Meghna Gulzar admits Deepika Padukone's JNU visit impacted 'Chhapaak's box-office performance

Many believed that the box office performance of the film was affected by Padukone's visit to the JNU protest at that time, which was a burning issue and said to be very controversial.

Published: Tuesday,Nov 28, 2023 02:51 AM GMT-07:00

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Director Meghna Gulzar is now gearing up for the release of her much-awaited project, Sam Bahadur, which boasts of a stellar cast in the form of Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Sheikh. The director has managed to have quite a record so far with two critically and commercially successful films earlier with Talvar and Raazi. Her most recent film, Chhapaak which starred Deepika Padukone in the titular role and was supposed to be a game-changer for her, was met with mixed reviews and didn't perform as per expectations at the box office as well.

Many believed that the box office performance of the film was affected by Padukone's visit to the JNU protest at that time, which was a burning issue and said to be very controversial. Recently, at the Indian Express Adda, Gulzar went on to throw light on the same as she 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 uninitiated, Padukone's participation at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on January 7, 2020 was three days before the release of the film, Chhapaak. The protest in question was in response to the 202 JNU attack and the Citizenship Amendment Act. This was met with a huge social media backlash where hashtags like #BoycottChhapaak and #BoycottDeepika trended on Twitter.

As a co-producer alongside Fox Star Studios, Govind Singh Sandhu, and Meghna Gulzar, Deepika Padukone marked her debut in production with Chhapaak. Despite being made on a budget of Rs 50 crore, the film only grossed Rs 55.44 crore at the box office.

Coming to Sam Bahadur, the film is based on the life of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and mainly highlights Manekshaw's pivotal role in India’s victory during the 1971 war, which led to the birth of Bangladesh.

The film is all set to clash with Animal on December 1, 2023.