Alia Bhatt reacts to Pathaan breaking Brahmastra’s box office record; Varun Dhawan responds to film facing boycott calls

Actors Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan reacted to the box office success of Pathaan, calling the film ‘possibly the biggest blockbuster of Indian cinema’. Speaking with the media at the Zee Cine awards 2023 press conference on Tuesday evening, Alia also responded when she was asked about Pathaan breaking the box office record of Brahmastra. Varun Dhawan reacted to the boycott trend that Pathaan faced ahead of its release. (Also Read | Siddharth Anand reacts to Pathaan controversy after success)

While many have been calling the success of Pathaan, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and Brahmastra an answer to the negativity, Alia said as artists, they don’t have so much “aggression”. Talking about responding to negativity and haters, Alia said, “I don’t think we have so much aggression in us like that. We are very grateful to be working and living our dream on a day-to-day basis. And we believe that we belong to the audience and the audience can say whatever they want about us. As long as we are entertaining them we will do our very best.”

Speaking about Pathaan she also said, “We feel very very happy as an industry that a film like Pathaan is not just a blockbuster but possibly the biggest blockbuster of Indian cinema. I think everybody should definitely clap for that once. We feel grateful for moments like this and pray that yahi hota rahe (this should continue happening).”

When a reporter said that Pathaan broke Brahmastra’s record, Alia added, “Every film should break every film’s record. I am very happy with that.” Alia’s last release Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, was helmed by Ayan Mukerji. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy. The film gathered positive responses from the audience and collected over ₹425 crore gross worldwide at the box office.

Varun said one must not pay heed to boycott trends as the success of Pathaan is a testament that the audience is only looking for pure entertainment. He said, “I don’t want to talk about it. Why should we give so much importance to it? If people are liking it (Pathaan), then be happy. We should not discuss much about it. The collections are speaking about the reach of Indian cinema, of Hindi cinema. And when you have some of the biggest stars of this country in Pathaan, be it Shah Rukh sir, Salman bhai, Deepika Padukone and John, you are giving the audience what they want and that’s entertainment.”

Pathaan, a Yash Raj Films project, stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia, and Ashutosh Rana among others. The spy thriller, which had faced boycott calls over the song Besharam Rang prior to its release on January 25, has been a humongous success at the box office, raising ₹591 crore gross worldwide in six days.

Directed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan marks Shah Rukh’s first big-screen release as a lead in over four years. The movie is the fourth title in producer Aditya Chopra’s spy universe, following Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), and War, featuring Hrithik Roshan (2019).