The team of Pathaan – Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, and director Siddharth Anand – gave their first media interaction over the film on Monday. The film hit the screens last Wednesday and has steadily broken every box office record since. The team of the film came together to chat about its making and its success and even referred to the controversies around it.
Prior to the film’s release, controversy erupted around its song Besharam Rang when some politicians and outfits objected to it, saying it hurt religious sentiments. There were calls to boycott the film too. During the interaction on Mumbai, Shah Rukh partially addressed the controversies as he said, “We are playing characters in the film. If we say things in the film, none of them are meant to hurt any sentiment or anybody. It is just entertainment.”
The actor added, “I am sitting here in front of you guys and joking around. But we love each other, we have fun with each other. Fun and entertainment should be left at that level. There is no need to take it any more seriously.” Pointing to his two co-stars, Shah Rukh referred to Amitabh Bachchan’s hit Amar Akbar Anthony and added, “This is Deepika Padukone, she is Amar. I am Shah Rukh Khan, I am Akbar, and that is John Abraham, he is Anthony. There are no differences that any of us have for anybody or any culture or any aspect of life.”
Shah Rukh has returned to the big screen for the first time in four years in a lead role with Pathaan. The film has already earned Rs 542 crore at the global box office in five days, becoming one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of all time.
The film had already become the highest-grossing film of Shah Rukh Khan’s career on Saturday, having surpassed Chennai Express and Happy New Year. On Sunday, it surpassed War (Rs 475 crore). On Monday, it will surpass Tiger Zinda Hai (Rs 565 crore) to become the highest-grossing YRF Spy Universe film as well.
