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Ahmed Khan is a filmmaker now, but his breakthrough as a choreographer came with Ram Gopal Varma’s 1995 seminal romantic film Rangeela. The movie gained a cult status because of how much it pushed the envelope in terms of not only the costumes, but also the music and choreography. It marked the breakthrough of not only Ahmed, but also composer AR Rahman and costume designer Manish Malhotra.
“To my surprise, I don’t know why Ram Gopal Varma offered me that film because I was a very young boy. And during those days, in 1994, it was very tough to penetrate and walk into a studio. And here he was, offering me a film. So, it took me a while to understand if it’s really happened or if he’s joking,” recalled Ahmed in the inaugural edition of SCREEN Spotlight.
At that time, Ahmed Khan was working under the busiest choreographer Saroj Khan. Whenever her dates would clash, assistants like Ahmed had to step in to cover her for a song shoot. “One day, she was abroad shooting. Then the filming of Rangeela came up. I got a call to go there. Ramu saw that I’d come in place of Saroj ji. In half an hour’s time, I don’t know what caught his eye, but he asked me to come for the next day’s shoot also,” added Ahmed.
After pack-up, Varma showed the edit of the song “Tanha Tanha”, which they’d already shot. “He’d shot it very randomly. Suddenly, she (Urmila Matondkar) is running, Jackie Shroff is sitting, wide shot to close-up, both are together then they’re separate. There was no continuity. He broke all the rules. And I used to do a lot of music videos that day. So, I was well-equipped with that edit pattern. I loved it,” said Ahmed.
During the shoot of the next song, “Haye Rama,” Ram Gopal Varma took Ahmed Khan aside. The dance assistant assumed he was going to be asked to send Saroj Khan instead. “But what he said was, ‘I’ll cut the chase short. I want you to do Rangeela. Because no matter what, I won’t take Saroj Khan. Her dates and other stuff aren’t working out. So, I’ll be going to some South choreographer, maybe Prabhu Deva or Raju Sundaram. So, if you want to do it, do it. At least it’ll be in the team,’” added Ahmed.
The choreographer-filmmaker recalled telling Varma he’s not sure. But RGV was pretty certain. “Then I asked Saroj ji. She was very happy. She gave me her blessing and said, ‘Ya, go do it.’ The music was very different for that time. It was Rahman’s first Hindi score. Even she said, ‘Ahmed, I’m not getting that vibe. So, you guys do it. You all will enjoy it,’” said Ahmed.
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Ram Gopal Varma’s brief to Ahmed Khan was simple: “Rahman has gone out of his way to do a Hindi film and give this kind of music. I want you to not stress over anything because you have nothing to lose. So, do it full-blown like the young boy you are. I want that frenzy of a young boy to come up in the songs,” Ahmed recalled, adding, “That difference in the composition of music enhanced my capability as a choreographer to come forward and give these kinds of steps. Otherwise it wouldn’t have happened.”
