Laal Singh Chaddha screenwriter Atul Kulkarni shares cryptic post on ‘when destruction is celebrated’

Aamir Khan’s latest release Laal Singh Chaddha crash landed at the box office. The ambitious film, which had a reported budget of ₹180 crore, has only managed to earn ₹127 crore in the 20 days since its release. Add to it the lukewarm reviews, and the verdict has been that the film has underperformed massively. Recently, the film’s screenwriter Atul Kulkarni posted a cryptic tweet about people celebrating ‘destruction’ that many Twitter users inferred as a comment on the calls for the film’s boycott. Also read: Aamir Khan refused to read Atul Kulkarni’s Laal Singh Chaddha script for two years

Laal Singh Chaddha is the official Hindi adaptation of the Oscar-winning 1994 film Forrest Gump. It was adapted by Atul Kulkarni and starred Aamir and Kareena Kapoor, alongside Mona Singh and Naga Chaitanya. Even before the release of the film, there had been calls on social media to boycott it. Many dug out Aamir’s old comments about India and religion and called for boycotting all his films. Post the film’s box office failure, many who had called for the boycott, have ‘celebrated’ the boycott’s success as well.

On Sunday, Atul tweeted, “When destruction is celebrated as if it were a spectacle, the harsh truths are reduced to debris.” He added the hashtag ‘global phenomenon’ to the tweet. While Atul did not specify what the tweet was about, many Twitter users speculated he was referring to the film’s box office failure, which has been celebrated by those who had called for its boycott. The actor-turned-screenwriter even turned off replies for the tweet.

Many users quote tweeted Atul’s post in response. One wrote, “I can understand why Atul has limited the comments to his tweets. It is a dark world out there that celebrates another person’s failure. Rational thinking is lost and its time to introspects. Really unfortunate!” Another urged him to not lose heart and tweeted, “This phase will too pass… take it in your stride.”

However, there were those, too, who criticised Atul for blaming the film’s failure on to people. One tweeted, “Are bhaiya, movie me dum nahi hai (brother, the movie has no substance), take creative responsibility as well! Movie acchi hoti hai to chalti hai (if a movie is good, it works)!” Another person wrote, “When destruction is caused due to the inability of the incumbent, then it calls for celebration.”

Laal Singh Chaddha is Atul’s first outing as a screenwriter. He has acted in several films in a three-decade-long career, winning the National Film Award for best supporting actor twice. The actor was last seen in a supporting role in the Disney+ Hotstar series Rudra: The Edge Of Darkness earlier this year.