Siddharth Anand, whose latest film Pathaan broke several records, has spoken out about the film’s impending boycott. In a new interview, Siddharth was asked if he had ‘checkmated the boycott brigade’. Siddharth stated that he did not need to say anything because the audience’s reaction spoke for itself. He described the audience as ‘too smart,’ adding that they’see through any agenda’.
Pathaan, directed by Siddharth, stars Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham, and Deepika Padukone. Pathaan sparked outrage last year with the release of the film’s Besharam Rang song. Many people criticised it because of the saffron colour of Deepika’s bikini in it. Some people were offended by the song’s use of saffron and green costumes. On social media, there was even a boycott trend against the film.
“I didn’t say anything, I don’t have to say anything,” Siddharth said in an interview with the Times of India about the boycott trend. The audience has spoken. The fact that so many people showed up indicates that they realised there was nothing to what these calls were trying to say. So it was not that they waited and came in the evening to hear about it, like ‘Oh, my god, is this what they’re saying? Is what they’re trying to say true?’ The results were received via advance numbers. As a result, I believe the audience is overly intelligent. I believe we simply underestimated the audience’s intelligence. They can now see through any agenda.
Siddharth added, when asked about the reactions of fans to Pathaan, ” “Oh, it was insane! I mean, I keep getting videos of people rejoicing, what they’re doing at the end of the film, what they’re doing in the middle of the film, they’re dancing. I saw a video of the audience unfolding the Indian flag in the theatre during the scene where Dimple Kapadia’s character dies and Shah Rukh Khan’s character gives a salute. So the fact that they carried a flag into the theatre indicates the types of emotions conveyed by the film.”
In ten days, the film has already grossed 729 crores worldwide. Pathaan is the fourth film in Aditya Chopra’s spy universe, following Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), as well as War, which stars Hrithik Roshan (2019).