Raanjhanaa re-release: Aanand L Rai reveals how Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor reacted to AI-altered ending of film

After sharing his displeasure with an AI tweak to give Raanjhanaa a happy ending, director Aanand L Rai has shared how the two leads have reacted to the move.

Raanjhanaa director Aanand L Rai had expressed his displeasure at the AI-generated ending for his 2013 film for its re-release. In a new interaction with Zoom regarding the same issue, the director has now shared how the cast- led by Sonam Kapoor and Dhanush, have reacted to the move.

Sonam Kapoor and Dhanush shared screen space in Aanand L Rai's Raanjhanaa.

What Aanand L Rai said

During the interaction, when Aanand was asked about Sonam Kapoor and Dhanush's reaction to the AI tweak to give the film a happy ending, he said, "Nobody approves of this. Who would like it, and why? A character that has already been established, and it takes years to truly live a story. An actor invests a major part of their life into it, and you suddenly want to change it? How is that even possible?"

‘You can’t simply change a story by rewriting the ending’

He went on to add, “There’s always a reason why a story is told. What is the intention behind telling this particular story? It belongs to a genre called tragedy, which has its own flavour. The audience connects with it. You can’t simply change a story by rewriting the ending. An actor brings layers of emotions to a character, which actually gives weight to the genre. You can’t just say, ‘Let’s change the ending, now no one dies, and everyone lives happily.’ That’s not how stories are told."

Meanwhile, the film's makers, Eros said it has acknowledged Aanand L Rai's "concerns and responded to him respectfully, reiterating our legal position and creative intent".

As per PTI, the film is being re-released in Tamil Nadu with an altered AI-generated "happy" ending, a possible first for the industry. In the AI version of the film in Tamil, the film doesn't end with Kundan's death. The Hindi film was released as Ambikapathy in the Tamil dubbed version in 2013. Raanjhanaa was directed by Aanand from a script penned by Himanshu Sharma. The film is set to re-release in theatres on August 1.