This year, Aanand L Rai's film Raanjhanaa celebrates a decade of journey, and even today the soundtrack by the great music maestro Mr. A. R. Rahman and acclaimed lyricist Irshaad Kamil, is widely played. Raanjhanaa marked the first collaboration between Aanand L Rai and A.R. Rahman. The film stars Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, and Abhay Deol. Though the film was appreciated back in time, it hasn't aged gracefully and Abhay Deol agrees.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Abhay Deol said, “The film portrayed things that do happen and was true to the subject. The filmmaker’s motive was also to have empathy and show the evolution of a character. But there is no doubt that there is this formula that Hindi films go for which is to add glamorisation.”
Dhanush played the role of Kundan who pursues Sonam Kapoor's character Zoya, relentlessly. She dates Jasjeet, played by Abhay Deol. He added, “In the process of glamorising it, the film lost the essence of his message, which was about love and respect and boundaries. That was the intention with which the filmmaker came in. It was quite the opposite of what may have come out purely because we have to glamorize everything in order to make it commercially digestible, but there are some things which cannot be made palatable.”
Back in 2020, Abhay had said that history will not look at the movie kindly for its regressive message. He said, “It’s been a theme in Bollywood for decades, where a boy can (and should), pursue a girl until she relents. Only in cinema does she do that willfully. In reality, we have seen time and again that it leads to sexual violence of some sort. Glorifying it on screen only leads to blaming the victim.” ALSO READ: 10 Years of Raanjhanaa: Aanand L Rai unveils unseen moments of Dhanush – Sonam Kapoor starrer: “Dive into the emotional journey”
