The Common Man Speaks

Pathaan puts a FULL STOP to the Boycott Gang on Republic Day eve

January 26, 2023 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Shah Rukh Khan-starrer action entertainer Pathaan opened to a mammoth Rs 57 crore at the box office on its opening day. It broke the record for the highest opening for a Hindi film and that too on a non-holiday. The movie is expected to do the same today. The Siddharth Anand directorial venture, which also stars John Abraham and Deepika Padukone, badly needed this not just to revive Bollywood but also to mark an explosive comeback for SRK.

Pathaan has a usual good vs evil story, where you very well know who would win in the end. But along with the bad guys, Pathaan has also defeated the morale of the Boycott Gang. And what a day to choose to do this by the common citizens. Right on the eve of the Republic Day!

For those not in the know, these are the people from the IT cell of the ruling party who spread toxic campaigns. They are against any film who they think is insulting their religion, in this case through the colour of the bikini in the ‘Besharam Rang’ song, or if the main actor happens to be a Muslim, more so the latter. In the case of Pathaan, the title of the film was also objectionable to them since it’s an identity of someone from the same religion.

They also go up in arms against anyone who gives a statement that they consider is ‘anti-national’ in nature. It’s a different story that these are the same people who don’t react at all when Kangana Rananut says something like, “The independence India got in 1947 was bheekh,” because she is the die-hard supporter of their party. It is the party affiliation that matters for them, not the country.

The IT Cell went into action months in advance to share hateful posts, memes and articles against Pathaan, like they do for other films. This also includes spreading fake news and statements that the people associated with the film never made. Unfortunately, the IT Cell isn’t the only ones to carry out these activities. A large number of common citizens too have got involved in such antics in recent years; some of them are even close to us.

Hence, the case of Pathaan is not just limited to a film. It’s a much broader issue of mindless hate being spread in the country. This can also be seen from the fact that even senior politicians and ministers have been targeting the movie, indicating how big the campaign was (I know the PM asked them to stop much later).

So, the earth-shattering box office numbers the film has garnered are also moral slap on the hate that has been continuously spread in the country. This also proves wrong the claim of the IT Cell and their supporters that Laal Singh Chaddha became a flop because of their boycott campaign. The film didn’t work because people didn’t like it. If boycott calls were so serious, films like Brahmastra: Part One: Shiva and, more so, Pathaan wouldn’t have attracted such large number of people.

The issue of Pathaan brings back memories of a similar hate campaign against the 2010 SRK movie My Name Is Khan by another party. The actor didn’t bow down to their demands then and he did the same now. Both the films ran smoothly without changing the title or the identity of the protagonist.  

From here onwards, the boycott calls for films lined up for release in the future won’t have the same effect or reaction as it would bring back memories of their fiasco during Pathaan. Instead, these calls would become laughable from now on.

But the boycott campaigners won’t sit quiet. They are paid professionals, after all. Their first reaction to their massive defeat by Pathaan will be that these box office numbers are fake, just to feel good about themselves.

We all need something to keep us going in life…

Also read: What Aamir Khan said about Shivling & why is his film boycotted?

Filed Under: Bollywood, National Tagged With: Box Office, Boycott Gang, Boycott Pathaan, Controversy, Opening, Pathaan, Shah Rukh Khan, SRK

Pathaan Review (without spoilers)

January 25, 2023 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Pathaan is easily one of the most keenly awaited films to have come from India in the last few years. Apart from the makers promising some high-octane massy entertainment, it also marks the return of Shah Rukh Khan as a main lead after over four long … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Bollywood Tagged With: Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Pathaan review, Rating, Shah Rukh Khan, Spoilers, Story

Vaalvi (Marathi movie) review – Swapnil Joshi, Subodh Bhave-starrer is a finely crafted dark comic thriller

January 14, 2023 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Filmmaker Paresh Mokashi’s first three films Harishchandrachi Factory (2010), Elizabeth Ekadashi (2014) and Chi Va Chi Sau Ka (2017) were different from each other, but they were all light in nature. With Vaalvi, he has taken a giant leap into the … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Marathi movies Tagged With: Anita Date, Marathi movie, Paresh Mokashi, Shivani Surve, Spoilers, Story, Subodh Bhave, Swapnil Joshi, Vaalvi movie review

