalistic budget,” she said. “At the time when the whole industry was very obsessed with songs being shot in Switzerland, not a single song was shot out of India… it shows that the story works in the long run.”
While fans fiercely guard the original, Urmila is strikingly open to a remake. “So, it's really a little silly and childish to think in an obsessive manner about your roles or of any work that you have done before,” she said. “If anybody wants to do it, why not? More the merrier, but it is up to people, to kind of judge how good or well it is done. It's absolutely welcome.”
For her, cinema is meant to be shared, reinvented and reinterpreted. “Cinema never belonged to anybody. In fact, nothing belongs to nobody,” she said. “The movie doesn't belong to you anymore… it is as much for each and every person who has seen it as it is mine.”
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As Rangeela lights up theatres once again, it is clear that its legacy continues to shine just as brightly as it did in 1995.
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