On 28 June 1991, K. Doraiswamy, an executive of the Indian Oil Corporation, was kidnapped by Kashmiri militants and put in captivity for two months.
This inspired Mani Ratnam to make the film Roja. Doraiswamy's wife was fighting for his release, and according to Ratnam, it was her plight that the film was based on.
It was KB who approached Mani to make a film for his banner. As KB was Ratnam's inspiration, Ratnam wanted it to be one of the best films they had produced.
KB disliked the title Roja as he felt it sounded similar to a brand of crushed betel nut. Ratnam thought the title represented Kashmir because 'the rose is something beautiful but with thorns.'
To satisfy Balachander, Mani Ratnam suggested another title Irudhi Varai (meaning, Till the end), but KB preferred Roja, which was finalised.
Roja was made on a shoestring budget. The technicians worked for less money with the understanding that the film will do little business. It was not thought of as something that would be a phenomenon.
Roja was the first film for which Ratnam used a Steadicam, in the shot that introduces the terrorists' hideout to the audiences.
According to Ratnam, Roja is a contemporary adaptation of the story of Savitri and Satyavan.
Ratnam had said that Roja was not originally planned as a political film: 'It was a phase India was going through and these things affected me and found their way into the love story,' he had said.
Lakshmi's daughter Aishwarya was initially offered the female lead, but she declined it. She later revealed that she deeply regretted that decision, which was made by her grandmother against her will.
Ratnam's second choice for the role was Manisha Koirala, but she was bound by a contract with Subhash Ghai.
Ratnam approached Karishma Kapoor to play a Kashmiri girl, but was eventually not cast. Ratnam later revealed that she was 'far too expensive for a Tamil film.'
Ratnam had planned to shoot Roja in Kashmir, but extreme terrorism there forced him to shoot the film in other hill stations resembling it. Shooting locations included Coonoor,Ooty, and Manali.
Cinematographer SantoshSivan said that a lot of images were written at the script level. The audience only see the snow in Kashmir when Roja sees it for the first time. These things were in the script
The song 'Chinna Chinna Aasai' was shot at the Banatheertham falls in Courtallam, and the Hogenakkal Falls in Dharmapuri.
Shakti Singh dubbed for Arvind Swamy in the Hindi version of the film, while Madhoo dubbed for herself.
The whole film was completed in less than 60 days.The final length of the film was 3,750 metres (12,300 ft)
Though Roja won 3 National awards for best composer, best lyricist, and best film on national integration, Madhoo, who was the favourite for the Best Actress, lost it to Dimple Kapadia.
Nana Patekar was signed to play the terrorist chief in the film, but was later replaced by Pankaj Kapur, for unknown reasons.
Roja got listed in Time magazine's '10 Best Soundtracks' of all time.
Impressed with Rahman's works, Ratnam visited his studio and listened to a tune (l'Tamizha Tamizha') that he had composed long back on the Kaveri river dispute . He signed him up instantly.
Rahman, in spite of his reluctance to seriously take up work in films, accepted the offer since Ratnam had the reputation of a director with a good taste for music.
'I am not sure why I accepted Roja. I was offered Rs 25,000 for it, a sum that I could make in 3 days composing ad jingles. I think it was the prospect of working with Mani that enticed me,' ARR said.
The film's album sold over 3 million units, with the Tamil version selling over 200,000 units and the Hindi version selling 2.8 million units. The Hindi version alone earned 7.5 cr (46 crore in 2019)
The phenomenal success of this film made it get dubbed into Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Telugu. All the versions were very successful.
In August 2015, Roja was screened at the 2015 London Indian Film Festival, in the retrospective series Politics as Spectacle: The Films of Mani Ratnam, along with Bombay and Dil Se.
'Black Steel' by Tricky sampled the song 'Rukkumani Rukkumani'. Also, Roja got nominated for Best Film at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival.
