Siddharth Anand reacts to Deepika Padukone and Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter getting a lukewarm response at the box office.

Siddharth Anand’s Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone-starrer Fighter had a low opening, however, it later paced up with positive word of mouth. However, the film seems to have slowed down yet again, and reacting to the lukewarm response at the box office, the filmmaker claims it is because the movie is a completely new territory for the Indian audience.

In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, Siddharth Anand opened up on the reason behind the lukewarm response to Fighter and said, ‘Fighter is a huge leap. As filmmakers to do in this in the country, and the kind of genre it is. It’s a space that is unexplored, and is absolutely new. It has no reference point for the audience, which means what they are seeing is a little… accha… such big stars, a commercial director, accha ye planes kya kar rahi he (what are these planes doing)? I am like is this my film, I don’t know this. If you realize, there is a huge percentage of our country… I would say 90% who have not flown in planes! Who have not been to an airport? So how do you expect them to know what’s happening in the air?’

The filmmaker further added that the genre is quite new to the audience and said, ‘This is my dissection. They felt like this was a little alien. How many percent of Indians… I mean this is a variation, for an academic discussion, how many of them have a passport? How many traveled in a plane? You are talking about the plane’s action. They have not understood what is the exhilaration that they are supposed to feel the action? There’s a certain initial disconnect like ‘Mujhe nahi pata ye kya hai (I do not know what is happening)! But once you enter the auditorium, you realize this is such a basic film. It is an emotional kahaani, a very desi story. It appeals to the lowest common denominator as a story. The genre of it is very new and I think that was the initial hesitance.’

Siddharth Anand’s statement has started a meme fest on social media. One of the tweets read, ‘Pathaan was hit because 90% Indians are RAW agents.” Another wrote, ‘Dangal was a hit because 130% of Indians were into wrestling.’ Another tweet read, ‘90% of Indians has Jaadu at home. That’s why Koi mil gaya Worked. Genius take.’ Another tweet read, ‘Avengers: End game worked because 90% of Indians identify themselves as superheroes.’

Helmed by Siddharth Anand, Fighter is an aerial actioner that also stars Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, and Sanjeeda Sheikh along with others in key roles. The film has collected Rs 258.75 crore worldwide and is still running in theatres.