Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi has disagreed with Shabana Azmi’s opinion that audiences struggled to accept Sunny Deol playing a Muslim character in They drive 1947which led to the film’s disastrous performance at the box office.
Speaking to Variety Indiathe 70-year-old director said, “It makes no sense to me. Amitabh Bachchan played a Muslim hero in Coolie (1983).
So many of Manmohan Desai’s films had Muslim heroes. Are we at a point where we cannot accept a hero from the other community? We are sensible, good people, educated people. How are they saying there’s a big mistake in the film?”
: Shabana Azmi blames ‘Batwara 1947’s failure on Sunny Deol’s role
That said, he acknowledged that the social climate has shifted since those earlier films.
Referring to a Ramayana-based sequence in his 2001 film Lajjahe said recreating something similar today would likely be tougher.
“We have become far less tolerant and inclusive as a people. You should look at the filmmaker’s intent and what the writer wants to say,” the Halla Bol maker said.
He also spoke about his own relationship with faith, saying it doesn’t conflict with respect for other religions.
He stated, “I’m a Hindu. I go to the temple. My son’s name is Ram. I am not against any faith. But I want to take the best of every faith. Whatever the saints have tried to say about faith, it is always about equality. Hinduism has always been about inclusiveness, not exclusion.”
According to Sacnilk They drive 1947backed by Aamir Khan Productions and starring Preity Zinta, Karan Deol, Ali Fazal and others, was made on a reported budget of Rs 150 crore and has earned Rs 54.03 crore gross worldwide so far.
