Siddharth Anand analyzes Fighter’s lukewarm opening: ‘The audience didn’t understand…’

Siddharth Anand’s Fighter did not take off as planned. The film starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone was released outside the holidays and hit the screens on January 25. The film released exactly a year after Anand released Pathaan with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role. Unfortunately for the filmmaker, Fighter did not recreate the magic of Pathaan at the box office. Fighter opened with a box office collection of Rs 24.60 cr.

In a new interview, Anand said two factors could have influenced Fighter’s lukewarm opening. One is that the movie was released on a weekday and the second is that not many might be familiar with the euphoria associated with flights and airplanes and could not connect with the movie.

“Our expectations as creators have become a little unrealistic. I am also referring to me, who gave up Pathaan just a year ago. We need to keep our expectations in check and align them with the product. Plus, it was a weekday. Thursday is considered mid-week. For example, we held a special screening for friends and family on Thursday, and to those we texted and asked, at least 40% asked, ‘Is the show at night?’ So at that time, we realized how people would leave work or school and come in the morning,” Anand told Galatta Plus.

“Another thing is gender. Fighter is a big leap for a filmmaker. It is an unexplored and absolutely new space. It has no point of reference for the audience. They say, ‘What are these airplanes doing?'” the director said before adding: “There is a huge percentage of our country, I would say, 90 percent, that has not flown on airplanes, that has not been in a airport, so how would they know what’s happening in the movie? This is my dissection. They felt that this is a bit strange. They didn’t understand what kind of euphoria they’re supposed to feel in aerial action, so there’s a bit of an initial disconnect. But once you get into the theater, you realize it’s a very basic movie.”

Fighter is currently playing in theaters. Apart from Hrithik and Deepika, the film also stars Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi and Sanjeeda Shaikh.