Director Anand L Rai has made a bold statement on the social impact of cinema while addressing the media at a promotional event for his film Tere Ishk Mein, starring Dhanush and Kriti Sanon. At the recent event, a reporter asked Anand about the portrayal of male protagonists who commit problematic deeds in his films in a way that makes the audience root for them. While Anand's 2013 film Raanjhanaa, also starring Dhanush, faced flak from the audience for romanticising and glorifying stalking, the reporter suggested that Tere Ishk Mein's make protagonist also "misbehaves with a girl". Our review also alluded to this portrayal. Meanwhile, the reporter argued that while similar films in the past showed such male protagonists getting punishment for their deeds in some form, the same does not apply to modern films. "Is this a hero? Or is it that our definition of a hero has changed?" the reporter asked.
Addressing the broader implication of this, Anand said that he, much like the audience, only realised the stalking argument with regard to Raanjhanaa only in hindsight. "I did not know that it stalking within those two hours, just like the audience," the filmmaker explained before seemingly suggesting that such portrayal is OK if it did not occur to the viewers at the time of the film's screening. He also weighed in on the broader debate about the impact of films on society, as to whether cinema is a mere reflection of the real events in society or vice versa. He argued that the depth of love between men and women has reduced, hence it reflects in films, and that films and heroes' portrayal will not have any negative impact on society. "Even if I make four films on Swami Vivekanand, I do not think society will become Vivekanand ji. They never learn from this aspect," he said, seemingly alluding to how people only take in the negative traits from films.
