DNA Special: How Boycott gang’s agenda failed against Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone starrer Pathaan

After almost four years, Shah Rukh Khan has returned to the silver screen with his film Pathaan. Today, the film Pathan was screened on more than 5000 screens, and there were many theaters where there were a lot of ruckuses. The people associated with the campaign to boycott Pathaan created a lot of disturbance in many theaters today.

The trend behind Boycott Pathaan gathered wind after a song from the movie, ‘Besharam Rang’, was released, where actress Deepika Padukone was seen wearing a saffron-coloured bikini. The song's lyrics and appearance of saffron color did not go down well with many staunch Hindu organizations. Since then, along with Shah Rukh and Deepika Padukone, a campaign was launched to boycott their film Pathaan.

A trend of Boycott of Bollywood films has been going on for a long time. The effect of this ongoing trend on social media has also been seen at the box office. The trend of a boycott of many Bollywood films in the past has had such an effect that recently, a hoard of movie actors including Sunil Shetty recently met with UP CM Yogi Adityanath, appealing to him to save the industry from the boycott gang.

Bollywood has been accused of being anti-Hindu for a long time now. Based on the scenes shown in several films, it was alleged that the films try to falsify Hindu deities and beliefs while on the other hand, Muslim and Christian characters are presented as religious and good human beings.

For this reason, the social media trend of boycotting Bollywood films even before their release has started. Shah Rukh Khan’s film Pathaan also became the target of the boycott gang, and scenes of ruckus emerged from the theatres when Deepika Padukone appeared in a saffron bikini during the song Besharam Rang.

Ignoring what the Boycott gang is tweeting or trending on social media, Shah Rukh's film Pathaan has already earned around Rs 25 crore till 8.15 pm on its first day. It is believed that today the whole day's earnings can be around 40 crores. Those who watch this film believe that it is a completely Bollywood-style film, which has action, drama, romance and stars have banged entries.

If you are a fan of an action-packed Bollywood masala, especially if you are a Shah Rukh Khan fan, then Pathaan is the movie for you. After many years, his fans also reached different theaters in large numbers to see Shah Rukh on the silver screen. On one hand, if the Bollywood Boycott gang is creating a ruckus in the movie theatres, on the other hand, Shah Rukh's fans are also celebrating the release of Pathaan like its Diwali.

According to a report, the year 2022 has been a very bad year for Bollywood films. This year, 38 big-banner Bollywood films remained at a loss. In a way, these Bollywood films suffered a loss of about Rs 2,000 crore. It is important to tell you here that South Indian cinema did well in North India during this period. South Indian films have earned more than Rs 2,000 crore.

Pathaan being a hit at the box office is synonymous with the future of Bollywood, as SRK’s movie beating the boycott gang will prompt other filmmakers to put out fresh content for the big screen.

Two more films of Shahrukh are going to be released this year - Jawan coming in June and Danki in December. Bollywood also has high hopes for these films. If you are thinking that the loss of films or the success of the Boycott gang is due to the lack of interest in films, then you are thinking wrong.

The main reason why the box office is suffering is because of the pandemic, which led to the closure of movie theatres for almost two years. The second reason has been attributed to OTT platforms and the hoard of content available on the internet.

READ | Pathaan row: BJP MLA Hari Bhushan calls Shah Rukh Khan ‘PFI agent’, says ‘SRK movie insults Hindus’