Recently, Raanjhanaa was re-released in theatres with an AI-altered climax, sparking outrage. Not only did fans oppose it, but even Dhanush and Aanand L Rai spoke out against it.
Now, actor Zeeshan Ayyub, who played Dhanush’s friend Murari in the film, has also expressed anger at the AI-generated ending.
Zeeshan Ayyub on Raanjhanaa’s AI-altered ending
In a conversation with Digital Commentary, when Zeeshan was asked about his views on the AI-altered ending of Raanjhanaa, he said, “Mere hisaab se bhut kharab baat hai. I totally disagree. Ek duniya hoti hai, ek khaanikaar bethke bunta hai. I think Raanjhanaa ki khoobsurti yeh thi ki vo jo aapko ek pain aur satisfaction milta hai, voh pyaar main jo akhiri mukaam ki baat hoti hai, apni maut main pahunch jaana aur itna pyaara tha ki usse jaane diya. Voh khoobsurti nahi cheenani chahiye. Aapne film ka saar badal diya, cheen liya (In my opinion, it’s a very bad thing. I totally disagree. There’s a whole world, and then there’s a storyteller who weaves it. I think the beauty of Raanjhanaa was that it gave you both pain and satisfaction – that final stage of love where you reach your own death, and it was so beautiful that you let it happen. That beauty shouldn’t be taken away. You changed the essence of the film; you took it away).”
He further criticised the way AI altered his scene in the film and said, “Aapne audience se ek bhut important emotion cheen liya. Mujhe toh gussa bhi aaya, maine socha sue kardunga yaar. Le deke humari itni to izzat hoti hai ki acting achhi hoti hai, usmein jo mera shot inhone AI se karaya hai, itna zaleela hone waala shot hai voh, mera dil beth gaya. Main kabhi aise aansun puchte hue nahi rounga (You took a very important emotion away from the audience. I even got angry, I thought, ‘I’ll sue them, man.’ The only respect we have is that our acting is good, and here they made my shot with AI – and it’s such a humiliating shot that my heart just sank. I’ll never cry the way shown in the AI version).”
About the AI-altered ending
In the original 2013 ending, Kundan (Dhanush) is shot and admitted to the ICU, and Zoya (Sonam Kapoor) rushes to see him in his dying moments. However, in the AI-altered ending, Kundan survives, opening his eyes and sitting up on the bed, leaving Bindiya (Swara Bhasker) and Murari (Zeeshan Ayyub) in happy tears.
While Aanand L Rai and Dhanush slammed the AI edit, Eros Studio defended the changes, calling it a “legal reinterpretation” and accusing Aanand of unauthorised use of Raanjhanaa’s intellectual property in his upcoming film Tere Ishk Mein.