The party hosted by Deepa Sahi's Maya Movies and Aanand Mahendroo's Infinity Entertainment on Tuesday night was attended by the director of the film, Ketan Mehta, and cast members Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen and Ferena Wazier.

Talking about the film, co-producer Sahi said: "The freedom of artistic expression is under constant threat everywhere. M F Husain is in exile, there's a fatwa against Salman Rushdie and a Danish cartoonist is under attack and that is what the film deals with."

Clips from the film were played all though the evening while Rajasthani folk musicians regaled the gathering with their songs.

Rang Rasiya, titled Colours of Passion in English, traces the life and work of Raja Ravi Varma, the painter who laid the foundation of modern Indian art in the 19th century.

"He dared to paint the Gods and he was prosecuted for obscenity," the director Ketan Mehta said, explaining the contemporary relevance of the period epic.

The film also focuses on his muse, played by Nandana Sen. "I discovered Raja Ravi Varma during my Pune film institute days," recalls Mehta, "but as I learnt more about his work I realised how influential he had been as a painter. His iconography has impacted the colour palette of our popular cinema."

Randeep Hooda, who plays the lead role, said: "through his paintings, he told India's own stories and yet won global recognition. That should be a source of inspiration for all of us today."