Pathaan: Siddharth Anand says Shah Rukh Khan ‘never went away’ when asked about his comeback: ‘Some of the films he was doing before were not justifying his stardom’

Riding high on the success of Pathaan, filmmaker Siddharth Anand has all the reasons to celebrate. The director has now given two back-to-back blockbuster with War and Pathaan. Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone & John Abraham, the film has already collected Rs. 634 crore gross worldwide! The film has brought much relief to the industry which faced negativity around it, films not working at box office. In the past few, a selected few Hindi films like Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Brahmastra and Drishyam 2 have surpassed the Rs. 100 or Rs. 200 crore mark at the box office. So, the massive success of Pathaan has brought a lot of joy to the film industry and to the audiences. Speaking to Deadline, when asked why Pathaan broke the drought of Hindi films which haven’t been doing over the past year or so after pandemic. Siddharth said, “I’ll talk from the audience perspective, rather than my perspective. They’re coming because this is a film with big stars in a popular genre and the songs are a big success. Recently we’ve had stars trying to do things that are a bit different. But stars should choose films as stars and not as actors. That’s why Tom Cruise is still the only star in the world whose films are doing well outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – he chooses films as Tom Cruise and not because he wants an Oscar nomination. We know he can act, that’s why he’s survived all these years.” He added, “And that was why Shah Rukh chose to do Pathaan. We played around with that, we gave him songs, we give him scale, we give him action. And that’s what the audience wanted to see. John as the antagonist has also worked and Deepika has also been a huge factor in bringing in a larger large audience.” When asked if Shah Rukh Khan is back with this mega-blockbuster and whether big stars will be back to giving hits, he said, “Shah Rukh never went away, but perhaps some of the films he was doing before were not justifying his stardom. It’s the same with Hrithik in War, which also opened with big numbers. I also think the world has changed and the film viewing experience has changed in India – OTT is a major draw. So there are certain types of films that people want to see stars in, and there’s some OTT content that people want to see actors in. And the line between those two things is very clear.” On the work front, Siddharth Anand is next directing Fighter headlined by Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone. The film is set for Republic Day 2024 release. ALSO READ: Pathaan: Siddharth Anand says Shah Rukh Khan has been ‘soft target’ in recent years; breaks silence on boycott calls: ‘Audiences came out in large numbers and supported it’