Published By: Bhawna Arya
Last Updated: March 21, 2023, 12:52 IST
Shakun Batra reflects on Gehraiyaan.
Filmmaker Shakun Batra deep dives into Gehraiyaan a year after the film’s release and shares, what he would do differently with the film today.
After a year of Gehraiyaan’s release, filmmaker Shakun Batra is reflecting on the promotional strategy and tonality of the film. The film explored themes of infidelity, betrayal, love, and generational trauma. However, it received mixed reactions from the audience when it was released. During a recent interview with Indian Express, Shakun Batra revealed, ‘When I reflect on the reactions that came in, it was definitely a confusing time for me.”
When asked if the theatrical release of Gehraiyaan would have been different, Shakun explained, “It would be different because of how I view it may be now. Just purely from a storytelling point of view, how I would tell it, the tone of it.” Specifically, Shakun Batra revealed that he would focus on modifying the storytelling style and tone for creative reasons, rather than altering the film to achieve higher box office numbers. Even though the movie was released on an OTT platform, he would still consider making changes to improve its artistic merit.
The filmmaker explained that the changes he would make to Gehraiyaan would primarily focus on the film’s tone. He admitted that it was challenging to express this change in concrete terms, but he intended to adjust the tone to better prepare the audience for the type of film it was. He added that it would “not just change the film but also the marketing, of how it was done. It was perceived as a certain kind of film and then it surprised people in not such a good way.” The filmmaker also revealed that he would modify the story’s delivery from the very beginning so that the audience would be better prepared for the surprise. Overall, the modifications would aim to make the audience more receptive and better equipped to appreciate the film.
Shakun disclosed that during the initial release of the film, he felt confused for the first two days. However, after a few days, he realised that he was passionate about storytelling and that not everyone would appreciate his work. He acknowledged that it was impossible to create stories that would appeal to everyone, but he remained committed to his craft.
The film stars Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa alongside Rajat Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah. The movie premiered in February 2022, on OTT giant, Amazon Prime Videos.
