Rang De Basanti (2006)

Rang De Basanti (transl.  Paint Me Ochre) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language political action film written, produced, and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The literal meaning of the title can be translated as 'Paint me with the colours of spring'. The film stars an ensemble cast including Aamir Khan, Siddharth (in his Hindi debut), Atul Kulkarni, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, British actress Alice Patten (in her Hindi debut), Waheeda Rehman, and Soha Ali Khan with R. Madhavan appears in a guest appearance. It follows a British film student traveling to India to document the story of five freedom fighters of the Indian revolutionary movement. She befriends and casts five young men in the film, which inspires them to fight against the "so called" injustices of their present-day government.

Shot primarily in New Delhi, Rang De Basanti was released globally on 26 January 2006. Upon release, the film broke all opening box office records in India, becoming the country's highest-grossing film in its opening weekend and holding the highest opening-day collections for a Hindi film. It eventually became the seventh highest grossing Hindi film of 2006. It received critical acclaim, winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film, and being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 BAFTA Awards. The film was chosen as India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, though it did not ultimately yield a nomination for either award. A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned positive reviews, had two of its tracks considered for an Academy Award nomination.