Raanjhanaa 5 Unknown Facts

1.  Tamil superstar  Dhanush   made  his  Hindi-screen  debut in  Raanjhanaa. He played a North Indian  Brahmin fron Varanasi. Everyone  thought  this was   suicidal casting. So did I. Director Aanand Rai convinced me  to hold my horses. “You will be the  first  to tell me  Dhanush  is perfect for the part.” He was right. After  the  preview screening  that Aanand arranged  for me I immediately called him and admitted I  was  wrong. Dhanush shone as  the Brahmin  boy(he played a 17-year  old at age 30)  in love with  a Muslim girl.

2.   Sonam Kapoor and the name  Zoya seem inextricably  bound. In Raanjhanaa and then again in  the silly The Zoya Factor  she  played Zoya.  Sonam was  thrilled about her part in Aanand L Rai’s film.  In an interview after the release of Raanjhanaa she told me, “I never got to do a role and film like ‘Raanjhanaa’. This is the first role since Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Delhi 6’ where I got a chance to create a character from the working-class. “I am not a trained actor. I learned the basics of acting while doing ‘Saawariya’ with Sanjay Bhansali. So, he was my acting guru,” she said.I don’t follow any technique. I just flow with my character. That’s what I did in ‘Raanjhanaa’. I surrendered to my director. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. Because I really didn’t know where I was heading,”

3.     Raanjhana was accused by columnist Shobha De  of  endorsing stalking. Aanand was livid.   “How do I respond to this? I don’t even want to react to an opinion so absurd and myopic. Has she seen Varanasi, felt its pulse?Does she know what the city is all about? Does she understand the feelings of the young in the small cities where two people still cannot go out on a date? There’s a life beyond metropolises that some people who have grown up in the metros cannot understand. And I don’t see the need to explain myself to them.It’s different cultural breeding. In a small town pursuing a girl, until she says yes, is a sign of true love? How I treat the theme of love is entirely up to me. I don’t discuss how she treats love in her books and column. For some people smooching even in public is normal. For my characters even saying, ‘I love you’ is an uphill task. You handle your relationships your way. I’ll treat mine the way I want to.”

4.     Released in the year  of  blockbusters  such as Dhoom 3, Goliyon Ki Raas Leela Ram Leela, Chennai Express, Krissh 3 and Bhaag  Milkha Bhaag,  Raanjhana held its own  in spite  of no  major stars in the cast  and a lead  actor who was unknown in the cow belt. Dhanush  returned  to Bollywood   two years  later for  R Balki’s  Shamitabh where  he spoke in Amitabh Bachchan’s voice.Dhanush  returns  to Bollywood in Aanand Rai’s Atrangi Re where  co-stars with Akshay Kumar  .

5.     Famously  one of  the actors  in Raanjhanaa Abhay Deol  prophesied  that  history would not judge  the  film kindly .  Abhay was wrong.