Raksha Bandhan director Aanand L. Rai, expressed his strong views about the criticism and regressive label placed on his movie running now. Many of the phrases the movie uses to describe women have been criticised, as well as how it simply amounts to women’s lives ending in marriage.
In the movie, Akshay Kumar, tells the tale of a brother and his four sisters while making a commitment to marry his sisters before tying the knot with his childhood sweetheart.
Akshay Kumar plays the role of the brother, Lala Kedarnath, and Bhumi Pednekar is seen as his girlfriend. Actors Sadia Khateeb, Deepika Khanna, Smrithi Srikanth and Sahejmeen Kaur play Akshay’s four sisters in Raksha Bandhan. The film highlights the horrors of the dowry system in India.
After Sadia Khateeb came out in support of the film, now Aanand L Rai reacted to people who called Raksha Bandhan problematic. During a promotional interview of the film, he said, “You can’t ignore this. I know, we should be very progressive, we are in many ways. But there are many things that need to be taken care of and you can’t shut your eyes off. Not talking about it will not give you a solution. As a maker, I can’t write articles, I can’t make documentaries. My only way of expressing myself is through films. So, if you feel there is something regressive about this, that means there is time to correct our society.”
We are trying our best – Raksha Bandhan Director Anand L Rai
“I can say we are the best in the world, but are we? We are trying our best. This thing of us (the actors and filmmaker) coming together and telling you a story like Raksha Bandhan where you feel there is something regressive, that means our intention was just to take the focus there. Let’s not ignore it, let’s deal with it. So next time when I make a film, you’ll not find that kind of regression,” the director added. The film was released on Friday. Despite opening on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, it only collected ₹8.2 crore. It further fell to around ₹6 crore the next day, and is so far Akshay Kumar’s lowest opening film in the last ten years, as per film trade analysts.