Pathaan director Siddharth Anand says, ‘Audience is too smart to get fooled by fake boycott calls’ – Times of India

Pathaan director Siddharth Anand is currently on cloud nine as the Shah Rukh Khan starrer has created a mass hysteria with its outstanding run at the box office. The movie, which also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, has managed to earn over Rs 600 crore worldwide and Rs 315 crore in India alone, despite facing several protests and boycott calls on social media.
Addressing the controversy around Deepika’s saffron bikini, boycott calls prior to Pathaan release and then getting the film released without major cuts, Siddharth told Variety, “The film has spoken and the film’s intentions have spoken. And the fact that it had nothing offensive, it’s such a patriotic film that it does inspire you. That’s reached the audience – the audience is too smart to get fooled by fake boycott calls.”

The director had hoped for a successful film but not at this level. “These numbers are surreal. When we hit the first day numbers for ‘War’, we were ecstatic, elated, and we thought it’s so tough to do and won’t happen again. It’s once in a lifetime we get these kind of numbers going, but to have hit it again in my next film, and then hit it for four days and after that on the weekend, it’s a feeling I can’t even describe. It’s unreal, I just feel sometimes I am dreaming,” he said.

Siddharth also talked about how Shah Rukh Khan’s inaccessibility created a mass hysteria. There was indeed a lot of curiosity to see Shah Rukh Khan back on the big screen after a gap of 4 years. The superstar took a break from the media, became inaccessible to the world, which made the audience yearning for him.

“He created that enigmatic quality, that mystery around him, which a star should have and then did a film that is in a very popular genre. That coupled with the fact that the teaser landed so well, the songs became such huge hits, and to top it all the trailer gave the impact that it should. Everything just fell into place for the film. That’s what created this mass hysteria,” he added.