EXCLUSIVE: Aanand L Rai admits that narrative of Akshay Kumar-starrer Raksha Bandhan felt rushed: "We thought audience ke paas patience nahin hai; I was also trying to target a certain audience. I had not done it before; I’ll never do it again"

The humble and talented filmmaker Aanand L Rai is gearing up for his next directorial venture, Tere Ishq Mein. This would be his next directorial after Raksha Bandhan (2022), starring Akshay Kumar. The well-intentioned film got thumbs up from a section of the audience. Yet, it failed to work at the box office. During an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama during the re-release of Tumbbad, we asked Aanand L Rai how he looks back at this film.

Aanand L Rai said, “Honestly, I was also surprised that it didn’t go well with the mass audience. I guess it’s a lesson that maybe, as a filmmaker, I was trying to target a certain audience. I have realized that I should stop doing that. I had not done it before; I’ll never do it again.”

Raksha Bandhan is the story of a brother and his bond with his four sisters. Usually, such family entertainers are often more than 2 hours long. But Raksha Bandhan had a run time of just 1 hour and 50 minutes. Many complained that the film was heavily edited and it could have had a better impact without those cuts.

Aanand L Rai confessed, “Yes. The audience got a feeling that the narrative was rushed. We always thought that audience ke paas patience nahin hai. But then again, it’s a lesson.”

Three years ago, the verdict for Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016) changed once the longer cut, called the ‘Snyder Cut’, was unveiled. Can we expect an ‘Aanand cut’, that is, a longer version of Raksha Bandhan on the OTT? Aanand L Rai smiled and remarked, “Not a bad idea!”

The secret behind Haseen Dillruba’s success

Meanwhile, along with Tumbbad, Aanand L Rai was also happy with the success of Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, which was released on Netflix in August 2024. Even the predecessor, Hasseen Dillruba (2021), worked big time.

When asked what works for this series according to him, Aanand L Rai explained, “The day I heard Haseen Dillruba’s script, I was very sure that it’ll have a very definite audience. That’s because I knew that Hindi pulp is a part of our DNA. All of us have travelled in trains and we have seen pulp novels being sold at railway stations.”

He revealed, “I used to travel to Aurangabad for studies. There was a broad gauge train from Delhi to Manmad and from Manmad to Aurangabad, I used to go by meter gauge trains. I noticed that at any given point, these Hindi novels used to be lying on the seats. People buy these novels from the station, finish reading them and they don’t take those novels with them. They leave it behind. Then some other passenger would read it and he or she would also leave it behind for the next passenger to read it. So, it became a self-run small pulp library on wheels of sorts!”

Aanand L Rai continued, “I realized it makes for a great read for the duration of the train journey. Hence, I knew that it would work. The moment you see things in the film like ‘Magarmach Ka Shikanja’, it gives a feeling of familiarity.”

While signing off, Aanand L Rai stated, “At Colour Yellow Productions Pvt Ltd, we’d love to make maximum films for theatres. When we make too many things on OTT, there are chances that our vision will change.”

Can we expect a limited theatrical release for Haseen Dillruba 3, as its often done for certain Oscar-worthy films of Netflix in the West? Aanand L Rai answered, “I don’t know if Netflix or any OTT platform takes a call in this regard. But I want my film to have a theatrical run and then come on OTT. This is very personal for me. However, Haseen Dillruba films, including part 3, will be on OTT and that’s fine as now it has a loyal audience. I’ll not break that. But all the newer stories that we are working on, we’ll definitely try to get them to cinemas.”

Also Read: Aanand L Rai on the re-release of Tumbbad: “This film was special, marking a shift for the production house”

from Featured Movie News | Featured Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama
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