Talking about the 'Boycott Bollywood' brigade, Siddharth Anand said, "What they were trying to do with Pathaan was just ridiculous and the audience has given its verdict."
After helming Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff-starrer War, which turned out to be the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2019, Siddharth Anand now has another blockbuster to his credit in the form of Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and John Abraham. The film has already grossed Rs 591 crore worldwide within just six days of its theatrical release.
Before the film's release, Pathaan was subjected to boycott calls as soon as its first song Besharam Rang was launched. People had raised objections to Deepika's saffron-colored bikini in the track alluding the same to the communal undertones. After Pathaan turned out to be a global success, Siddharth Anand has finally spoken about the 'Boycott Bollywood' brigade.
Talking to Deadline, the filmmaker said, "All I know is they tried to boycott Pathaan and audiences came out in large numbers and supported it. I think if you’re going to boycott something, or raise your voice against it, there has to be some merit in that. It has to be substantiated with some facts and some reality."
"What they were trying to do with Pathaan was just ridiculous and the audience has given its verdict. There’s also been a huge amount of support for Shah Rukh who has been a soft target in recent years. That’s why the film has done such big numbers. There’s been such an outpouring of love – they came in wanting to like the film and not to judge it.", he concluded.
READ | Pathaan: From Shah Rukh Khan-John Abraham's face-off to Salman Khan's epic cameo, 5 'seeti-maar' moments from the film
Pathaan is part of the YRF Spy Universe that also includes Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai, and War. The fifth film from the franchise Tiger 3 will be released later this year on the occasion of Diwali 2023. Tiger 3 is helmed by Maneesh Sharma, who directed Shah Rukh Khan in the 2016 action-thriller Fan.
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 "Siddharth Anand/File photo")
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