Raanjhanaa was that era-defining love story that gave us heartbreak, Dhanush’s stellar Bollywood entry, and A.R. Rahman’s magic on loop. But now, someone went ahead and gave it an unsolicited AI facelif and director Aanand L Rai is fuming, and rightfully so. Because honestly, some classics should never be touched. Definitely not messed with by a bot.
Aanand L Rai Breaks His Silence on AI-Version of Raanjhanaa
You know things are serious when a filmmaker pens a public heartbreak letter. Aanand L Rai took to Instagram and laid it all bare – calling out the so-called AI remake of Raanjhanaa for what it is: a digital betrayal. The filmmaker didn’t mince words. “Devastated,” “deeply upsetting,” and “not the film we made” were just a few daggers he threw.
“The past three weeks have been surreal, and deeply upsetting. To watch Raanjhanaa, a film born out of care, conflict, collaboration, and creative risk, be altered, repackaged, and re-released without my knowledge or consent has been nothing short of devastating. What makes it worse is the complete ease and casualness with which it’s been done. And yet, in the middle of all this, the support and solidarity from the industry, our audiences, and the larger creative community have reminded me of what Raanjhanaa stood for in the first place – connection, courage, and truth. I’m deeply grateful for that,” Aanand L Rai wrote.
AI move was Absolutely Disrespectful?
Let’s get this straight. No green signal from the original creators, no consent, no collaboration, but someone out there thought it was okay to give Raanjhanaa an AI treatment? Excuse you, robot overlords, this is not your lane.
Aanand’s post reminds us that Raanjhanaa wasn’t just pixels and sound, it was emotion, effort, and soul. He continued, “I had no role in it. Neither did the team that made the film. And whatever it claims to be, it is not the film we intended, or made. This was never just a film to us. It was shaped by human hands, human flaws, and human feeling. What’s now being circulated is not a tribute. It is a reckless takeover that strips the work of its intent, its context, and its soul. The idea that our work can be taken and modified by a machine, then dressed up as innovation, is deeply disrespectful. To cloak a film’s emotional legacy in a synthetic cape without consent is not a creative act. It’s an abject betrayal of everything we built.”
Anand Rai didn’t hold back when he slammed the so-called “tribute” as a reckless takeover. The AI remix stripped away the heart and handed back a hollow, soulless shell—something the original creators, cast, crew, lyricists, and even fans had no say in. No one can you replace raw emotion with code and call it art!
Raanjhanaa Deserved Better
Released in 2013, Raanjhanaa hit all the right notes, A.R. Rahman’s music, Sonam Kapoor’s innocence, Dhanush’s obsession, and an ending that left us wrecked. Over time, it grew from a hit to a full-blown cult fave.
As the conversation about AI in cinema gets louder, Rai’s passionate outcry is a stark reminder: technology should enhance creativity, not override it. Because cinema is human. And what Raanjhanaa gave us was a feeling, one no algorithm can replicate.
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