'Can't touch India-Pakistan stories': Shabana Azmi 'disappointed' by 'Batwara...' failure
What's the story
Shabana Azmi, who starred in the lead role in Batwara 1947, recently expressed her surprise at the film's poor box office performance. In an interview with Zoom, she questioned why audiences had difficulty accepting Sunny Deol as a Muslim character in the film. The movie, released on August 14, received mixed reviews and failed to perform well against Emraan Hashmi's Awarapan 2.
Audience reaction
Azmi cited Amitabh Bachchan's example
Azmi said, "Matlab Sunny Deol ko aap Musalman kyun nahi dekh sakte?"
She further added, "Coolie jaise filmein thi jismein Amitabh Bachchan bade aaram se Muslim characters karte the. 786 laga lete the aur usko bilkul accept kiya jata hai."
"Ab ismein kya samjhe ki aisa mahaul banaya ja raha hai humare yahan jismein iss tarah ki divisions jaan bujhkar ho rahi hai? Meri samajh mein nahi aa raha."
Film's message
'Hindustan-Pakistan has now become...'
Azmi added, "What has happened is that this Hindustan-Pakistan has now become a subject that you cannot touch in Hindi cinema, which is very disappointing because here is a film that is politically not wrong in any way."
She said, "I am surrounded by people who come and tell me that they loved the film and they loved the message."
"It is disappointing, but also contradictory that I meet people; then why are people praising it so much?"
Film details
More about 'Batwara 1947'
Batwara 1947, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and produced by Aamir Khan, is set against the backdrop of India's Partition.
The film also stars Preity Zinta, Karan Deol, and Ali Fazal.
It is inspired by the Urdu play titled Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya O Jamyai Nai.