Aanand L. Rai defends Akshay Kumar-starrer Raksha Bandhan: If the film is regressive, then it's time to correct our society

Akhay Kumar's Raksha Bandhan has been criticised for being a regressive film with dated ideologies, but the film's director and co-producer feels the film is just a reflection of our society.

In an interview with News18, the Raanjhanaa maker was asked to comment on people slamming the movie for its regressive theme. To which, Rai said that if his film is regressive then something must be wrong with our society and that we must correct it instead of shutting our eyes and 'ignoring' the reality. 

"I know, we should be very progressive... But there are many things that need to be taken care of... So, if you feel there is something regressive about this, that means there is time to correct our society," Rai told the publication.

He then went on to add that he can declare that "we are the best in the world but are we?", before adding that it was a deliberate choice to make the film 'regressive' to highlight what is wrong with the exisiting structure. 

"... You feel there is something regressive, that means our intention was just to take the focus there... Next time when I make a film, you’ll not find that kind of regression," he further added. 

Raksha Bandhan is the story of a brother and his four sisters starring Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar in lead roles, while starlets such as Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Smrithi Srikanth and Deepika Khanna played the characters of Akshay's sisters.