New Delhi: ‘Atrangi Re‘ directed by Aanand L Rai and written by Himanshu Sharma has received a lot of love and praise from audiences and critics. However, a section of critics pointed out flaws in the film and accused it of trivialising mental illnesses.
This has been a popular criticism of the film since it dealt with sensitive subjects such as trauma and mental illness. Writer Himanshu Sharma has finally responded to these comments in an interview with a leading daily.
The writer of the Tanu Weds Manu series explained that the main focus of the film wasn’t a mental illness or honour killing but much more than that.
Himanshu told the Indian Express, “When I chose this story and this concept, I wasn’t making a documentary on mental illness. Understanding of human anatomy does not guarantee that you’ll understand human beings. There is so much more to the film, to that story called Atrangi Re, it talks about love, loss, and trauma, and how trauma can create so many difficulties for you and how love can fix all of those problems.”
Himanshu also explained that he is imperfect and can make mistakes as a writer but people need to notice the makers intent as well.
He expressed, “You also need to see the intent of the people. Of course, no human being is perfect, neither am I, nor are you. We will make mistakes but you have to see my intention. As I always say, the kind of good films I watch and I want to make, I don’t think I am that intelligent. I will also have to do more hard work, and that should be the quest for everyone. I want to watch great films and I want to make those films. In that process, I’ll make a few mistakes, but did you see my intent?”
In the film, Sara Ali Khan plays Rinku, a fierce small-town girl from Bihar, who after eloping with her lover Sajjad (Akshay Kumar) multiple times, is always brought back home by her overbearing family members.
Dhanush plays Vishu, a medical student who falls in love with Rinku, knowing that her heart belongs to Sajjad.
‘Atrangi Re’ is directed by Anand L Rai and stars Sara Ali Khan, Dhanush and Akshay Kumar. It is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
