Tezzbuzz Desk – Sunny Deol's film 'Bantwara 1947' is not performing as expected at the box office. This patriotic-drama film, released on the occasion of Independence Day, was expected to earn better earnings, but even after a week of release, the film has not been able to cross the Rs 50 crore mark.
Now the film's director Rajkumar Santoshi has spoken openly about the film. He told that the film had to face financial difficulties during its making. Sunny Deol's Muslim character was also said to be a major reason for this.
Investors wanted to see Sunny Deol in an action film
According to Rajkumar Santoshi, when Mumbai investors came to know that he was making a film with Sunny Deol, they were expecting him to make an action film.
But when he came to know that Sunny Deol was playing a Muslim character in 'Bantwara 1947', he was not sure about investing money in the film. Santoshi says that due to this there were many difficulties in raising funding for the film.
Sunny Deol has become an Indian Muslim, not a Pakistani Muslim.
There was a lot of discussion about Sunny Deol's character in the film. Rajkumar Santoshi clarified that his character is not that of a Pakistani Muslim.
He told that Sunny Deol is playing the character of an Indian Muslim in the film, who has to go to Pakistan for the safety of himself and his family during partition.
According to Santoshi, perhaps for this reason some people considered her character to be a Pakistani Muslim.
'Making a film on partition is risky'
Rajkumar Santoshi believes that making a film on a sensitive subject like Partition is a big challenge in itself. According to him, investors avoid investing money in such topics because they find it risky.
Santoshi said that in the present era, even if Pakistan is mentioned in any film, assumptions start forming about it. At the same time, investors like to see Sunny Deol in a traditional action avatar, where he is seen fighting with the enemies.
Rajkumar Santoshi told that Aamir Khan was very supportive of this film from the beginning. According to him, Aamir had even said that if no one else would produce this film, he would produce it himself.
Budget more than 120 crores, earning around 47 crores
Talking about the box office earnings of 'Bantwara 1947', it has been almost a week since the film was released. According to the report, the film has been able to collect around Rs 47 crore so far.
The budget of the film is said to be more than Rs 120 crore. In such a situation, there is a big difference between the film's earnings and budget. Due to weak performance at the box office, it is difficult for the film to recover its costs.