Filmmaker Siddharth Anand had a remarkable start to the previous year with the blockbuster success of his action thriller Pathaan, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.
The film marked their foray into the spy genre and made waves at the box office. As 2024 commenced, Siddharth reflected on the release and recalled the ‘Boycott Bollywood’ trend that prevailed at the time.
Drawing parallels between his feelings last year and now, he also expressed nervousness about his upcoming release, Fighter, featuring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika.
Siddharth Anand on release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan during ‘Boycott Bollywood’ trend
On the first day of the new year, Siddharth Anand took to X (formerly Twitter) and penned a thoughtful note reminiscing about the significant happenings over the past 12 months. He stated, “As the new year draws to a close, I take a moment and look back. The year 2023 that changed everything for me.”
Recalling the nerve-wracking phase during the release of his film Pathaan, Siddharth shared, “It started with a lot of nervousness and anxiety. PATHAAN, my film was releasing amidst a sea of forces against it. Something very weird called Boycott Bollywood was the phrase of the season. Hindi films were written off by naysayers.”
The director vividly described his feelings on the release day, saying, “And then the day came. 25th January. I remember waking up at 7am. After going to bed at 3:30am post the cast & crew screening. Woke up feeling numb. The 1st show had just started. Mamta & me decided to go to our friend Jayu’s place and wait for the public reviews. As we sat on his terrace the reviews started to pour in.”
Talking about his reaction to the overwhelming response to the Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer, Siddharth said, “Unanimously it was declared a BLOCKBUSTER. I couldn’t sit anymore. Decided to visit a theater and see the reactions. Got to the theater but for the first time didn’t see the entire film with the audience. I saw the first 30 mins and I could gauge the pulse of the audience. It was something else.”
He continued, “And then the videos started pouring in. Of people dancing in theaters to Jhoome Jo Pathaan. History was created. Pathaan became an ALL TIME BLOCKBUSTER IN 2023.”
