Fighter director Siddharth Anand is getting trolled for his recent interview where he explained why his latest aerial action film could not repeat the success of his previous directorial War or Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan.
Hrithik Roshan, Anil Kapoor and Deepika Padukone-starrer Fighter started slow at the box office with Rs 22.5 crore. It eventually picked up pace over the Republic Day weekend, however, the film witnessed a slump in its collection during the weekdays. Fighter has managed to collect Rs 146.25 crore in India within its eight-day run in theatres. It may be noted that Pathaan had opened with Rs 57 crore on January 25, 2023, and by its seventh day, it had minted a whopping Rs 314 crore.
Siddharth Anand: Audience didn't understand the exhilaration they should feel
During his interview with Galatta Plus, Siddharth stated that the concept of Fighter, which is an aerial actioner, is 'alien' to a larger section of the audience in India.
"If you realise there is a huge percentage of our country, I would say 90 percent, who have not flown in planes or who have not been to an airport. How do you expect them to know what's happening in the air? This is my dissection. They felt that this is a little alien. How much percentage of our population has a passport and how many of them have actually travelled in a plane? There is aerial action but they have not understood what is the exhilaration they are supposed to feel in the action," he said.
Netizens troll Siddharth Anand
Clips of his statement have gone viral on social media platforms and netizens are leaving no chance to troll the filmmaker. Reacting to his dissection and analysis, a user on X wrote, "Masterpiece fighter dekhne ke liye airport ke chakkar maarke aane chahiye 90% population ko."
"Then shouldn't have made it? & You've made it then stand by it without blaming the audience directly or indirectly," wrote another user.
"100% population ne mughal era nhi dekha hai still they liked and appreciated mughal-e-azam. Nashe me interview derha kya ye," read another comment.
"To India me bnaya hi kyu @justSidAnand foreign me hi release krte foreign ke liye movie bnaya tha na," wrote another user.
A user asked, "Ye 90% ka statistic kahaan se laaya ye? Does he know how many flights fly in India every hour?"
"Blaming audience for his incapacity to impress them with his Mid film. Movie like #Oppenheimer was able to mint 120crs+ in India being a limited release & being “A” rated. So Indians are all theoretical physicists so they enjoyed Oppenheimer 🤡 Don’t sell mediocrity," a user commented.
Here's how other users reacted to his statement:
Helmed by Siddharth Anand, the film also stars Karan Singh Grover, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Akshay Oberoi in pivotal roles. It released in theatres on January 25 and received mixed reviews from film critics as well as the audience.
The film features Hrithik as Squadron Leader Shamsher Pathania aka Patty, Deepika as Squadron Leader Minal Rathore aka Minni, and Anil as Group Captain Rakesh Jai Singh aka Rocky fighting for the country. It marks Hrithik and Deepika's first-ever on-screen collaboration.
