Pathaan: Siddharth Anand says Shah Rukh Khan's inaccessibility created thirst amongst people: 'That’s what created this mass hysteria'

Siddharth Anand, with War and now Pathaan, has become the undisputed number one director of his genre in India. While War with Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff & Vaani Kapoor collected Rs. 477 crore gross worldwide, with Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone & John Abraham, Siddharth has outdone himself as the film in just 6 days has already collected Rs. 591 crore gross worldwide! Speaking of the massive success of the film, the filmmaker said that the inaccessibility of Shah Rukh Khan created curiosity. Khan made his return to big screen after a gap of four years though he had cameos in Laal Singh Chaddha and Brahmastra last year. Speaking to Variety, Siddharth said, “There was a lot of curiosity to see Shah Rukh Khan back after his hiatus – he took a break from media, from appearances, he just became inaccessible to the world, there suddenly was a thirst that he created for him – today, audiences are used to stars being out there in social media and events and everywhere.” “He created that enigmatic quality, that mystery around him, which a star should have and then did a film that is in a very popular genre. That coupled with the fact that the teaser landed so well, the songs became such huge hits, and to top it all the trailer gave the impact that it should. Everything just fell into place for the film. That’s what created this mass hysteria,” Anand added. Siddharth Anand is himself stumped by the level of success Pathaan has witnessed. “These numbers are surreal. When we hit the first day numbers for ‘War’, we were ecstatic, elated, and we thought it’s so tough to do and won’t happen again. It’s once in a lifetime we get these kind of numbers going, but to have hit it again in my next film, and then hit it for four days and after that on the weekend, it’s a feeling I can’t even describe. It’s unreal, I just feel sometimes I am dreaming,” the director said. Speaking of how boycott calls were made due to saffron swimsuit work by Deepika Padukone in 'Besharam Rang' song, he said, “The film has spoken and the film’s intentions have spoken. And the fact that it had nothing offensive, it’s such a patriotic film that it does inspire you. That’s reached the audience – the audience is too smart to get fooled by fake boycott calls.” Siddharth Anand is the only Hindi film director to have delivered five Rs. 50+ crore nett box office days and also five Rs. 100+ crore worldwide gross box office days with War and Pathaan, with the SRK starrer delivering 4 out of 5! Also Read: Pathaan couple show off their romance as Shah Rukh Khan sings ‘Aankhon Mein Teri’ for Deepika Padukone

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