Raanjhanaa fan screening: Aanand L Rai explains how he convinced CBFC members to retain abuses: “Hum phone pe gaaliyaan discuss kar rahe the! I told them, ‘Yeh gaali hum teen baar rakh dete hai. Itne c-word important nahin hai. Yeh do rakh lo’!” : Bollywood News

The fan screening of Raanjhanaa (2013) was held at a multiplex in Mumbai on the occasion of its 12th anniversary by DIY Solutions and was attended by the film’s team – actors Dhanush and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, then-child-actor Naman Jain, director Aanand L Rai, writer Himanshu Sharma and lyricist Irshad Kamil. Sonam Kapoor couldn’t make it and the team kept a picture of her on the seat. The event began with the screening of the film after which stand-up comic Devansh Singh entertained the crowd. Laksh Maheshwari, then, in his trademark style narrated the film’s story and also hosted the talk. Amid news of the amusing and unjustified cuts asked by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for the latest release, the Aamir Khan-starrer Sitaare Zameen Par, the talk veered towards the situation 12 years ago. Was Raanjhanaa also censored? If yes, then how much? After all, we can see that certain abuses were retained but, in some scenes, the cuss words were beeped.

Raanjhanaa fan screening: Aanand L Rai explains how he convinced CBFC members to retain abuses: “Hum phone pe gaaliyaan discuss kar rahe the! I told them, ‘Yeh gaali hum teen baar rakh dete hai. Itne c-word important nahin hai. Yeh do rakh lo’!”
Aanand L Rai explained, “Now, the intention with which you make is of paramount importance. I can’t reveal the discussion I had with the Censor Board at that time. Hum phone pe gaaliyaan discuss kar rahe the! There was even a lady in their team. We were openly discussing, ‘Yeh gaali hum teen baar rakh dete hai. Itne c-word important nahin hai. Yeh do rakh lo’!”

He continued, “I realized that there was a reason behind those abuses. Hence, I was able to freely mention those words without hesitation in front of them. Even today, if I apply such a film to the Censor Board aur agar meri neeyat saaf hai, I am sure Raanjhanaa would have been cleared in the same way!”

Meanwhile, a female fan expressed regret over the fact that the character of Bindiya (Swara Bhasker) got a raw deal. She loved Kundan (Dhanush) with all her heart and ideally, they both should have ended up together. She asked Aanand L Rai, “Why did you do this to Bindiya?” The filmmaker patiently heard her and answered her question by saying, “Taaki aapko woh character yaad rahein!” The host also asked the audience, at this point, to cheer for Swara for her stupendous performance along with that of Abhay Deol.

Also Read: 12 Years of Raanjhanaa: Aanand L Rai recalls the scene that was never in the script; says, “The emotion was always a part of the script, but the visual was not”