Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s latest release ‘Brahmastra’ hit the theatres on Friday and despite several calls for boycott on social media, the film had an excellent opening. Despite mexed reviews, the film managed to pull the audience to the theatres and ended the first weekend with an impressive collection of around Rs 105 crore nett. Perhaps the cancel culture has has little or no impact on Ayan Mukerji’s fantasy action adventure film.
Reacting to the cancel culture, Javed Akhtar had told ETimes that this is just a passing phase. “It is very evident that it doesn’t work. If the film is good and is appreciated by the audience, it will work. If it is not good and not appreciated by the audience, it won’t work. I don’t think this kind of announcement of cancel culture and boycott works at all.”
Film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh who was ‘disappointed’ with ‘Brahmastra’ gave it 2 stars. When ETimes contacted Adarsh, he said, “My opinion is my personal opinion. I did not like the second half of the film. I felt there was more focus on the love story than on the main issue in the second half. I wanted to see that, but it was lacking. So I was disappointed with the second half. In terms of business the film is doing very, very well. In the first three days, it was fantastic, but the examination begins from today, like it is for every film on a Monday. So tomorrow we will get to know the exact figures.”
Adarsh has been receiving flak on the internet for speaking in favour of films that tanked at the box office and were unanimously panned by critics. He has also been criticised and called biased for disliking several blockbuster films including ‘Brahmastra’. When asked about his consistent low ratings of recent Bollywood releases, he said, “There is a vast difference between what critics like and what audience likes, which means that one has to bow down to the box office. We have to respect the audience. Janta ne jo bol diya wahi final verdict hota hai. I completely respect the audience and I bow down to them. In 42 years of my career, I have produced films from Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan to the Khans to Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt also. There are times when I have liked certain things, but the audience hasn’t, and vice versa. I respect those differences also. The critics are doing their job, but it is the audience verdict that is final.”
