Javed Akhtar on cancel culture as films fail at box office continiously

• The recent big productions like Laal Singh Chaddha, Shamshera, and Raksha Bandhan among others failed at the box office.
• Veteran lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar spoke about the effects of cancel culture in the film industry and called it a “phase” in a new interview.
• Speaking of it, Javed expressed his scepticism that such calls would ever be effective.

The recent big productions like Laal Singh Chaddha, Shamshera, and Raksha Bandhan among others failed at the box office. After many social media users called for a boycott citing a variety of reasons. Veteran lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar spoke about the effects of cancel culture in the film industry and called it a “phase” in a new interview. Speaking of it, Javed expressed his scepticism that such calls would ever be effective.

Numerous celebrities have acknowledged that Bollywood is experiencing a peculiar period, although many pan-Indian films are doing better in the Hindi belt. The most recent example is Nikhil’s Karthikeya 2, which has performed significantly better financially than Vijay Deverakonda’s Liger, his Bollywood debut. Days after Liger received boycott requests, the movie failed to make it over the opening weekend.

When questioned about the difficult times in the midst of the pervasive cancel culture, Javed Akhtar said, “It is a passing phase. It is very evident that it doesn’t work. If the film is good and is appreciated by the audience, it will work. If it is not good and not appreciated by the audience, it won’t work. I don’t think this kind of announcement of cancel culture and boycott works at all.”

Liger is the most recent movie to experience problems at the box office. Warangal Srinu, the film’s distributor in south India, claimed that the crew was the target of what “looks to be a deliberate effort.” He clarified about losing 100 crore in the previous 12 months in an interview. Saying, “Sabotage is the word.” He denied the charges and said, “As on Liger, I have lost something to the tune of 65% of my investment.” Adding that he had lost “a lot of money, no question.”