Hansal Mehta criticised a critic who called Anubhav Sinha’s Bheed “totally silly” on Twitter.
The teaser for Anubhav Sinha’s next movie Bheed was aired earlier today. While many admirers of the director and the cast showered them with praise, several criticised the producers for drawing parallels between the COVID labour migration and the 1947 Indo-Pak partition. Hansal Mehta is not having it, though.
The director recently attacked critics who called the upcoming movie “totally stupid,” “personal propaganda,” and other things on Twitter.
After the makers of Bheed dropped a teaser video, trade analyst Sumit Kadel tweeted, “So #Bheed compares Covid Lockdown in India with Partition of India in 1947 .. Absolutely RIDICULOUS… Wondering why our prominent production house & actors become part of #AnubhavSinha personal propaganda which brings hate for the industry.” He added, “Because of such attempts, entire industry faces the wrath of common public…This provides wings to boycott & cancel culture. Sorry I don’t support this.” Coming out in support of the Bheed, Hansal Mehta commented on the tweet by simply writing, “So you’ve seen the film I suppose.”
In another tweet, bashing Bheed, the critic added, “You have the right to show the plight of migrants during lockdown but u can’t compare the pandemic with India Pak partition which happened on a religious line. #AnubhavSinha is putting India in bad light through #Bheed & no nationalist with any political ideology should support this.” In response to this Hansal Mehta quoted his tweet writing, “Let’s hear the political ideology you espouse in your tweet sir. Mine supports free speech and expression. My ideology supports inclusivity and is one that is open to criticism and debate.
In a third tweet, the critic added, “I fully support films based on the suffering of our migrants’ labor but you can’t compare the pandemic circumstance with India’s partition. Even developed countries like America & UK lost millions of their citizens to Covid. Intentions of this film #Bheed is deplorable.
Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Dia Mirza, Ashutosh Rana, and Pankaj Kapur play significant parts in the Anubhav Sinha-directed film Bheed. The movie will premiere in theatres on March 24, 2023. It focuses on the labour migration during the lockdown of 2020 and contrasts it with the partition of India in 1947.