‘Working With Kangana Was a Massive Mistake’: Hansal Mehta on His Film ‘Simran'

Kangana Ranaut had played the lead role in Hansal Mehta's 2017 film 'Simran'.

Director Hansal Mehta and actor Kangana Ranaut.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

In his recent interview, filmmaker Hansal Mehta opened up about his experience working with actor Kangana Ranaut, for his 2017 directorial film Simran, in which she played the lead role. Talking about the actor, Hansal shared that although she's a "big star and a really good actor" they did not gel well, and "working with her was a massive mistake" for him.

Simran, was loosely inspired by the real-life story of Sandeep Kaur, who started robbing banks after she lost all her money in gambling.

In his interview with Mashable India's The Bombay Journey, when the director was asked if Kangana had taken over his film's edit, he replied, "Edit nahi takeover kia the usne, to be fair to her. But edit takeover karne ke liye kuch tha nahi kyunki material hi vahi tha jo usne shoot karvaya tha. (She did not takeover the edit. But there was nothing to takeover because we had only the material that she made us shoot)."

He further added, "She is a very talented actor. She is a really good actor who, I feel, has limited herself by making films about herself. You need not make all the characters become what you want to believe you are."

The Shahid director also criticized Kangana's song titled She's On Fire, in Dhaakad, in the same interview. He said, "She is a woman on fire…Basically, you are talking about yourself. You know, these are things you aspire for yourself, you put it there. It’s not even my place to criticize what choices she makes. She’s a big star, and even today and she is a very good actor. I maintain that. But, we didn’t gel. Working with her was a massive mistake.”

Hansal Mehta is known for his films like Shahid and Citylights starring Rajkumar Rao, Aligarh starring Manoj Bajpayee, including his critically-lauded web series, Scam 1992.

The director has several upcoming projects, including his latest Netflix web series Behind The Bars In Byculla: My Days in Prison, which is inspired by Jigna Vora's book. The series will follow the journey of Jagruti Pathak, an ambitious crime beat journalist.