Actor Ayushmann Khurrana Calls India ‘Homophobic’ For Failure Of His Film On LGBTQ Community; Adds To Public Anger Against Bollywood

Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana has made a statement that India is 'homophobic'. 'Homophobia' is a term given to hatred or dislike of gay people.

Khurrana told this to the media while talking about the recent failure of his films Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Anek and Doctor G. Of these, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui was themed around the LGBTQ community. As per news report, the film did business of Rs 33.64 crore.

Khurrana has been quoted in the Hindustan Times as saying, “I started with movies on taboo subjects. I suppose the type of subjects—it has to be a community viewing, and it has to have a wider film—the kids have also been watching. In fact, my last three films, including an LGBTQ film (Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui), really don't do well commercially because, unfortunately, our country is homophobic…”

Khurrana’s statement has created a controversy on social media. 

A Twitter user quipped, “Anurag Kashyap's films don't work because Indians don't have any money. Ayushmann's movies don't work because Indians are homophobic. Anything else? 🤣🤣🤣.”

Another user said, “Calling whole nation homophobic just because your ass movie flopped.  No wonder people are boycotting these clowns.”

Another user wrote, “Anti-LGBT country apparently lol. Bollywood after making one garbage movie after another resorts to making dumb excuses to put the blame on people.”

It’s pertinent to note here that Bollywood is in a crisis, with serial failure of films including big-budget, big-star offerings like Brahmastra, Samrat Prithviraj, Laal Singh Chadha, Ram Setu, Shamshera, Vikram Vedha, Liger and Thank God. 

While experts still do not have a consensus on what is ailing Bollywood – is it bad scripts, competition from films from southern India, the OTT phenomenon or the online ‘Boycott Bollywood’ movement? – foot-in-the-mouth statements by leading actors are believed to be making things worse for the industry.

Of these, Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu’s non-serious statement that they wanted to be ‘boycotted’ much like the bigger actors of the industry, made ahead of the release of their film Dobaaraa, is believed to have contributed to the film’s massive failure at the box office.

Similarly, Saif Ali Khan’s said last year that in his upcoming film Adipurush, based on Ramayana, there would be an attempt to show the character of Ravan as more humane and justify his abduction of Sita. The statement caused massive uproar and he retracted it.

However, when the film’s trailer released last month, the poor VFX and portrayal of the key characters angered the viewers and, together with Saif’s earlier statement, triggered online trends to boycott the film. Earlier this month, the filmmakers announced that are postponing the film to ‘rework’ the graphics. 

In August, Telugu cinema actor Vijay Devarakonda similarly triggered anger against his film Liger when he dismissively reacted to ‘boycott Liger’ trends on social media. The film tanked at the box office.

Earlier this week, the film created another controversy as it came under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner for suspected violations of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).