Ved (Marathi movie) review – Riteish Deshmukh’s film is a family masala entertainer

December 31, 2022 by Keyur Seta 3 Comments

Riteish Deshmukh’s directorial debut Ved is the official Marathi adaptation of the Telugu film Majili (2019), which starred Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The movie starts off in a town in Maharashtra and it revolves around Satya … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Marathi movies Tagged With: Ashok Saraf, Genelia Deshmukh, Jiya Shankar, Marathi movie, Riteish Deshmukh, Ved movie review

Why Ganguly had to open the bowling in this test match?

December 17, 2022 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Sourav Ganguly is one of the celebrated names of Indian cricket. Apart from being a fine batter, he, as a captain, also taught the team to win test matches abroad. But along with that, he was also a handy medium pace bowler. He has had quite a few … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Cricket, Forgotten Moments Tagged With: Australia, Bowling, India, Kolkata test match, Sourav Ganguly, Wickets

The Good News (short film) review: Hard-hitting yet gentle reality of Kashmir

November 30, 2022 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

The last decade or so has finally seen some realistic portrayal of Kashmir in Hindi cinema. Among those feature films is Danish Renzu’s Half Widow (2017). We can now safely add his latest short film The Good News in the list for its hard-hitting yet … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Short Films Tagged With: Danish Renzu, Disney Hotstar, Kashmir, OTT, Short films review, The Good News, The Good News review

Selective outrage on Richa Chadha‘s tweet reeks hypocrisy

November 26, 2022 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

First things first. I don’t support Richa Chadha’s ‘Galwan’ tweet. I feel if she had to criticize the government for its working, for which we all have a right, she could have done that without using a comment from a senior Indian Army … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Bollywood, Socio/Political Tagged With: Richa Chadha controversy, Richa Chadha Galwan tweet, Richa Chadha news, Richa Chadha tweet

Review: Uunchai overwhelms you despite its lambaai

November 11, 2022 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya’s name has become synonymous with traditional family dramas mostly revolving around marriages among the wealthy class. He tried something different in terms of the content in Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003) but the result … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Bollywood Tagged With: Unchai review, Unchai story, Uunchai box office, Uunchai movie review, Uunchai rating, Uunchai review

Book review: The Magicians Of Mazda by Ashwin Sanghi

November 10, 2022 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Author Ashwin Sanghi is known for consistently coming up with high quality contemporary thrillers connected to either history or mythology or both. After exploring beliefs like Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, his latest offering The Magicians Of … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Literature Tagged With: Magicians Of Mazda book review, Magicians Of Mazda book story, Magicians Of Mazda review, The Magicians Of Mazda Ashwin Sanghi, The Magicians Of Mazda review

Raj Thackeray asked me to play Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, says Akshay Kumar

November 3, 2022 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

During the announcement of his upcoming Marathi historical film Vedaat Maratha Veer Daudale Saat, filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar revealed the actors who would be playing the emperor’s seven warriors in the film. These include Pravin Tarde, Hardik Joshi, … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Marathi movies, Socio/Political Tagged With: Akshay Kumar Raj Thackeray, Akshay Kumar Shivaji, Akshay Kumar Shivaji Maharaj movie, Akshay Kumar Veer Daudale Saat, Raj Thackeray Akshay Kumar speech

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 83
  • Next Page »

Like Us on Facebook

Like Us on Facebook

Pages

  • About Me

Categories

  • Bollywood
  • Cricket
  • Environment
  • Events
  • Food
  • Forgotten Moments
  • Gujarati Cinema
  • Health
  • Hollywood
  • Humour
  • International Cinema
  • Literature
  • Marathi movies
  • Miscellaneous
  • Mumbai
  • Music
  • National
  • Personal experience
  • Pictures
  • Plays
  • Poem/ Shayaris
  • Regional cinema
  • Rumour Alert
  • Short Films
  • Socio/Political
  • Spiritual
  • Travel
  • TV
  • Uncategorized
  • Web Series
  • Young Achievers

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 45 other subscribers

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · eleven40 Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in