New Delhi: ‘Pathaan’ has been breaking box office records in India and worldwide. Now, the blockbuster has found mention in Trinamool Congress member, Derek O’Brien’s Rajya Sabha speech.
He praised the movie’s actors Shah Rukh Khan, Dimple Kapadia and John Abraham, calling them ‘India’s biggest ambassadors’.
“Well done Siddharth Anand (director). Well done India’s biggest ambassadors. Well done those of you who made Pathaan. What we couldn’t do, Shah Rukh Khan, Dimple Kapadia and John Abraham have shown this country,” he said.
Pathaan has shown a mirror to the government and done what no political party could do, he said. “Don’t mess with India’s biggest global ambassadors. You asked them to boycott Bollywood, they showed you one film with a beautiful message”, O’Brien added.
When a few members pointed out that O’Brien had missed mentioning Deepika Padukone, the film’s lead actress, he clarified that he loved both actors.
Deepika’s saffron bikini in the song Besharam rang, had triggered a huge controversy even before the film had released, with some calling for the film’s boycott. Since its release, however, the film has been smashing records left, right and centre with many hailing it as an example of India’s cultural inclusivity.
Comparing the spirit of the film to President Droupadi Murmu’s speech on India’s spirit of diversity and inclusivity, O’Brien said, “‘A Bharat whose diversity is even more vivid and whose unity becomes more shakeable (sic)’ — these phrases were turned into a film before they were written (for the speech).”
Shah Rukh shares a warm relationship with TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and has even been made the brand ambassador of the state by her.