Hansal Mehta’s Simran is a beautifully quirky story that has unfortunately been marred by public scuffles for writing credits and what looks like an ugly behind-the-scenes drama. While Kangana Ranuat carries the film on her shoulders, one can’t ignore the lacklustre performances by a rather dull supporting cast, some whimsical creative leaps and a frustratingly slow second half. It never set out to be another Queen, but surely, it could’ve come close.
So what really went wrong with Simran? Was Kangana being a bully in the garb of Bollywood’s newfound feminist voice? Did the film’s director give up on the project somewhere along its making? Was it a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth with her rather public fight with the film’s estranged writer Apurva Asrani?
Maybe, it was a little bit of everything.
Also Watch: Movie Review: Simran is Complex, But Kangana Can Make You Love Her
Did Kangana Turn Ghost Director?
While Kangana Ranaut is building her image as the feminist voice that Bollywood desperately needs, writer Apurva Asrani is of the opinion that she should not be taken at face value. In a recent interview to Huffington Post, Asrani opens up about the lies that outline her bold image.
She (Kangana Ranaut) shouldn’t just be treated as a beacon of feminism. There is a lot of duplicity, lot of lies, lots of false allegations. I want people to see her for what she is, not what she projects herself to be.Apurva Asrani, Film Writer
Asrani confirmed to this writer that Kangana Ranaut sent him messages confirming that Hansal Mehta had left the film’s sets midway.
I am done with a clueless and a spineless director. I am done with his selfish team. Skilled director left the film citing gender bias issues, according to him he can’t handle a woman calling the shots, he was always told he’ll have to collaborate, on the other hand he encouraged me calling himself a feminist, then what happened to a feminist director?Kangana Ranaut allegedly said in a message to Apurva Asrani (as reported by Huffington Post)
According to reports, Kangana even admitted to taking charge in Mehta’s absence in one of her angry messages to Asrani, during the Atlanta schedule.
But Kangana and Hansal seem to have kept up appearances for the rest of the world. Though the filmmaker refused to comment on what really happened behind the scenes, he’s only happy that audiences are warming up to the film. To him, that’s all that matters.
Too Many Cooks?
Coming down to the unexpected surprises in the film’s final version, Asrani seems disappointed with the added elements to make it more ‘commercial’, something that wasn’t his primary goal.
I didn’t intend for Simran to be a slapstick comedy. My character was an ordinary girl who only becomes extraordinary because of the way the screenplay unfolds. A lot in the second half has been replaced with a larger than life ‘commercial’ tone. But that is the call the director has taken, like he has in our previous films and I stand by it. Still, if you want to see what was intended, read the script. The producers have gone on record to say they will release the script for the world to see after the film releases. I am waiting for that.Apurva Asrani
According to sources, Kangana even ended up mouthing a lot of the dialogues that were written for the supporting actors. This could probably be one of the reasons why the peripheral characters barely made any impact on the narrative.
Also Read: How Much Kangana’s Input Changed ‘Simran’ From Its Original Script
Apparently, the bank robberies that Kangana’s character undertakes, were envisioned differently by Apurva Asrani too, suggests a source:
In the original script there is a context to this phenomenon and things like empty banks, drive-in banks, security guards are properly addressed. In fact, Praful Patel is even chased by the police after an early robbery.Says a source close to the film
Apparently Kangana re-wrote the bank robbery scenes, made them more quirky and comical as neither Hansal nor Kangana wanted the film to get dark and heavy. In the capacity of an editor, Asrani reportedly worked on the film’s first cut, but parted ways with Mehta after the ‘credit stealing’ controversy.
Also Watch: Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Simran’ Explained In 2.5 Mins Right Here
While it is difficult to put a finger on why Simran doesn’t quite come together despite Praful’s endearingly flawed character, the controversy surrounding it has unearthed the obvious culprits. However, this is not to say that this creative chaos is exclusive to Simran. A Bollywood film often gets made under several pressures, compromising very often the sanctity of its original story and vision. Is Simran really any different?
With such turmoil between the film’s writer, lead actor and director, Simran was probably headed towards doom in its early days. But Praful Patel’s dark yet quirky character saves it from the doom it was headed towards.
While Asrani says that he’d like to move on now, Mehta believes that the creative process of making a film, is something that is very intense and collaborative, but not one that is meant for public consumption.
But whether team Simran will bury their differences here and move on remains to be seen.
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