Karan Johar corners Sunny Deol about Gadar 2 ‘organic collections’ comment, asks, ‘Are you saying we’re inflating numbers?’

Karan Johar asked Sunny Deol about Gadar 2 director Anil Sharma implying in multiple interviews that other Bollywood bigshots were lying about box office numbers.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | November 2, 2023 09:15 AM IST

3 min read

Karan Johar and Sunny Deol on Koffee with Karan 8.

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Karan Johar put actor Sunny Deol on the spot on the second episode of Koffee with Karan season eight, as he asked him about earlier comments made by Gadar 2 director Anil Sharma, who implied that Bollywood bigshots were being duplicitous about reporting box office figures. Gadar 2 emerged as one of the biggest hits of the year, with more than Rs 600 crore at the global box office, and for a while, was engaged in a tight race with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathaan.

Karan said, “I was watching your interviews, and you were saying, ‘Ours are organic collections’. What does that really mean? Do you think that there are inflated numbers being given by us? Are we inflating box office numbers, Sunny sir?” Sunny laughed, and said, “I don’t know. There are times… That’s the way… The world is moving like that, right? If you ask me frankly, all the companies want the product to move ahead, and try to support it, so that it gets the buzz out there. I know that does happen, and it is happening. But that’s the way it is. It’s not like one particular person… That’s the way society is moving right now.”

Asked if this is ‘a perception game’, Sunny said, “Yes, it is. The world is full of perception. And then it starts becoming a reality, you know?” Karan then cheekily reminded Sunny that the tagline for Gadar 2 was ‘Hindustan ka asli blockbuster (India’s real blockbuster)’. Once again, all Sunny could do was laugh, but his brother Bobby Deol chipped in, “I think the whole industry can agree on that.” Sunny said that he is proud of the fact that Gadar 2 did as well as it did without ticket prices being increased. The movie also contributed to the reopening of the dormant single-screen marketplace.

In an interview with Puja Talwar, Gadar and Gadar 2 director Anil Sharma had said, “What’s happening these days is, and it is a very sad thing, that sometimes a film, doesn’t become a hit, so the makers give fake numbers, buy tickets themselves and do a lot of other things to make their brand. But the audience feels cheated. That is damaging, because when another film comes, the audience doesn’t turn up. They feel, ‘Ye sab jhoote log hai, fake log hai.’”

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