Sarah Jilani

Eventually, he teamed up with director Rakesh Amprakash Mehra and got some stardust on board in the form of Amir Khan.

The actor brought on acclaimed composer A.R.

Rahman for the score, and it was then that producers finally thought maybe this could work.

Even so, there were concerns that audiences who were more used to romantic musicals wouldn't be interested.

My director, Rakesh, he was really concerned because those were the days of Bollywood cinema, which was basically candy floss kind of cinema.

I mean, really candy floss in the sense that very romantic, all pink flowers and shooting out of India and hills and mountains and so on.

And we had nothing of the sort.

So Rakesh asked me, suppose we get lucky and the film gets made, who is going to watch it?

Because people are watching Candy Floss and we are a very different kind of film.

I said, I don't give a damn, Rakesh.

After the film is made and released, even if there is one person, one boy or a girl comes to me and says that, thank you, sir, for giving us Rang De Basanti.

My job is done.

I'm satisfied.

Just one person.

And that strong faith paid off, turning it into a great success story.

The movie's message became a rallying cry to India's youth, sparking discussions about patriotism, political apathy and the power to create change.

Moving between the present day and the past, a group of friends act in a historical docudrama about Bhagat Singh during the independence movement, who's widely considered a freedom fighter.

This forces them to confront issues in their own lives around injustice and corruption.

One evening, the friends are sat around drinking and chatting when the character Ajay, who's a pilot, challenges them to make a difference.

It's easy to be a critic, he says.