Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Simran’ vs Apurva Asrani’s ‘Simran’: How different are they?

Caution: Spoilers ahead about the movie Simran.

Simran screenwriter Apurva Asrani has shared the screenplay of the film originally written by him before the shooting draft saw significant changes effected by its lead actor, Kangana Ranaut. Months before the film’s release, Asrani and Ranaut were involved in a public tussle over the actual authorship of the screenplay.

Asrani claimed that Ranaut was undeserving of the ‘Additional screenplay and dialogue’ credit, and that she hijacked the script from him. Ranaut claimed that Asrani’s script did not match her vision, which is why she had to step in.

Simran was released on September 15. Asrani shared the screenplay originally written by him on September 19 and invited all to compare it with the final film.

The 131-page script shared by Asrani shares numerous similarities with Hansal Mehta’s final film. Vast sections have made it to the final film, in addition to parts added on that highlight the character of Praful Patel (Ranaut), the hotel cleaner who becomes a bank robber to pay off gambling debts.

Praful’s relationship with her parents

Patel has more scenes with her parents in Asrani’s script than in the final movie. In Simran, Praful’s mother is seen to be a caring but submissive parent. In the script, she is portrayed as Praful’s best friend who often reaches out to her after an altercation with her father. Praful’s grievances against her father are fleshed out in Asrani’s script – that he was absent from her life for the most part, and married her off when she was 22. In the movie, the character shading is superficial. Even in the film’s final moments, as Praful is about to get caught, she has a far more emotional conversation with her parents over the phone in Asrani’s script than she does in the film.

Praful’s Las Vegas experienece

In Asrani’s script, Praful lands in Las Vegas for her friend Amber’s bachelorette party and quickly becomes addicted to gambling, just as it happens in the film. However, in the movie, Praful flirts with a man she finds at the casino. Her initial attempts to get close are awkward as she uses pick-up lines such as, “You must be tired because you are running in my mind.” The meeting and all that follows are not part of Asrani’s script.

The sequence also includes two additions: a friendly bartender and a moment between Praful and a Las Vegas shopkeeper.

Praful and Mike Mehndi

In both Asrani’s script and the final film, it is established that Praful has had a sexual relationship with her boss Mike Mehndi (Rupinder Nagra). In the film, there are two additional scenes of Praful embarrassing Mehndi as the latter tries to get too close and bossy.

In the final analysis, Simran gives Praful more scenes and lines to help her come off as a likable and sympathetic character, while Asrani’s script paints a sorry picture of her.