As Rangeela returns to cinemas three decades after its release, choreographer Ahmed Khan revisits the film that marked a turning point in his career. It was the last film he worked on with his mentor, the legendary Saroj Khan, and the first to give him an independent identity in choreography.



He says, "Ram Gopal Varma just took me by storm one day and said, ‘I want you to do this film.’” With little time to prepare, Khan introduced a new style—one that, he notes, was unlike what choreographers of the time were doing. “We never thought we were creating path-breaking choreography . Our only aim was to help the film and give audiences something they would genuinely enjoy. When the film released and people loved it, we realised our vision had landed exactly right.”



Ahmed says that Rangeela demanded a different approach. "Saroj ji has always been the guru in choreography. Rangeela had different music. It had less facial expressions. and was heavily based on melody and rhythm and visualisation. I took everything into consideration and pushed it so hard that people could enjoy the entire buffet of how a song should be done in terms of locations, choreography, catching every beat and at certain places catching the expressions as well. So, that was different from what Saroj ji would normally do.



Khan also speaks fondly of working with Urmila Matondkar, who delivered one of her career-defining performances in the film. “We were both child actors once, both discovered by Shekhar Kapur. Rangeela was a big break for both of us—her as Mili, the aspiring actress and dancer, and me as a first-time choreographer. We worked hand in glove,” he recalls. “She had a natural sway in her body that made the choreography come alive.”

The choreographer credits much of the film’s impact to composer A.R. Rahman. “The whole credit goes to Rahman,” he says. “He gave us a pedestal to stand on. Usually, music directors back then would give the track once and move on. But Rahman would watch the visuals after we shot and then (add musical elements to) enhance them. That was rare in those days.” Khan believes this collaborative process, now common in the industry, was foundational to the film’s success.