After the teaser release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan, the film created quite a buzz. Following this, as the makers dropped the first song, ‘Besharam Rang’, the film came under massive attack online, with a hate campaign being set into motion. Speaking his mind about the boycott call for Pathaan, SRK broke his silence for the first time on the matter on Thursday.
For the unversed, earlier in the day, Shah Rukh jetted off to Kolkata to attend the opening ceremony of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). While taking over the stage, the Bollywood star said, “The collective narrative of our times is shaped by social media. Contrary to the belief that social media will affect cinema negatively, I believe cinema has an even more important role to play now.”
King Khan continued by saying, “Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of view that limits human nature to its baser self. I read somewhere that negativity increases social media consumption and thereby increases its commercial value as well. Such pursuits enclose the collective narrative, making it divisive and destructive.”
Adding further, the 57-year-old actor stated, “We haven’t been able to meet for a while, but the world is becoming normal now. We are all happy and I am the happiest. And I have no qualms in saying, that no matter what the world does, me and you, and all positive people in the world are ALIVE.”
His comments came days after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra of the BJP claimed one of the songs in the film showed a “contaminated mindset” and threatened to block its release in the state. It all happened because Deepika Padukone wore an orange outfit in the song ‘Besharam Rang’, which, according to its detractors, resembles the saffron that is sacred in Hinduism.
