It feels like a choppy costume drama marred by false notes and static ‘acting’…Varma deserves a deeper, more layered film.

The film’s high point is seeing Ravi Varma’s paintings. It establishes that the painter-artist’s life is a powerful story that needs to be told by a better, more accomplished director and actors.

…for the artistic and creative people who believe in freedom of expression but it surely won’t woo the janta who are looking for entertainment and a getaway this weekend.

Wish there was more subtlety of desire and less in-your-face lust and sex. However, Mehta deserves huge credit for tackling a subject of this kind — the sensitive issue of petty politics curbing freedom of art and expression has been dogging us for centuries and continues to do so.

Despite all its flaws, it is relevant even today. It has a message that humanity struggles to accept a lot of things, and the more open-minded we are – the more towards greatness we move as a race. But the message gets lost in the overly forced romance. Watch it to learn the story of a great artist, who is historically significant to the rise of Indian art. But there is little else to offer.

Although, Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya isn’t a perfect ode to the great painter, it certainly deserves applause. Rang Rasiya is a bold film. It is a colorful portrait of love, passion and the dreams of an artist.

I would still watch Rang Rasiya, for what it’s trying to do. The hope is that as there are more and more bold themes, these creases will be ironed out to give us a wholesome, less self-aware film. Till then, this is a decent enough start.

Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya-a period biopic of arguably India’s most influential painter Raja Ravi Varma-will be remembered not for its subversive images and tacky craft, but for its counterintuitive storytelling.