Sunny Deol’s latest outing, Batwara 1947, was among the most anticipated films of the year, but it received mixed reviews from critics and its box office performance also remained subpar. Recently, Shabana Azmi blamed the film’s box office failure on the audience not accepting Sunny Deol playing a Muslim character in the film, as it goes against his “action patriot” image. Now, the film’s director, Rajkumar Santoshi, has reacted to the same.
‘Makes no sense to me’
Speaking to Variety India, Rajkumar rejected Shabana’s theory and cited how even a superstar like Amitabh Bachchan has played Muslim characters in the past. He said, “It makes no sense to me. Amitabh Bachchan played a Muslim hero in ‘Coolie.’ 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?”
‘Have become far less tolerant and inclusive’
In the same interview, however, Rajkumar accepted that ‘we have become far less tolerant and inclusive’. Talking about his 2001 film Lajja and how today’s audience may not accept the film’s segment based on the Ramayana, he said, “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.”
What did Shabana say?
Speaking to Zoom, Shabana Azmi spoke about Batwara 1947’s failure and said, “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. I am surprised at how people are reacting to it. Even the ones who have watched the film think Sunny Deol is playing a Pakistani. He is not. It is simply not registering in their heads.”
About Batwara 1947
The film sees Sunny Deol play the character of Sikandar Mirza, who finds a Hindu woman, Mai, played by Shabana Azmi, living at the house allotted to him after Partition. He takes it upon himself to save Mai from religious extremists in Pakistan.