THE TIMES OF INDIA | Jan 25, 2024, 08:20:40 IST
The long wait for Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone’s ‘Fighter’ has finally ended with the film ready to fly into theatres today!Exactly one year after jolting the Indian box office to life with his Rs 1,000 crore blockbuster ‘Pathaan’, director Siddharth Anand is set to launch his new film, billed as a tribute to the sacrifice and patriotism of the Indian Armed Forces. The film, loosely based on the Balakot airstrikes post the Pulwama attack in 2019, will see Hrithik take on the role of Squadron Leader Shamsher Pathania, aka “Patty”, while Deepika takes on the role of Squadron Leader Minal “Minni” Rathore.The movie, that is one of the biggest releases this year, has faced its fair share of controversy prior to its relaese. Post the trailer launch, many compared the film with the Billion dollar Tom Cruise-starrer ‘Top Gun’. However, shutting down the claims, director Anand said, “It has nothing to do with ‘Top Gun’, except for the fact that there are aircrafts in both the films… The similarity ends at those planes.” The film also faced some roadblocks with the CBFC demanding a few cuts over some ‘sexually suggestive’ scenes in the film among other dialogue changes. The film was granted a U/A certificate and has a runtime of 2 hours and 40 minutes. Just days ahead of the film’s release, it hit another hurdle, with the Gulf countries imposing a ban on the film. On Thursday, it was reported that even UAE has ‘suspended’ screenings of the film, significantly denting its box office prospects. However, despite the roadblocks, the film is reportedly eyeing a Rs 100 crore weekend at the Indian box office over the Republic Day extended weekend. The film is reprotedly set to make an impressive start with an opening day collection of around Rs 30 crore.’Fighter’ also stars Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi and Sanjeeda Shaikh in major roles.Read Less