Madhur Bhandarkar, who has directed popular films like Chandni Bar, Fashion, and Page 3, among many others, recently claimed that the tragic death of star Sushant Singh Rajput has developed outrageous anger among the audience. According to filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, Sushant Singh Rajput was “ignored” by the film industry. He was referring to the “boycott culture” against Bollywood films that has grown in popularity in recent years.
Talking about the recent trends of boycott calls against Hindi films, Madhur told Maniesh Paul on his podcast, “I have noticed that this (boycott) happened largely after the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput. Maybe the industry ignored him… He was from a non-film background and he came and he struggled… It was a very unfortunate, untimely demise and from there, the anger amid the public got aggravated. It is the public’s opinion,”
Madhur Bhandarkar Speaks about Bollywood Boycott Culture
Madhur added, “It has happened many times before. Like in the case of Gangubai Kathiawadi, people watched it and it was nice. I think this (boycott culture) is a phase. If the film is nice and the content is strong, people will go and watch. People watched Kantara, The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, it’s not like people don’t go to watch the movies.”
One of them who were singled out for being star kids in the film industry was Alia Bhatt. Before its premiere, Gangubai Kathiawadi by Sanjay Leela Bhansali received calls for a boycott. However, it was well-received and had a strong box office performance. Despite requests for a ban, Shah Rukh Khan’s most recent film, Pathaan, has become one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of all time.
In June 2020, Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide. Since his passing, the actor’s supporters and a number of industry celebrities have said that prominent figures in the Bollywood industry overlooked and disregarded the actor. Bans on the films of some of the greatest stars in the Hindi film business have been called for from June 2020, according to a number of online trends.
