The altered ending of Aanand L. Rai’s much-acclaimed romantic-musical Raanjhanaa (2013) with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has caused quite an uproar in the industry. The Tamil version of the film, titled, Ambikapathy, was re-released in theatres on August 1 with a ‘happy ending’ that was approved by the production company Eros International without consulting with the director and the creative team.
Raanjhanaa stars Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub in pivotal roles. It tells the story of Kundan (Dhanush), who loves his childhood crush Zoya (Sonam) and is broken when he finds out that she likes someone from her own community. Kundan decides to marry Bindiya (Swara), however, he loses it when he finds out that Zoya was lying about her fiance’s religion. The film blends communal conflict with an unrequited love story.
In the climax of the film, Kundan is shot and is rushed to the hospital where it is revealed that Zoya was behind the murder. She rushes to the hospital and sits opposite him on the bed where he is seen taking his last breaths. There are visuals of a distraught Bindiya welling up in tears and Kundan’s best friend, Murari (Zeeshan), losing his sanity. Then a poetic voiceover of Kundan is heard where he dreams about being reborn in Benaras and falling in love with someone like Zoya again.
In the recently released version of the film, the climax has been entirely changed to make it a happy ending. Kundan survives in the end and is seen to be taking long breaths lying on the hospital bed. Murari is shown to be peeking through a glass on the ICU door and shedding happy tears seeing his friend alive. Even Bindiya is shown standing by Kundan’s side, crying with joy. Kundan slowly rises up and then the visuals just meekly cut to the final frame from the original where a young Kundan looks at his teenager self and smiles. The poetic voiceover has been entirely removed.
Both Dhanush and Aanand L Rai have expressed their strong displeasure over the changed ending and have distanced themselves from it. Dhanush wrote on Instagram, “This alternate ending has stripped the film of its very soul, and the concerned parties went ahead with it despite my clear objection. This is not the film I committed to 12 years ago."
Aanand also penned an emotional note and said that the three weeks leading up to the film’s re-release have been distressing. “Let me say this as clearly as I can: I do not support or endorse the AI-altered version of Raanjhanaa. It is unauthorised. 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."
Meanwhile, Eros has maintained in a statement that the re-release is a "respectful reinterpretation and not a tampering of the original”. Eros Group CEO Pradeep Dwivedi called the new version “a creative reimagining, not a replacement" and said that "it is consistent with global industry practices, including anniversary editions, alternate cuts, and modernised remasters."
