Rangeela turns 30: Urmila Matondkar recreates the fresh, joyful magic of 90s—will Bollywood ever match it again?

Just the other day, we were watching Urmila Matondkar dancing with abandon across streets in Rangeela, and comforting a child who grew up to be Aditya Narayan, about the dilemmas of eating chocolate and drinking milk. The millennials would remember chanting, tension, tension, tension!

And that song had such cheery simplicity, as she sings about wanting to see her name with the stars, and how to just be…happy. Just believe in yourself, and you’ll find the difficulties in life ebb. You know that philosophy would never fix anything in real life, but while listening to the song, you just feel…who cares? The song almost wills you to believe it.

It’s all part of the infectious energy in Rangeela, which almost belongs to a time in Bollywood that’s light-years away. Nevertheless, Matondkar brought a bit of that old-time joy to us, recently as she danced to the song, just as if it was yesterday. She reminded us of the 90s, a time of blaring, garish actioners, but also fresh-eyed romance in the midst of a multitude of songs. It was colourful, messy and outrageous for many reasons, but for those who grew up watching that era, it was still childhood. We won’t ever get that chaos back again, or the joy of watching Matondkar dance on streets; we have stylised, glamorous settings, sarees, and fashion, aplomb bursting through the screens.

So, for a few moments, it felt as you’ve been tugged back into the past, with your feet firmly in the present, as you watch her new video.  In the video, she danced in a breezy blue-and-white dress paired with heels, twirling on a balcony. Sharing the clip, she wrote: "Rangeela… It was never just a film… it was, and still is, a feeling… woven with joy, hope, dreams, beauty, love, struggle, triumph… and above all, a grand celebration of life!"

Matondkar didn’t stop at the moves. She  got reflective about the film’s songs, calling them a celebration of the Navrasa—the nine emotions of Indian literature and poetry: love, laughter, sorrow, anger, courage, fear, disgust, wonder, and peace. Every scene, she said, brings back that instant, childlike smile, whisking fans away into a world of innocence and wonder. Talking about the charm of her onscreen self, Urmila added:
"An innocent girl walks onto the silver screen and, with her charm and purity, captures hearts… Thirty years ago today, Rangeela became each one of yours! And even today, it can transport you back to that first magical moment when you laughed, cheered, and fell in love."

She capped off her post with heartfelt gratitude:
"Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives, for embracing me with so much love… Your love has been the greatest blessing of my journey. Cheers to love, life, and laughter!!! Ho ja Rangeela re."