Mumbai: As ‘Pathaan’created history at the box office by minting over Rs 630 crore worldwide in just a week, director Sidharth Anand expressed gratitude to the audience for making the film a blockbuster. He also opened up about how Pathaan crushed “Boycott Bollywood narrative”.
Speaking to ANI, Siddharth said, “I knew there was nothing offensive in the movie but the audience didn’t, because they hadn’t seen the movie at that time. Later, they watched the movie and made it a big success. Agendas of the boycott team failed.”
‘Pathaan’, which stars Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles, was embroiled in a massive pool of controversy after the release of the film’s Besharam Rang song last year. It received criticism from many due to the saffron colour of Deepika Padukone’s bikini in it.
Some people found the song objectionable over the use of saffron and green costumes. A slew of activists in several parts of the country even staged a protest and set effigies of Deepika and Shah Rukh on fire. The controversy around the movie started after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, aired his objections to ‘Besharam Rang’. The film even faced “Boycott” trend.
With the film’s mega success, the Pathaan team has definitely given a befitting answer to the #BoycottBollywood gang.
Reacting to such controversies, Sidharth requested those who wanted to boycott Pathaan to come and watch the film.
“I really hope the people who want to boycott Pathaan also come and watch the movie so that they will realise there is nothing in the movie that can hurt their sentiments,” he urged.
‘Pathaan’ is the fourth title in producer Aditya Chopra’s spy universe, following Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), and War, featuring Hrithik Roshan (2019).
A few days ago, Siddharth along with SRK, John and Deepika held an interactive session with media in Mumbai to celebrate Pathaan’s success.
At the event, Siddharth hinted at the sequel to Pathaan.
“Pathaan aayi hai, hit hui hai. Uske baad kya banayege?”, audience screamed, “Pathaan 2.” Siddharth replied, “Insha allah.”
SRK also talked about the film’s sequel.
“This is a big day for us, my family. We haven’t experienced this happiness in a while. Whenever he (Siddharth Anand) wants me to do Pathaan 2, I’ll do it. If they want to make a sequel, it’ll be my honour to do it,” said Shah Rukh.
‘Pathaan’ marks the return of SRK to the silver screen after four years.
