India Rang De Basanti returned 5.2× its production cost, earning $11.5M against a $2.2M budget — one of the highest-return India films in our catalog.
Synopsis
रंग दे बसंती
“A Generation Awakens”
After a group of friends graduate from Delhi University, they listlessly haunt their old campus, until a British filmmaker casts them in a film she's making about freedom fighters under British rule. Although the group is largely apolitical, the tragic death of a friend owing to local government corruption awakens their patriotism. Inspired by the freedom fighters they represent in the film, the friends collectively decide to avenge the killing.
Audience Engagement
395 audience reviews — more than 98% of India films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 96th percentile among India films.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 2h 37m runtime, production spent $14K per minute on screen and earned $73K per minute back.
Other Titles From UTV Motion Pictures
Comedy + Drama in India
292 India titles in our catalog blend the Comedy and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Rang De Basanti itself).
The 2005–2007 India Window
Among 157 India films we catalog from this window, Rang De Basanti places #22 — near the top of its class.
The 2000s India Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 2000s in India, 454 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Rang De Basanti premiered alongside 45 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 45 other India films in 2006.
The 535th India title from India we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1913).
Our India catalog contains 1,983 titles in total (1,904 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Rang De Basanti, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- patriotism · 5
- students' movement · 3
- war of independence · 3
- celebration · 3
- indian freedom struggle · 1
- corrupt politician · 8
- coming of age · 78
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #426 of 1,983 India films indexed here (79th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.7 points above the India average of 6.4/10.
Among India Comedy productions specifically: #111 of 648 (top 17%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | India |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Hindi |
| Spoken Languages | English, Hindi, Punjabi |
| Production Companies | UTV Motion Pictures, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures |
| Runtime | 2h 37m |
| Release Date | January 26, 2006 |
| IMDb | tt0405508 |