Shabana Azmi recently opened up on Batwara 1947's underperformance, suggesting that the film might have failed because people can't accept Sunny Deol's Muslim character.
Rajkumar Santoshi has dismissed Shabana's theory, saying that Amitabh Bachchan has played Muslim characters in the past.
Led by Sunny Deol, Batwara 1947 marks reunion between the actor and Santoshi.
Sunny Deol-led Batwara 1947 is struggling at the box office. Despite stellar cast, the Partition drama failed to live up to the hype. In a recent interview, Shabana Azmi who also starred in the film, said that the film's weak box-office run might be because audiences are unable to accept Sunny Deol as a Muslim character.
Director Rajkumar Santoshi has disagreed with Azmi's claim on Batwara 1947 failure. Here's what he said.
Rajkumar Santoshi on Shabana Azmi's claim on Batwara 1947's box office failure
Responding to Shabana’s comments, Rajkumar told Variety India, “It makes no sense to me. Amitabh Bachchan played a Muslim hero in Coolie (1983). So many of Manmohan Desai’s films had Muslim heroes. Are we at a point where we cannot accept a hero from the other community? We are sensible, good people, educated people. How are they saying there’s a big mistake in the film?”
Santoshi admitted that in today's scenario it might not be possible to recreate the Ramayana-based scene in his film Lajja (2001). “We have become far less tolerant and inclusive as a people. You should look at the filmmaker’s intent and what the writer wants to say.”
“I’m a Hindu. I go to the temple. My son’s name is Ram. I am not against any faith. But I want to take the best of every faith. Whatever the saints have tried to say about faith, it is always about equality. Hinduism has always been about inclusiveness, not exclusion,” he added.
What Shabana Azmi said about Batwara 1947’s box office failure
In an interview with Zoom, Azmi said she was very surprised at the total box office disaster of Batwara 1947 because she is “surrounded by people who come and tell me they have loved the film. They tell me that they loved the message. A lot of them feel that it is very important to speak about humanity in today’s environment. On the other hand, people didn’t go to the theatre and the ones who did, they walked out with confused reactions.”
“The thing is that you cannot accept Sunny Deol as a Muslim. In Coolie and in many other films, Amitabh Bachchan very comfortably played Muslim characters. In Deewaar, he put 786, and that was accepted. So how do we understand this? Are they creating an environment where such decisions are being taken on purpose? I am not able to understand,” she added.
