Siddharth Anand on Fighter's underwhelming BO numbers: "90% of country who have not flown in planes"

Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone's Fighter might have received warm reviews from critics, but the film hasn't managed to break many box-office records. The Sidharth Anand-directed film has not managed to make unexpected numbers at the ticket counter, despite two phenomenal actors being in the lead.

Now, the film's director has tried to shed light on what could be the reason behind not many people reaching theatres to watch this one. According to Siddharth Anand, since almost 90% of the population in our country has not flown in planes, the concept could be 'alien' to them. He asked that when such a huge number of people have not even been to the airport, how can they know what's happening in the film?

Siddharth Anand's take

"Another thing is the genre. 'Fighter' is a huge leap for a filmmaker. It's a space that is unexplored and absolutely new. It has no reference point for the audience. They are like, 'What are these planes doing?'" Anand said in an interview.

Why the film didn't work

The Pathaan director further continued, "There is a huge percentage of our country, I would say, 90 per cent, who have not flown in planes, who have not been to an airport, so how would they know what's happening in the movie? This is my dissection. They felt this was a little alien. They didn't understand what kind of exhilaration they are supposed to feel in the air action, so there is a certain initial disconnect. But once you enter the theatre, you realise this is such a basic film."

What trade experts say

However, trade analysts and industry experts have given a few reasons why the aerial actioner didn't work. The expert told ETimes that lack of emotions, marketing gimmick failing to strike a chord with the masses and no strong villian against Hrithik could be ascertained as some of the reasons behind people not flocking to watch the highly anticipated movie.