Simran was filmmaker Hansal Mehta’s biggest commercial project yet.
Released in the year 2017, the makers had high hopes with it’s commercial performance – given Kangana Ranaut’s past-two mega hits – Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns, with catapulted her to another level of stardom, but it did not capture the attention of the audiences with the same kind of fervor.
Instead, the film was marred by several controversies – pertaining to accusations from one of it’s writers, who accused the film’s leading lady of hijacking his work, and Ranaut’s own interview with Rajat Sharma – in which she went into details about her alleged affair with Hrithik Roshan, and some other questionable ‘exposes’ of the Hindi film industry.
Eventually, the film suffered from bad work-of-mouth, especially since so many enemies were formed during it’s promotions and it went on be a nightmarish experience for Mehta, who had high hopes with it.
Back in 2018, a year after the release of the film, Hansal Mehta finally watched the final cut of the film – and he acknowledged that despite some flaws and unevenness, it was quite an enjoyable film.
The director went on to add that some of the criticism the film received upon it’s release wasn’t ‘fair’, and so wasn’t the box-office turnout, but he eventually shrugged it aside as an ‘expensive’ life-lesson.
Here’s an excerpt from his post from 2018:
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.
Simran, truly, wasn’t a bad film after all.
In fact, putting all prejudices aside – it featured one of the best performances from actress Kangana Ranaut, with her solid grip on the Gujrati accent, and her infectious effervescent style of curating a character.
As Hansal said, despite all the flaws here and there, the film – with it’s brief moments of laughter and thrills, was still an enjoyable watch.
Hopefully it continues to get it’s due on OTT platforms over time.