Paresh Rawal on 'Dhurandhar' criticism: If you think it's propaganda, contest it

New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) Those who believe “Dhurandhar” is a propaganda film are free to contest the story or find a director like Aditya Dhar to make an anti-establishment movie, says veteran actor Paresh Rawal.

A great fan of the two-part espionage drama, Rawal said he watched the first twice in theatres and planning an encore with the second one as well this weekend.

The actor said the film changed the thinking of the audience but he is not happy with those dismissing the film as propaganda.

“If you want to dismiss someone, then you say it is propaganda. If an anti-establishment film can be made, then what is wrong with making a pro-establishment film? There is nothing wrong in that. If you make a film against the government, then it is okay.

If the government has done a good job, why shouldn’t it (a pro-establishment film) be made? “If you think that it is propaganda, then you should contest it. You should go to the court, file a PIL (public interest litigation), which you keep doing otherwise. Or you can find another Aditya Dutt and make an anti film, if you think this is propaganda,” the veteran actor told PTI in interview.

At a time when the film industry is worried about films not doing well and audiences not coming to theatres, they should support a film like “Dhurandhar” and not dismiss it, he said.

“When you say no one is coming to theatres, films are not working and the future of Hindi films is very bad, if a film like “Dhurandhar” comes in between, you are trying to demolish it instead of supporting it?” The actor said while watching “Dhurandhar”, he felt like he should have been a part of the story.

“For the first time, I felt like I should have been there, not because of Dhurandhar, but because of the kind of story it is. The story is so huge. It is not a film, it is a saga.

Rawal had played a character inspired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Dhar’s “Uri: The Surgical Strike”. In “Dhurandhar”, the character is played by R Madhavan. Rawal said he spoke to Dhar about he and Madhavan playing the same character in different ways.

“I told him in a funny way. I said, ‘Aditya, film dekhkar laga ki Doval sahab ka twin brother bhi hai. One looks like me and the other looks like Madhavan’. He (Dhar) started laughing.” “Bhooth Bangla”, directed by Priyadarshan and starring Rawal with Akshay Kumar and Rajpal Yadav, will release in theatres on April 17.

Presented by Balaji Motion Pictures, a division of Balaji Telefilms Ltd, in association with Cape of Good Films, the film is produced by Akshay Kumar, Shobha Kapoor and Ektaa R Kapoor. PTI BK BK BK