Rang De Basanti (Hindustani: रंग दे बसंती, رنگ دے بسنتى) is a Hindi movie, a product of the Bollywood film industry of India. It was released on 26th January 2006; it was directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (of Aks fame). The film stars Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, British actress Alice Patten, Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri, Kiron Kher and Anupam Kher. The music is by A. R. Rahman and the album went on to become a chartbuster. The movie was well-received all over the globe, and grossed Rs. 345.5M in its opening week. The film has recently been selected as India's entry to the Golden Globe Awards and will compete in the foreign language film category.

The movie has been selected as the official entry from India in the best foreign language film category at the 2007 edition of the Academy Awards.

Struggling British filmmaker Sue (Alice Patten) comes to India after she reads the diary of her grandfather, who served in the British Force during India's struggle for Independence to make a short film about some of the unsung revolutionary heroes of the Indian Independence Movement. Her friend Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) helps her find four young men to act in the film: Daljeet a.k.a. DJ (Aamir Khan), Karan Singhania (Siddharth), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) and Sukhi (Sharman Joshi).

They aren't enthusiastic at first, but Sue wins them over. Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), a political party activist, later joins the group -- although he is initially unpopular on account of his Hindutva beliefs and contempt for Aslam, who is a Muslim.

As the young men learn more about the history of the Independence movement, they lose their cynicism and start to consider what they can contribute to society.

Then Ajay, Sonia's fiancé,(Madhavan) an Indian air-force pilot, is killed when his plane crashes. The government proclaims that the crash was caused by pilot error. Sonia and her friends know that Ajay was a ace pilot and don't accept the official explanation. They learn that the crash was due to a corrupt defence minister (Mohan Agashe), who had signed a contract for cheap, spurious MiG aircraft spare parts in return for a large kickback.

Not content to accept this as "just the way things are done", the group decide to protest peacefully. Police forcefully break up their protest. The young men then decide that they must emulate the early freedom fighters and resort to violence. Tragedy and a shocking ending follow.

First week box office receipts were Rs. 34.55 crores, or 345.5 million rupees. It is one of the most successful movies in 2006, matched only by Krrish and Fanaa.