Director Siddharth Anand says only ‘90% of Indians have flown in planes’, triggers meme fest

Siddarth Anand is on the radar of memers! The director's recent release Fighter starring Hrithik Roshan, and Deepika Padukone failed to create a mark at the box office. The aerial drama is earning decent numbers but is not able to break the record of Anand's previous release Pathaan, which earned over Rs 10 billion at the worldwide box office. 

Reacting to the lukewarm response his film got at the box office, Anand in an interview said a huge percentage of Indians have never been to the airport or even flown in planes so how would they be able to understand what's happening in the movie. Soon after the interview was out, Siddarth's explanation garnered netizens' reactions. 

What Siddharth Anand has said?

Despite the rave reviews, Fighter, which was one of the most anticipated movies, has failed to make a mark at the box office. So far, the movie has earned Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) in India.

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

In a new interview with Galatta Plus, Siddharth talked about film's average performance and said: "Our expectations as makers have become a little unrealistic. I am talking about myself also, having delivered Pathaan just one year ago. We need to keep our expectations in check and align them with the product. Also, it was a working day. Thursday is considered mid-week. For instance, we held a special screening for friends and family on Thursday, and whoever we texted and asked, at least 40% of them asked, ‘Is the show in the evening?’ So, that time, it hit us how will people bunk work or bunk school and come in the morning."

Speaking further he said, "Another thing is the genre. Fighter is a huge leap for a filmmaker. It's a space that is unexplored and absolutely new. It has no reference point for the audience. They are like, ‘What are these planes doing?’. There is a huge percentage of our country, I would say, 90 percent, who have not flown in planes, who have not been to an airport, so how would they know what's happening in the movie? This is my dissection. They felt this was a little alien. They didn’t understand what kind of exhilaration they are supposed to feel in the air action, so there is a certain initial disconnect. But once you enter the theatre, you realise this is such a basic film."

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

Soon after the interview, Anand's ‘90 per cent of Indians,’ comment went viral and became the top trend on X.

Finding little sense behind Anand's remark, many netizens trolled him and questioned what was the director's thought process behind giving such a harsh remark against the Indian audience. 

One user jokingly wrote, “Murder was a big hit because everyone has murdered someone."

Further mentioning the director's own movie Pathaan, a user wrote “Pathaan was hit because 90% Indians are RAW agents."

Check the hilarious reaction below: 

Fighter box office

Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone starrer arrived in theatres on January 25, and since its release, the movie is done fairly well at the box office. As per Sacnilk, the movie has so far earned an estimated Rs 146.50 crore in India.

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.''