Development After his last commercial production
Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), Mehta chose to make a film on the 19th-century painter, Raja Ravi Varma's life. Incidentally both these movies were based on a subject from the 19th century.
Rang Rasiya is an adaptation of the
biographical novel Raja Ravi Varma authored by the
Marathi writer
Ranjit Desai. Mehta thought that Varma was the most fascinating artist of that era and his character, persona and paintings. He was fascinated with Ravi Varma right from his days at
Film and Television Institute of India. After reading Desai's novel, Mehta felt inspired to make a film based on the life and times of Ravi Varma, and set about formulating the story of his new film.
Cast and crew |thumb|right When Mehta first met
Nandana Sen at her house, he saw two life-size reproductions of Raja Ravi Varma's paintings. This indicated to him that she was familiar with the artist and his works, something that he thought would make his job as a director easier. Speaking of the character she was to portray, he said: "To me, she was the perfect woman to play the muse of an artist who sparked off debates about censorship of art. She has that child-woman quality, which was so much a part of Sugandha's personality." The much desired controversy regarding "censorship of art" was quickly forthcoming, and Nandana was the willing lynchpin of that achievement. Among several scenes in the film that depict her in various grades of undress, one wide angle shot shows the bare breasts of a skimpily clad Nandana. The
Central Board of Film Certification, which
regulates the ratings and certification of media in India, duly objected to the scene, terming it nudity. Mehta saw Hooda's previous films
Risk and
D. As a preparation for his role, Hooda tried to learn the basics of painting. He was happy working in the film and said that his acting skills were well-groomed by Mehta's abilities.
Paresh Rawal plays an important role in the film.
Feryna Wazheir, who was born and raised in the
UK to
Kashmiri parents, plays a
Parsi girl in the film. Sangita Kathiwada is the creative consultant and Niharika Khan, the award-winning designer is the
costume designer. ==Soundtrack==