Batwara 1947, starring Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta and Shabana Azmi, was expected to be one of the major films of the year. The movie had a strong cast and created interest before its release, but its box office performance turned out to be a major disappointment.
Shabana, who had an important role in the film, said she was surprised by the film's poor response and wondered if audiences had trouble accepting Sunny as a Muslim character.
Talking to Zoom, Shabana Azmi said, “Why can't you see Sunny Deol as a Muslim? There were films like Coolie in which Amitabh Bachchan played Muslim characters with ease. He used to use 786 and it was completely accepted. Now, what should we understand from this, that such an environment is being created here in which such divisions are happening deliberately? I don't understand.”
“I am very surprised at the total box office disaster Batwara 1947 has been. I am surrounded by people who come and tell me that they loved the film and they loved the message. On the other hand, people did not go to the theatres and those who did, had confused reactions.”
Shabana Azmi further pointed out that some wrongly assumed that he was playing a Pakistani character. According to her, the film makes it clear who his character is, but viewers still failed to understand or accept it. She also mentioned how people questioned why the character spoke Punjabi, which Shabana found strange. She was disappointed that these details became a reason for criticism.
As per Sacnilk reports, Batwara 1947 has so far earned just Rs 53.96 Crore at the box office after releasing on August 14.
