Filmmaker Hansal Mehta watched Kangana Ranaut's Simran a year after its release in the theatres and resorted to recount his mistakes that ended up making it a disaster at the box office.
Made on a budget of Rs 28 crore, the Kangana Ranaut starrer was released in cinema halls on September 15, 2017, and opened to poor response. Simran collected Rs 15.48 crore net at the Indian box office in its lifetime. The movie ended up incurring huge losses to its distributors around the world.
Hansal Mehta, who directed Simran, faced a lot of criticism for his work in the heist comedy-drama film. Its poor performance at the box office also severed his ties with some people in the film industry. The filmmaker suffered a huge setback of his career and is apparently yet to get over the shock.
The director was travelling on a flight when he got a chance to watch Simran. After the film got over, Hansal Mehta took to his Twitter account on Saturday to talk about it. In a series of posts, he confessed his mistakes in the movie that resulted in its failure at the box office. Here are his comments.
Saw #Simran on a flight. It's nearly a year, a very eventful year. It's been a roller coaster - somewhat scary, a bit disappointing and quite exhilarating. With all the baggage of last year behind me I honestly enjoyed the film. Flawed but brave. Uneven but quite charming.
I do wish I'd used less background music. And I wish the villains were better etched out. I thought the bank robbery scenes were a misfit and looked like they belonged to another film. I loved the Gujarati NRI world that was refreshingly different from mainstream stereotypes.
Some lovely performances. Of course Kangana was excellent but I thought Sohum, Hiten (father) and some of the peripheral characters - particularly Indian characters were performed well.
Watch the film without baggage. Try it.
I admit I wasn't totally in control of the film and the circumstances surrounding it's making and release. Nobody is to blame for that but me. The film took a toll on my mental and financial health. It permanently damaged some relationships, got embroiled in some ugly battles.
Having said that I felt that the box-office or the critical reception wasn't necessarily fair to the film - but such is life. #Simran was an expensive lesson. I have no regrets. I might fail but I WILL NOT stop trying. I will never give up. I will never be broken again.
