Last year, Siddharth Anand’s Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and John Abraham was released after CBFC demanded ten cuts, which included close-up shots of Deepika. Three changes were made to the much talked about video of Besharam Rang where shots of ‘buttocks, side-pose and sensuous dance movements’ had to be removed. And now, Siddharth’s upcoming release Fighter has secured a U/A certification after two cuts, one of which encompasses ‘sexually suggested visuals’.
But for Siddharth, it isn’t a case of once bitten, twice shy. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, he says that he’s ‘not really’ bothered about how the CBFC’s demands may deter the flow of the narrative in Fighter. He tells us, “Everything is very organic in my films. But yes, sometimes, you do things that you feel are working for your film at that point in time. Having said that, there are certain guidelines that the Censor Board operates on and we have to accept that.”
Though he remains tight-lipped about the scenes, the cuts and replacing them with suitable shots or the removal of a 25-second audio segment in the Hrithik Roshan and Deepika starrer, Siddharth shares that it was a certain shot in the closing song video that had to be trimmed out. Prod him further and he adds, “We’ve graciously accepted those cuts and that won’t change the narrative at all. What has been cut is in the end credits when the film is over. So, those shots weren’t that important.”
As for the trailer of Fighter, it led to a whole lot of excitement among fans upon release. However, many pointed out similarities between the stunts in it and Tom Cruise’s Top Gun. But Siddharth is taking these comparisons with a pinch of salt. He says, “I take it as a compliment. Top Gun is an iconic film and brand. If these comparisons are happening, it means that the two worlds are getting compared.”
He continues, “Once the audience sees Fighter, they’ll realise that it’s a desi film. It’s based on an incident that happened in our country in 2019. There’s no way they’ll use the words ‘Top Gun’ after they watch our film. There are very few films out there that have this world. I leave it to the people to judge, see and comment on.”
Emphasising on how his action entertainers have always stood out from the crowd for their novelty quotient, the director remarks, “The USP of my action films like Bang Bang, War and Pathaan is that there’s no reference point for them. I try and push my action in a way which the audience hasn’t seen before. The world may seem familiar but that’s the template of an actioner. There will be car and bikes chases in any action film. It’s all about how you do it and what you do with the stunts.”
Fighter also stars Anil Kapoor and is slated for a big screen release on January 25.
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