Why Hrithik Roshan-Deepika Padukone's 'Fighter' didn't match up to 'War' and Shah Rukh Khan's 'Pathaan' | Explained

Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone’s ‘Fighter’ had done decent numbers at the box-office but compared to Siddharth Anand’s earlier blockbusters like War and Pathaan, the performance is underwhelming. What exactly went wrong? Trade experts of the industry like Komal Nahta and Taran Adarsh have spoken about it.

Nahta was quoted saying in his statement, “ The film is not as good as ‘War’ or ‘Pathaan’ because it is a bad film. There is no other reason. It is not because some extraneous factors have come in the way of its business. The film was very lacklustre, the screenplay looked very forced. And frankly, this ‘Pakistan bashing’, after ‘Gadar 2’, which did it extremely well and with a lot of emotions, will not work unless done well or there is a new angle to it.”

Adarsh opined, “Unlike ‘War’ and ‘Pathaan’, which were aimed directly at the masses, this one is more urban-centric. And that’s the reason why the film has not gone beyond the metaphor and struck a chord with the audience. There’s a huge disconnect between the urban centres and the mass pockets as far as the business is concerned.”

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In reaction to the lukewarm response to the film, director  Siddharth Anand recently gave an unexpected reason, stating that the film underperformed because “90 per cent of the Indians have not flown in planes.” The remark has not only gained significant media attention but also sparked a meme fest all over the internet.

For the unversed, Fighter opened with a decent number of Rs 22.5 crore and later grew to Rs 39.5 crore on Day 2. After recording Rs 27.5 crore and Rs 29 crore on the third and fourth days, the numbers fell short by a large difference and earned only Rs 8 crore on Day 5. With numbers remaining consistently below Rs 10 crore, the film till now has earned Rs 176.15 crore.