In the last few months, many Bollywood films such as From Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan,
to Ranbir Kapoor’s Brahmastra have been targeted on social media in the form of the #BoycottBollywood trend. In a recent interview, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, who directed films like Chandni Bar and Fashion among others, talked about the same and explained that it is 'just a phase'. Adding, that the anger in the audience towards the film industry got aggravated after the untimely demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020 at his residence in Mumbai.
In a conversation with Maniesh Paul on his podcast, Madhur said that the boycott culture isn’t particularly new to the film industry and even after that watch movies when the content is good. "It has happened many times before. Like in the case of Gangubai Kathiawadi, people watched it and it was nice. I think this (boycott culture) is a phase. If the film is nice and the content is strong, people will go and watch. People watched Kantara, The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, it’s not like people don’t go to watch the movies," said.
Madhur added that the boycotts culture began after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, adding, that maybe the late actor was 'ignored' by the industry. He added, "I have noticed that this (boycott) happened largely after the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput. Maybe the industry ignored him… He was from a non-film background and he came and he struggled… It was a very unfortunate, untimely demise and from there, the anger amid the public got aggravated. It is the public’s opinion."
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A few years before the boycott trend started, Madhur Bhandarkar’s 2017's Indu Sarkar also faced some political opposition since it was set during the Emergency time. Talking about the same, the filmmaker claimed that no one supported him. "I had no one. No one from the film industry stood by my side . A lot of people who speak about freedom of expression, no one even tweeted when my film was in trouble. I have always stood for other people’s movies. I was feeling bad, I was fighting a lonely battle,” he added.
In 2022, Madhur Bhandarkar released two films, India Lockdown and Babli Bouncer. ALSO READ: India Lockdown teaser OUT: Madhur Bhandarkar’s film triggers the horrors of Covid-19
