Arjun Kapoor on success of ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ online
In a recent interview, Arjun Kapoor opened up about how heart-warming it was to see ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ (2021) being received positively by audiences on Amazon Prime Video and how the digital platform is proof that real audiences do exist and have an appreciation for good films.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Kapoor said he was happy that the audience were able to understand his multifaceted character Pinky, “Perhaps we all thought that it was one of those opportunities lost where we could have connected with people but because of Covid and lockdown and circumstances, it wouldn’t happen. But the audience is better off today than they were many years back. They have been able to actually carve out this film from oblivion and give it the love and respect that perhaps it always deserved.”
‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ (2021) initially released in cinemas in March, but due to the ongoing pandemic the film’s box office run was cut short. Kapoor shared he had no regrets with the way things have worked out, “So, you move on, you accept and say, ‘Okay, the film will find its course over the next few years.’ When the film came to theaters, again the pandemic was on the verge of happening, or a second wave as we call it. I didn’t regret the timing, I just accepted the fate of the film being such that it is going to be one of those that I will get spoken to or called up over the course of my years. It will be a niche and a certain bunch of people will perhaps enjoy it over the course of it coming on OTT.”
The ‘Half Girlfriend’ (2017) actor went on to add how he never gave up on the film’s success and that having a digital release removed the ‘fake wall’ between the audience and the film industry, “I never gave up on the film, I accepted the fate being smaller. It just kind of exploded. It is gratifying to know that our audience is pretty open. And this is the real audience. I think, for me, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar just speaks to you about how there is an actual audience to watch our films versus this fake audience that was being built for a year and a fake narrative that was being built about separating the industry from the audience. There was this fake wall that was being built to say that the audience doesn’t like the industry and there are issues and there is negativity. When a film like Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar comes out of oblivion and the film is appreciated for the film that it is and the work is appreciated for the work, devoid of terminologies and disrespect and negativity, you realise that our audience is very decent. The noise and the rubbish around this is noise at the end. And that is very heartening.”
Directed by Dibakar Banerjee, ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ (2021) is Kapoor’s second digital release following ‘Sardar Ka Grandson’ (2021) which recently came out on Netflix.
