Director Aanand L Rai wishes Akshay Kumar starrer Atrangi Re had a theatrical release; ‘I regret not waiting for…’
Bollywood filmmaker Aanand L Rai released his rom-com Atrangi Re back in 2021. At the time, the world was coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and going to cinema halls to watch a movie seemed like a distant dream. This is why the director decided to make it available on Disney+ Hotstar on December 24, 2021. But years later, he regrets his decision not to bring it to cinemas.
During a chat with Zoom, Aanand L Rai admitted not waiting for a couple of more months so she could finally release Atrangi Re on the big screen. The filmmaker said that at that time, he didn’t have any other option than to make the movie available for the audience on streaming platforms. He said, “Yes, I do regret not waiting for some more time. I normally don’t keep regrets but with Atrangi Re, I realised that I should have waited.”
Sharing further, the director stated that the Akshay Kumar, Dhanush, and Sara Ali Khan starrer deserved that big screen. Having said that, he also added that fate made it happen. However, even today, he gets lots of love for that film. “But yes, it should have been a big screen experience,” he said, adding that the movie needed two hours of undivided attention. Back in the day, Rai exclusively spoke to us and shared how was it to step into the digital world with the romantic fantasy comedy-drama film.
He told us that it was very difficult for them to understand that there’s another medium called OTT for the premiere of films. The Raksha Bandhan director further added, “On this platform, you are a little lost in your initial days. As a director, I always gauge the success of a film by sensing the emotions of the audience; if the content has reached them or not. For theatrical mediums, you can sense that emotion by Saturday, but on OTT, it takes a week or ten days. It’s a different exercise,” Rai stated adding that he is glad that the movie touched the right chord of emotions.
For more updates on Bollywood, follow Pinkvilla!
ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Akshay Kumar shares his take on criticism for films, says ‘I have done many changes because of it’