Rakeysh: Got death threats after 'Delhi 6'

Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has delivered massive hits like ‘Rang De Basanti’ and ‘ Bhaag Milkha Bhaag ’, however the failure of ‘Delhi-6’ hit him hard. Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor essays the leads in this entertainer which released in 2009. In his autobiography, The Stranger in the Mirror , the filmmaker has revealed that he was in a dark place for six months post the film’s release.

He has penned that after the Monday after the film’s release the audience had disappeared from theatres and he questioned the box office debacle started a series of conflicting thoughts. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra stated that he got death threats and was ‘going deeper and deeper into a dark hole’. He drowned himself in alcohol and wanted to ‘drink himself to death’. The filmmaker added that he became careless and insensitive towards the people he loved the most.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is currently basking in the success of his OTT release ‘Toofaan’, which starred Farhan Akhtar and Mrunal Thakur in the lead. Speaking about working with Farhan yet again after ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra had told ETimes , ““Over time, I have come to learn that either you are an actor or not an actor. I have always seen an actor in Farhan and I did offer him a role in ‘Rang De Basanti’, nearly 16 years ago. At that time he was amused and it didn’t occur to him that he will be acting one day, at least he didn’t share, and said, “No, I have not thought about that”. He read the script and even responded to it, not as an actor but as a friend. So, for me, there is an actor in him. But how deep can we dive into him and get out what we want? I think he is as deep as an ocean and the deeper you go, you find more depth.”