Days after veteran actor Shabana Azmi claimed that her recent movie, Batwara 1947, underperformed at the box office probably because people couldn’t accept Sunny Deol playing a Muslim character, the film’s director, Rajkumar Santoshi, has stepped forward to dismiss the opinion as unsound.

Reacting to Shabana’s comments, Rajkumar told Variety India, “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?”

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However, Rajkumar Santoshi admitted that it may not be possible to recreate the Ramayana-based scene in his Lajja (2001) today. “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.”

Rajkumar further pointed out, “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.”

Shabana Azmi on Batwara 1947’s box office failure: ‘Surprised’

Opening up about the box office failure of the period drama, Shabana Azmi told Zoom, “Firstly, I am very surprised at the total box office disaster that Batwara 1947 has been because I am surrounded by people who come and tell me they have loved the film. They tell me that they loved the message. A lot of them feel that it is very important to speak about humanity in today’s environment. On the other hand, people didn’t go to the theatre and the ones who did, they walked out with confused reactions.”

She added, “The thing is that you cannot accept Sunny Deol as a Muslim. In Coolie and in many other films, Amitabh Bachchan very comfortably played Muslim characters. In Deewaar, he put 786, and that was accepted. So how do we understand this? Are they creating an environment where such decisions are being taken on purpose? I am not able to understand.”

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‘Does Sunny Deol play a Pakistani in Batwara 1947?’

Shabana Azmi further pointed out that even those who watched Batwara 1947 may not have fully understood it. “I am surprised at how people are reacting to it. Even the ones who watched the film think Sunny Deol is playing a Pakistani. He is not. It is simply not registering in their heads. Even Bushra Ahmed (Pakistani actor) objected to the film’s language. She said the Punjabi dialect used by the villain is not right. If both religions are not liking the film, it means it is something which is pure and beautiful.”

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The veteran actor added, “The problem is that you cannot touch the subject of Hindustan and Pakistan in this setup, which is very disappointing. This is a film which is politically not incorrect in any way. You can’t find fault with it. Sunny has done a very good job. It is very surprising and also contradictory that when I meet people, why are they praising the film so much?”

Batwara 1947 box office collection

Also starring Preity Zinta, Karan Deol, Ali Fazal, Abhimanyu Singh, Khushi Hajare, and Kanikka Kapur in key roles, Batwara 1947 was bankrolled by Aamir Khan and Aparna Purohit under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions. Mounted on a reported budget of Rs 150 crore, Batwara 1947 has grossed just Rs 54.03 crore worldwide thus far, according to industry tracker Sacnilk.

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