Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, and Vaani Kapoor in the lead roles, Shamshera has turned out to be a massive box office failure as the Karan Malhotra-directed period actioner was made on a huge budget of Rs 150 crore and has only managed to collect around Rs 50 crore in its first week at the box office.
Reacting to the film's box office failure, Sanjay Dutt has penned a long note on his social media on Thursday, July 28, supporting the film, Karan, and Ranbir. His note reads, "Films are acts of passion - passion to tell a story, to bring to life characters you've never met before. Shamshera is one such labour of love to which we gave our all. It's a movie made up of blood, sweat, and tears. It's a dream that we brought on screen. Movies are made for audiences to relish. And every movie finds its viewers, sooner or later."
In his note, he stated how some people who haven't even watched the film condemned it as he wrote, "Shamshera found a lot of people hating on it; some of the hate came from people who didn't even watch it. I find it horrible that people don't respect the hard work we all put in."
Admiring the director with whom he had also worked in Agneepath, Dutt added, "I admire Karan as a filmmaker, and mostly as a person. He is one of the best directors I have worked with in my long career of four decades. He has the knack of giving characters that strike a chord. We did that with Agneepath, where he gave me Kancha Cheena to play. The process of working on it was brilliant. He trusted me again with Shamshera and what a ball of a time we had making this film, and bringing to life Shuddh Singh. Karan is like family and success or failure aside, it will always be an honour to work with him. I stand by him always."
READ | Shamshera director Karan Malhotra reacts to film's failure, admits 'I could not handle hate...'
.
Thanking the cast and crew, and defending the Brahmastra actor, Sanjay continued, "Shamshera will find its tribe someday but until it does, I stand resolute with the film, the memories we created, the bond we shared, the laughs we had, the hardships we went through. I thank the whole unit - cast and crew of the film who stayed with the film for four years, through the pandemic, through my own personal rough times. Ranbir and I have forged a bond for life with this film. His craft and ability to depict emotionality on screen is par excellence."
"It pains to see how people are so eager to spew hatred on the work of one of the most hardworking and talented actors of our times. Art and our commitment for it transcends the hate coming our way. The love we feel for the film and its people goes beyond everything that's being said. Baaki kuch toh log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna! #ShamsheralsOurs", he concluded the note.
Released on July 22, Shamshera features Ranbir Kapoor in the first double role of his career - as the titular character Shamshera and his son Balli, and Sanjay Dutt is the film's antagonist Shuddh Singh.
