Huge sense of vindication with Pathaan doing so well!’ : Siddharth Anand on denting the narrative that Hindi cinema had lost its touch to South industry

Director Siddharth Anand has delivered two monstrous hits back-to-back with War and now Pathaan, which has also become the all-time highest grossing Hindi film worldwide in the history of cinema. He feels a ‘huge sense of vindication’ with Pathaan proving that people want to come to theatres to see films that give audiences a larger-than-life experience!

With Pathaan’s incredible box office feat, Siddharth is currently the undisputed number one director of the Hindi film industry. In fact, Siddharth and the visionary S.S. Rajamouli are also the only two directors in the coveted 500 crore nett collection club in Hindi. Siddharth has also blunted the narrative that Hindi films are being checkmated by South films at the box office.

Siddharth says, "There is a huge sense of vindication with Pathaan doing well at the box office. What I believe is that films weren’t doing well in the middle because those films were made before the pandemic. So, there was a period where cinemas were shut and we couldn’t release our films; people weren’t coming back, so there was a prolonged break for our films."

He adds, "And those films were made pre-pandemic; there is a mindset that has changed post-pandemic. There is a viewing pattern that has changed. And those films were unfortunately victims of that change. Even when I was making War, there was a sense that parallel cinema was the new commercial cinema in 2018–2019. You had small independent films and big ideas doing much better than tentpole films until the war happened. That time also I felt that, Oh my God, has the viewing pattern changed? but War again proved that if you make a good cinematic experience film for our masses, people will come to theatres."

Siddharth was entrusted by Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films to start two of the biggest IPs in Indian cinema today: War and Pathaan, and he delivered both times to become the pioneer of the action genre. Sid, through his mastery over action entertainers, has delivered the biggest hits from superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan in these high-octane spy films.

Sid says, "I’d like to believe that I don’t differentiate between the class and the mass audience. I try and cater to both subconsciously—it’s not an effort. So, I try to get all the quadrants to enjoy my films. And if you do that, the results are there in Pathaan."