Sanjay Dutt pens a strong note defending Shamshera's failure: 'I find it horrible...'

Sanjay Dutt who played the antagonist Daroga Shuddh Singh in the recently released Shamshera opened up about the failure of the film at the box office. Helmed by Karan Malhotra, Shamshera experienced a dull performance at the theatres. Made on a massive budget of Rs 150 crores the film enjoys an ensemble cast including Ranbir Kapoor, Vaani Kapoor and Sanjay. Even then the film was a flop and failed to invite moviegoers to the ticket windows. On Thursday, Sanjay took to Instagram and penned a long note expressing his displeasure over the feedback the film has been receiving. Sharing a long note, he captioned it, "Shamshera is ours!" similar to what director Karan had captioned his post earlier "Shamshera is mine!"

Sanjay also defended the cast of the film including Ranbir Kapoor who returned to the screens after his four-year hiatus. He wrote, "Films are acts of passion - passion to tell a story, to bring to life characters you’ve never met before. Shamshera is one such labour of love to which we gave our all. It’s a movie made up of blood, sweat and tears. It’s a dream that we brought on screen. Movies are made for audiences to relish. And every movie finds its viewers, sooner or later."

"Shamshera found a lot of people hating on it; some of the hate came from people who didn’t even watch it. I find it horrible that people don’t respect the hard work we all put in. I admire Karan as a filmmaker, and mostly as a person. He is one of the best directors I have worked with in my long career of four decades. He has the knack of giving characters that strike a chord. We did that with Agneepath, where he gave me Kancha Cheena to play. The process of working on it was brilliant. He trusted me again with Shamshera and what a ball of a time we had making this film, and bringing to life Shuddh Singh," he added.

"Karan is like family and success or failure aside, it will always be an honour to work with him. I stand by him always," he further wrote.

Sharing his memories and experience while shooting for the film, Sanjay concluded by saying, "Shamshera will find its tribe someday but until it does, I stand resolute with the film, the memories we created, the bond we shared, the laughs we had, the hardships we went through. I thank the whole unit - cast and crew of the film who stayed with the film for four years, through the pandemic, through my own personal rough times. Ranbir and I have forged a bond for life with this film. His craft and ability to depict emotionality on screen is par excellence. It pains to see how people are so eager to spew hatred on the work of one of the most hardworking and talented actors of our times. Art and our commitment for it transcends the hate coming our way. The love we feel for the film and its people goes beyond everything that’s being said. Baaki kuch toh log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna! #ShamsheralsOurs."

Earlier, director Karan Malhotra also broke his silence over his directorial tanking at the box-office. He penned a note and apologised for "abandoning" the film.