‘Asked people to peacefully release film, things could’ve…,’ says SRK after ‘Pathaan’ success

Prior to release, Hindu groups were up in arms against the colour of lead actress Deepika Padukone’s bikini in a song, while a Muslim group questioned use of title.

Fans of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan during the celebration on the release of the film 'Pathaan', in Kolkata on 25 January 2022 | ANI Photo

New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan’s latest movie “Pathaan” has smashed the box office with a Rs 500-crore-plus haul in the first five days, but there were times when “we had to call people and ask them to please let us release the film peacefully”, the actor told members of the media in Mumbai on Monday.

There were times when we had to call people and ask them to please let us release our film peacefully. Film watching and filmmaking is an experience of love and I want to thank all the people who helped us release this film (Pathaan) for the people: Actor Shah Rukh Khan pic.twitter.com/QtVOj7Gnjy

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2023

The actor could have been referring to his 2-am call to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on 22 January expressing concern over rightwing protests against the release of his film. Sarma had tweeted: “Bollywood actor Shri @iamsrk called me and we talked today morning at 2 am. He expressed concern about an incident in Guwahati during the screening of his film. I assured him that it’s the duty of the state govt to maintain law and order. We will enquire and ensure no such untoward incidents.”

Just a day before that tweet, Sarma had retorted sharply to media questions about the protests by an Assam outfit. He had famously said: “Who is Shah Rukh Khan? Why should we care? We already have many Shah Rukh Khans.” Sarma also said he had not heard of any movie called “Pathaan” and asked reporters to concentrate on the Assamese release “Dr Bezbaruah 2”.

Prior to the film’s release – Khan’s first in four years – Hindu groups were up in arms against the colour of lead actress Deepika Padukone’s bikini in the song “Besharam Rang”, while a Muslim group questioned the use of the name “Pathaan”.

Shah Rukh said on Monday that “film-making and film-watching was an experience of love” and that he was grateful for the audience and the media for supporting the film.

“… in spite of the fact that there might have been things that could have curtailed the happy release of the film,” he added.

We are all extremely grateful to the audience and media for supporting the film (Pathaan) so much in spite of the fact that there might have been things that would have curtailed the happy release of the film: Actor Shah Rukh Khan during a media interaction in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/DB18s0YFiM

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2023

He thanked “all the people” who helped them release the film, while Deepika said: “I don’t think we set out to break records, we set out to make a film with love and right intentions…”

Director Siddharth Anand said of Shah Rukh: “When we made the film, I realised that directing Shah Rukh Khan is a responsibility. He is like clay. Whatever you say, he’ll do it without any loss of faith. Through that I realised if by any chance a Shah Rukh Khan film doesn’t do well, it is because of the director not him.”

He also replied with a hopeful “Insha Allah” to demands from the audience that he make a sequel to the hit spy thriller — “Pathaan 2”.

“Pathaan”, which released on 25 January has made Rs 542 crore worldwide in five days.

‘PATHAAN’ CROSSES ₹ 500 CR MARK: ₹ 542 CR WORLDWIDE *GROSS* IN 5 DAYS… #Pathaan WORLDWIDE [#India + #Overseas] *Gross* BOC… *5 days*…
⭐️ #India: ₹ 335 cr
⭐️ #Overseas: ₹ 207 cr
⭐️ Worldwide Total *GROSS*: ₹ 542 cr
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/UZvYoipsx0

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) January 30, 2023

Apart from Shah Rukh and Deepika, the film also stars John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia and Ashutosh Rana.