Director Aanand L Rai recalls how Raanjhanaa's climax was written just hours before filming on the last day, "I was upset with him"

Director Aanand L Rai recalls BTS of Raanjhanaa

Raanjhanaa cast and crew recently reunited at a multiplex in Mumbai to celebrate the film’s 12th anniversary. The event was attended by actors Dhanush and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, then-child-actor Naman Jain, director Aanand L Rai, writer Himanshu Sharma and lyricist Irshad Kamil.

However, the film’s lead actress, Sonam Kapoor, wasn’t able to attend the event, but the team ensured her presence with a photo. The cast and crew recalled some behind-the-scenes of the film, and filmmaker Aanand L Rai revealed that the climax of the film was never planned and was penned just a few hours before the shooting.

Aanand L Rai shared that while the emotion was always a part of the film, the visual was planned spontaneously. He recalled, “Himanshu and I had fought with each other! I didn’t have just that part of the climax and it was the last day of the shoot in Banaras.”

Aanand continued, “As always, he was confident the night before and told me, ‘Main subah tak de deta hoon’. He’ll sweetly ask me, ‘Shift kitne baje ki hai aapki?’. I told him, ‘7:00 am!’”

The filmmaker further noted, “At 6:00 am, I woke him up. I knew he must have not written! Still, I asked him, ‘Did you write?’. Then, I shouted at him, ‘You have to write and give. Or else, I’ll not leave Banaras.’” Aanand further recalled that Himanshu came to the shooting after two hours and was in the same condition as before.

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“I was shooting with Naman. It was the scene where he says ‘Kya apni lugaai bachane ke liye kya Ram ji khud chanda maangne aate hai?’. I asked him, ‘Did you write?’. He said, ‘Kuch kuch likha hai’. He narrated me the scene. I heard it and I knew it was what I wanted. I wanted to tell him, ‘Kya likha hai tune yaar’. But I was upset with him. Director ka ego bhi hota hai! Hence, I couldn’t praise him. Still, the moment he ended his narration, I said ‘Bahut accha’ and I walked off,” added the director.

Aanand L Rai said that those lines gave him a visual, and he called Dhanush to ask if he could come for an hour after lunch for the shoot. Dhanush agreed and inquired about the scene, to which Aanand replied that it was just one shot that required his presence.

Raanjhanaa was released in 2013 and was a blockbuster. The film is still one of the fans’ favourites, with a sequel being under production. Raanjhanaa 2 is titled as Tere Ishk Mein and stars Dhanush and Kriti Sanon. The upcoming romantic drama is directed by Aanand L. Rai.