'Deepika Is Amar, I'm Akbar, John Is Anthony': Shah Rukh Khan's Message on Unity

At Pathaan's first press event, Shah Rukh Khan opened up on the significance of unity in cinema and our nation.

John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, and Shah Rukh Khan pose together at Pathaan's first press event.

(Photo Courtesy: Viral Bhayani)

Following the record-breaking success of Pathaan, the makers held their first press event on Monday, 30 January. The film's director, Siddharth Anand, and the lead actors, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and John Abraham, were also present at the live session.

During their conversation at the event, Shah Rukh had a special message for his fans. Equating himself and his film's co-actors to Amar Akbar Anthony, the iconic characters from Manmohan Desai's 1977 hit, Shah Rukh opened up on the significance of unity in cinema and our country.

"This is Deepika Padukone, she is Amar; I am Shah Rukh Khan, Akbar; this is John Abraham, he is Anthony. And this is what makes cinema. Amar Akbar and Anthony. There are no differences that any of us have for anybody. Any culture, any aspect of life. We love you and that's why we make films. We love you to give us love. Give us love, we are hungry for love."

Shah Rukh Khan

Here, take a look:

Shah Rukh further explained, "The actors are just playing characters and not trying to hurt anyone's sentiments. The aim of cinema is to spread happiness, brotherhood, love, and kindness. To be honest, when we make films, be it in the north, south, east, or west, our aim is to spread happiness, brotherhood, love, kindness... Even when I'm playing a bad guy in Darr or John is bad in this film... We are just playing characters. None of this is meant to hurt any sentiment. It is just entertainment.

"We have to keep our culture, our old stories all that is seeped into this country, beautiful country, which is India. We have to tell the stories in modern ways, in different ways. And when we tell them in different ways, there is no way we are deriding anybody. We are just trying to speak the language of youngsters, which has changed."

Shah Rukh's comeback film, Pathaan, which released in theatres on 25 January, became the first Hindi-language film to hit the Rs 100 crore mark at the global box office within 24 hours of its release.

The film is currently breaking box office records, grossing a whopping Rs 543 crore worldwide in just five days since it hit the silver screen.