'Gehraiyaan' director receives abusive messages following film's release

The Deepika, Ananya film sheds limelight on the perils of adulthood, infidelity and complicated relationships

Shakun Batra's latest offering, Gehraiyaan, has managed to ruffle some feathers. The Amazon Prime Videos original, starring Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa, has garnered mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. Recently, in an interview with renowned Indian film critic, Suchitra Tyagi, Batra revealed he has been getting hate messages and abusive emails about his latest offering.

"I had an e-mail where the subject was B****d (a Hindi cuss word). Then the mail just said, 'B****d picture banani nahi aati hai to kyun banata hai? Kuch aur kar leta (If you don't know how to make a film, why do you? Do something else)," he told the journalist.

But the hate is minimal in comparison to the praises he has received for Gehraiyaan. The Kapoor & Sons director added, "Then, I had an email from a psychologist in Brisbane who said the psychology of the characters really added up to him. I feel cognitive dissonance. I have made peace with two completely opposing thoughts in my mind. I don't know how it happened. But, I think forget about the movie, it's growth in me to have accepted the polarisation. I think I have grown."

Gehraiyaan sheds limelight on the perils of adulthood, infidelity and complicated relationships.

Prior to the film's release, in an interview to Hindustan Times, Batra had said he didn't want to judge the characters of his film. “For me, it is a responsibility that when I take a character or a subject - in this case, infidelity - I make sure I'm not trying to take sides but make sure that the audience comes in with the same curiosity that I had. Let them arrive at an answer as opposed to me telling them. The attempt is that,” he said.

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