Casting Kangana Ranaut increased pressure of making a successful film: Hansal Mehta on Simran

Hansal Mehta is one of those filmmakers who have rarely disappointed audiences and critics with their films, with the likes of Shahid (2013), Citylights (2014), Aligarh (2016), and the latest Omerta (2018). However, his films have never quite made it big at the box office. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that his films seldom feature the 'A-list' artistes.

Among his recent films only Simran had a star — Kangana Ranaut — in its cast. However, the filmmaker has now opined that casting a star proved to be a bane for the film, that was largely a critical and commercial failure.

During an interaction at the India Film Project, held in Mumbai, Mehta admitted that Simran didn’t provide him the creative satisfaction.

Mehta reasoned that the star image of Ranaut played on his mind during the film's making. “With Kangana Ranaut, it was not an easy experience for me. I was suddenly transported into a world where you are looking at a scene not purely from an organic perspective. You are constantly reminded that this is a very big film, it has to do well and there is an audience that expects this from a star,” he said during the course of the discussion.

According to him, this the biggest failure of the film. “A lot of that conscious filmmaking was clouded by this pressure of making a successful film. I think that was the single biggest failing of Simran,” Mehta added.