Director
Ketan
Mehta,
whose
upcoming
film
Rang
Rasiya
will
finally
hit
screens
this
week
after
delay
of
over
half
a
decade,
feels
that
the
timing
of
the
movie
hitting
the
theatres
could
not
have
been
more
perfect.
"This
is
the
right
moment
for
the
film
to
come
up.
Today,
audiences
are
changing
rapidly
than
filmmakers.
Making
Rang
Rasiya
was
a
challenge.
It
took
five
years
for
getting
it
cleared
from
the
Censor
Board," Mehta
told
reporters
at
the
banquet
hall
of
Laxmi
Vilas
palace
here
yesterday
ahead
of
its
screening.
One
of
the
reasons
behind
the
delay
was
filming
in
two
languages
--
English
and
Hindi.
"The
film
is
bilingual...titled
as
Colour
of
Passion
and
Rang
Rasiya
respectively.
"I
chose
to
make
a
film
on
the
legendary
19th
century
painter
Raja
Ravi
Varma
because
he
was
the
most
fascinating
artist
of
that
era
and
his
character,
persona
and
paintings
attracted
me
since
my
days
at
the
Film
and
Television
Institute
of
India,"
he
said.
Acknowledged
as
the
father
of
modern
Indian
art,
Raja
Ravi
Varma
-
an
artist
from
the
princely
state
of
Kilimanoor
(now
in
Kerala),
achieved
recognition
for
his
paintings
depicting
scenes
from
Indian
literature
portraying
perfect
fusion
of
Indian
traditions
with
European
academic
art
techniques.
While
being
patronised
by
kings
and
masses
in
South,
in
1881,
Varma
was
invited
and
commissioned
by
Maharaja
Sayajirao
Gaekwad
III
of
the
erstwhile
princely
state
of
Baroda
to
paint
portraits
of
the
royal
family
at
Laxmi
Vilas
palace
here.
Impressed
with
his
work,
Gaekwad
made
a
permanent
studio
for
the
painter
within
the
palace
compound,
allowing
him
to
paint
his
legacy
on
the
canvas
of
history.
It
was
here
that
Varma
painted
some
of
his
most
iconic
masterpieces
which
are
now
considered
to
be
the
epitome
of
Indo-European
art.
Today,
the
palace
houses
a
remarkable
collection
of
these
fabulous
and
priceless
paintings,
Mehta
said.
"It
was
Varma
who
took
art
to
masses
and
distributed
picture
of
goddesses
like
Lakshmi
Saraswati
etc,
and
democratically
revived
civilisation.
Earlier,
these
paintings
used
to
be
treasury
of
erstwhile
rulers
and
kings,"
the
filmmaker-writer
said.