{
  "id": 4421465,
  "title": "‘Makes no sense’: Rajkumar Santoshi dismisses Shabana Azmi’s claim on Batwara 1947 failure",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/30/makes-no-sense-rajkumar-santoshi-dismisses-shabana-azmis-claim-on",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-30T12:20:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/rajkumar-santoshi-dismisses-shabana-azmis-claim-on-batwara-1947-failure-10855769/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Veteran actor Rajkumar Santoshi has dismissed Shabana Azmi's claim that the failure of her movie Batwara 1947 was due to people's inability to accept Sunny Deol playing a Muslim character. Santoshi told Variety India, \"It makes no sense to me.\" He pointed out that actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Manmohan Desai have played Muslim heroes in the past without any issues. Santoshi further stated that the film's intent and message cannot be undermined. He expressed surprise at the film's poor box office performance, with the director bankrolled by Aamir Khan and Aparna Purohit, grossing only Rs 54.03 crore worldwide despite a reported budget of Rs 150 crore.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Rajkumar Santoshi dismisses Shabana Azmi's claim on Batwara 1947's failure.",
    "Actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Manmohan Desai played Muslim heroes without issues.",
    "Batwara 1947 grossed only Rs 54.03 crore worldwide despite Rs 150 crore budget."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}