"Ignored Him": Madhur Bhandarkar Says Audience Got Angry With Bollywood After Sushant Singh Rajput's Death
Director Madhur Bhandarkar said that the audience's attitude towards Bollywood changed after the passing away of Sushant Singh Rajput.
Director Madhur Bhandarkar who is famous for helming movies like 'Fashion', 'Page 3', and 'Chandni Bar', has said that the public got angry with the Bollywood film industry after the untimely passing away of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. For the unversed, SSR allegedly died by suicide in June 2020 at his residence in Mumbai. Madhur Bhandarkar who was in conversation with Maniesh Paul on his podcast said that the industry maybe “ignored” Sushant Singh Rajput.
“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,” Bhandarkar said.
“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," he added.
A few years before the ‘boycott Bollywood’ trend started, Madhur Bhandarkar's movie 'Indu Sarkar' had also faced political opposition.
For the unversed, the movie was set during the Emergency era.
“I had no one. No one from the film industry stood by my side. A lot of people who speak about freedom of expression, no one even tweeted when my film was in trouble. I have always stood for other people’s movies. I was feeling bad, I was fighting a lonely battle," said Bhandarkar.
Madhur Bhandarkar had two releases in 2022 -- 'India Lockdown' and 'Babli Bouncer'.
