What is it about Rang De Basanti (RDB) that makes it relevant even after 15 years of its release? Is it the heartwarming story of the five friends? Or is it the performances by the actors — Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth, to name a few? Or is it the music by AR Rahman? We get talking to the RDB team to know what makes the film eternal.

For me, the most important message in the film is that it talks about not being cynical and complaining but taking responsibility and bring about change. I actually used to be an assistant with Mehra, and I was an assistant when the script of RDB was being written. So I was looking forward to working on the film as an assistant. But then I decided I was passionate about acting and joined a theatre company. A year-and-a-half later, they were casting for RDB and I called Mehra and told him I’d like to audition. He thought the audition was great, and after a few more auditions, I was on.

RDB has grown to be more than a film. Even when it was released, it had a huge impact — not just on cinema goers but on the collective consciousness of the nation. The film has remained evergreen, and I don’t know how to describe it but it is a humbling experience to see your work remain relevant.

It was a salute to young generation along with being a wake-up call. That the film is completing 15 years, one part of me is so happy, yet there is a part which is not very happy because the film is still relevant. The cause it spoke about, the voice it had, if you look around, it looks like so much has changed but nothing has changed. It is an endless process, and I am not blaming or pointing fingers but I hope one day, RDB becomes irrelevant. It says, a lot needs to be done and we need to participate in the idea of India.

Rang De Basanti is one of the films closest to my heart. The subject is still topical and it will always be. It turned out to be a cult film. It was an exceptional film but a difficult one, too.

The difficult part was how the past and the present would work out. There’s one scene I remember; when we are in a jeep and all of us are high on alcohol and Aamir turns to his left and sees Chandra Shekhar Azad riding on a horse. It was so beautifully imagined and shot.

I’d auditioned for this part, and back then, in the early days of my career, it was a dream to be cast there and then. After acting for two-three scenes, I got an okay from Mehra. I was so happy that I went to my car and started screaming with joy.

I was collaborating with Aamir for a product campaign, and he asked me to write the dialogues. Simultaneously, Rakeysh sort of talked about the lyrics. It’s a challenge, writing lyrics and dialogues together. I remember, I was in Goa and finished the dialogues in 15 days, and cracked the mukhdas.

Picking one song is very difficult, all are special for special reasons. I remember Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji watched the film, came out and gave me a hug and told me, ‘Sooraj ko main nigal gaya’ (lines from the song Rubaru). He himself was a poet and was very moved by the line. The song, Luka Chuppi, was originally not in the film. There was just a background score that was supposed to play during R Madhavan’s character’s funeral. I was sitting with Rahman and told him, what if this was a game of hide and seek between a mother and a son. This song was then written to composition.