Siddharth Anand calls Fighter’s comparison with Tom Cruise's Top Gun 'a social media chatter'

Filmmaker Siddharth Anand’s aerial drama Fighter has garnered a lot of praise from critics and audiencesfor its impressive aerial shots, VFX work, and grand scale on which the movie has been shot. Since the first trailer release, the audience has constantly compared the film with Tom Cruise's blockbuster movie Top Gun. Many netizens have gone to an extent of calling it an Indian copy of the Hollywood drama.

Director Anand reacted to the comparison and saidit's heartbreaking to see the audience make such comments about the film.

In an interview with Galatta Plus, Siddharth said that seeing your work being called a cheap copy of a Hollywood movie or being compared with another project is ''annoying.''

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Meghna Gulzar: Vicky was waiting for me to approach him for Sam Bahadur

“Yes, we have had instances of taking inspiration blatantly from other films. Anything that you do now is (considered) a cheap copy of it (Hollywood movies). We as an audience have lost respect for our films, which I feel is very sad. Because Fighter is about fighter jets, the instant analogy was that it’s Top Gun. I think eventually when you saw the trailer, you realise that there is nothing to do with Top Gun,'' he said, while speaking to theIndian Express.

Talking further, he added, “But the only reference point is Top Gun so they’ll say that ‘oh they have copied Top Gun’. It’s all social media chatter, which is really out there to put your work down and negativity gets a lot of traction.”

Bombay HC orders trial court to release Rakesh Roshan's Rs 2 million in fake CBI officers fraud case

“Fighter is a film that has 11,500 people in the end credtis. A lot of people have worked on it. It has the maximum crew any film has had, and they have worked really hard. So, to put the film down without seeing it is heartbreaking and annoying. But after you watch the film, there is no discussion of Top Gun or anything like that. We, the audience, don’t give a chance. People have done it in the past. People don’t respect our films, which we should start,” Anand concluded.

More about Top Gun

Set in 2019, the movie revolves around the Pulwama terror attack. An elite group of Air Force officers, including Squadron Leader Shamsher Pathania (Hrithik), Squadron Leader Minal Rathore (Deepika), and Group Captain Rakesh Jai Singh (Anil)head out to make a surgical strike after the attack.

Helmed by Anand, the movie has an ensemble cast comprising Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Akshay Oberoi, and Ashutosh Rana, among others.

Fighter box office

Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone starrer arrived in theatres on January 25, and since the release, the movie is earning decent numbers at the box office.

As per Sacnilk, the movie performed well and earnedan estimated Rs 146.50 crore in Indian.

Fighter Review

Shomini Sen writes in her review, ''The film heavily depends on VFX throughout and it does not disappoint. Sure, some shots remind you of the Top Gun series (possibly the best film on fighter jets and pilots) with the way the stunts are performed and even some of the plot points but the writers then Indianise the narrative to a great extent, slipping in a word of gender equality, patriarchy and more. These points may seem slightly unnecessary when there is an impending threat from the enemy but Fighter only touches the tip of every issue and doesn't delve deeper.''

''Fighter isn't extraordinary in any way but still enjoyable. You know how the story will pan out from the beginning, but you still indulge the makers. Hrithik and Deepika look great, the VFX is praiseworthy and it makes for a good Republic Day watch.'' Read the full review here.