Meghna Gulzar BREAKS Silence on Deepika Padukone’s Controversial JNU Visit, ‘Dent on The Film…’

Meghna Gulzar accepts Deepika Padukone’s controversial visit to JNU impacted the 2020 film Chhapaak's box office collection

Chhapaak, Deepika Padukone’s 2020 film, was inspired by the life of Laxmi Agarwal, an acid assault survivor and advocate for the rights of acid attack victims. Meghna Gulzar directed the film. The film fared poorly at the box office even with such overwhelming support. Meghna has acknowledged that the movie’s reception was affected by Deepika Padukone’s contentious visit to JNU only three days prior to its premiere.

According to Meghna, her film was impacted by Deepika’s contentious visit to Jawaharlal Nehru University. The actress had visited the JNU campus three days before the film’s premiere in order to express her support for the students who had been assaulted by rioters for endorsing the Citizenship Amendment Act.

When asked if Deepika’s visit to JNU impacted the film, Meghna said, “I am sure that the answer is pretty obvious. Yes, of course, it made a dent on the film. Because the conversation went from acid violence, which I intended the film to amplify, to somewhere else. So, of course it impacted the film. There is no denying that.” For the unversed, Twitter’s microblogging site, now X, saw #BoycottChhapaak rise to the top of trends even before the release.

Three years later, the director is eager for Sam Bahadur, her next movie, to be released. Vicky Kaushal plays Sam Manekshaw, the first Field Marshal of India and its most distinguished military commander, in the biographical war film. Sanya Malhotra essays the role of his wife, for some emotional depth. The film’s depiction of historical events will gain a noteworthy depth via Fatima Sana Shaikh’s portrayal of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Neeraj Kabi, Saqib Ayub (as Captain Attiqur Rahman), Edward Sonnenblick (as Lord Mountbatten), Richard Bhakti Klein (as Ambassador Keating), and Krishna Kant Singh Bundela (as Subedar Gurbaksh Singh) all play significant parts in Sam Bahadur. The movie, which opens in theatres on December 1, will compete with Ranbir Kapoor and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal at the box office.

In 2002, Meghna directed her first film, Filhaal. Then, in 2007, she released Just Married. At the box office, neither of the two movies did well. After eight years, she returned with the brutal Talvar in 2015, and in 2018, she directed the huge smash Raazi.

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