'Art has to be...protected': Shoojit Sircar on 'Raanjhanaa's AI ending
What's the story
Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar has spoken up against the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in altering the ending of Aanand L Rai's Raanjhanaa. The original film, released in 2013 and starring Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, had a tragic climax where Dhanush's character, Kundan, dies after being betrayed by Zoya (Kapoor Ahuja). However, in the AI-altered version (Tamil), Kundan comes back to life.
Artist's rights
Protecting art is a constant struggle: Sircar
In an interview with Zoom, Sircar said, "I haven't seen Raanjhanaa, but have heard what they've done to it." "The fight has always been that every filmmaker in this country, every art and talent has to be protected." "Their vision has to be protected. All our lives go into protecting our art. Somebody is not critical about it, someone is not shattering it."
Artistic integrity
Rai, Dhanush mulling legal action against production house
Sircar added, "If someone has a vision, we must protect it. The struggle is to protect it. Efforts should be taken toward that and not to dismantle it." Meanwhile, Rai and Dhanush have both been quite critical about the altered AI ending. Rai called it "nothing short of devastating," while Dhanush called it disturbing. They are mulling legal action against Eros International for altering the climax without consent from the original script's owners.
Twitter Post
Here's what Dhanush said
For the love of cinema 🙏 pic.twitter.com/VfwxMAdfoM
— Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) August 3, 2025