Aanand L Rai on filming Dhanush-starrer Tere Ishq Mein, absence of romance on screen: 'Current generation doesn't want to get hurt'

Aanand L Rai and Dhanush

It's not the audience alone that is missing seeing romance on the big screen. Filmmaker Aanand L Rai shares the sentiment. "I can't survive without making romantic films," he remarks. No wonder then he is gearing up to helm another love story, Tere Ishq Mein. "The project will go on floors by the year-end. We are in the final stage of writing and that will go on till the last minute," he smiles.

Tere Ishq Mein is the director's third collaboration with Dhanush after Raanjhanaa (2013) and Atrangi Re (2021). Kriti Sanon is tipped to be the leading lady (Kriti to team up with Dhanush, August 9). While the project was announced last year, Rai took considerable time to flesh out the story that presents two contrasting ideas of love. "The two protagonists will have two definitions of love and there will be a conflict because of it. It is stemmed in how today's generation holds their emotions back. My generation has one definition of love, and today's generation has another. From this conflict will arise rage," he says.

Through the movie, the director wants to understand the love language of today's youth - their expectations, cynicism, and most importantly, their calculated approach to it. "The current generation fears getting hurt. So, when you don't want to get hurt, you won't get hurt. But then, there will be no love stories. There will be calculations. If you fear pain, how will love happen? Now, will you put even Love in a format? What will happen if your heart breaks? Forget love stories, tell me where are the poets? We are still reading old poems about love," he says. In fact, the director believes the reason there aren't love stories on the big screen today is because there are none in real life.

"I believe if a maker has a love story and has a lot of conviction, it's the best thing you can do right now because love stories always sell. I think I will have a bigger audience waiting for a love story. But the thing is there are no love stories that can excite you. It's not happening in Hollywood as well. It's taken over by Marvels of the world. We are at a stage where my own stories, whether it's Tanu Weds Manu or Raanjhanaa, that I thought were real till yesterday, will seem aspirational today. Now when you will see a lover boy or a girl in love, you will think, 'I wish this happened in my life as well.' Leave that, take something as recent as Atrangi Re, which came three years ago. When people saw Atrangi Re, they thought, 'I want a man like Dhanush.' He will understand you, support you, but what will you do for him? [This generation] doesn't think about that. They will hurt [others], but they shouldn't get hurt. Also, they have a fear of showing their sadness to the world. So, if their lover leaves them, they pretend not to be in pain. Are you in love or a competition? I will be facing these dilemmas when I will be on floors with Tere Ishq Mein. There will be discussions and clashes of opinions. And once it reaches the audience, there will be a fresh discourse, which should happen."

Relevance is key for any artiste. With Tere Ishq Mein, Rai wants to be relevant by attuning himself with the present. "In 2011 with Tanu Weds Manu, [I] was in sync with the audience. It was a new kind of small-town love story, breaking [the mould] of foreign locales and chiffon sarees. But if tomorrow, I make Tanun Weds Manu 3 and it is a template film, it won't work. For a maker, the biggest struggle is to stay relevant. That is possible only if I understand the present generation. I have a certain definition of love, but I have to evolve for them. I will have to write a new definition with Tere Ishq Mein. It's exciting. This is what we live for," he says the filmmaker, who is also producing an OTT romantic drama.