The level of insecurity is just... *mind blowing* 🤯 🤯🤯
Filmmaker Kabir Khan called 83 "a victim of the pandemic" and said it has put up the numbers despite battling Covid-19 restrictions
In an interview with PTI, Kabir Khan called the film “a victim of the pandemic” and said 83 has put up the numbers despite battling Covid-19 restrictions, 50 per cent theatrical occupancy in key states and the complete closure of cinema halls in Delhi and Haryana.
“I feel exhilarated to have created this film which has received so much love but at the same time there is a disappointment that not everybody who wants to watch it can see it today because the pandemic is there with historic numbers. We nurtured the film for two years, waited for the correct time so that everybody gets to see it on the big screen.
“But with this pandemic, despite our best planning, one can never get it right. We did not know that the explosion (of cases) would literally take place on the day of our release. December 24 is when we (the country) hit 6,000 cases and in 10 days we crossed a lakh. It was just sad,” Khan said.
“So many people loved the film, so naturally one has to question what went wrong and what went wrong is the pandemic. There was no chance to fight back. The pandemic is not just about theatres shutting down but also this psyche… The mindset (of stepping out) can change overnight.”
While the audience reception to the film was overwhelmingly positive, Kabir Khan feels there was an “agenda” with which the trade reported figures of 83, by completely eliminating the impact of the pandemic.
“The film is a victim of the pandemic. How can you report the figures without the context, that there is a raging pandemic out there?” the 53-year-old filmmaker asked.
While 83 has underperformed at the box office, the trade has hailed Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa: The Rise as a bona fide blockbuster, with its Hindi version clocking more than Rs 74 crore at the box office.
The multilingual thriller opened a week before 83 and clashed with the Hollywood superhero film Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Kabir Khan said unlike Pushpa — which had collected Rs 26 crore from its Hindi version in the first week, when everything was functional — 83 didn’t even have the chance to enjoy a restriction-free run.
“Everyone now knows that December 26 is when it all came crashing down, when we realised we are in the middle of a third wave. What is the amount of money they (Pushpa) made before that and what is the amount of money they made after that? Of course, they kept continuing but at levels much lower than us.
“Where did we even have the chance to fight that? To constantly say that, ‘Oh but that one made money…’ Yes, but look at the relative ratios. If it did Rs 26 crore in the first week, they added another Rs 50 and we did another 100. The thing is when you report numbers and do not choose to mention the pandemic at all, does that not sound completely weird? It was an erroneous reporting which is unforgivable. It smells of agenda and bad professionalism.”
Khan said the entire team is proud of the film and is confident that it will eventually get its due.
“The film is here to stay, it won’t ever be forgotten. Ten years from now if my filmography is spoken about, 83 will always be on the top. That’s something which gives me solace in the times we are living through,” he added.
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