Shah Rukh Khan compares Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, and himself to 'Amar Akbar Anthony' amid the Pathaan controversy

Prior to its recent release, controversy swirled around the movie Pathaan, which shocked the box office with its massive take. Shah Rukh Khan, the film's leading man, has now addressed the subject for the first time in the first media interview since the film's release.

The actor said that he and his two co-stars, John Abraham and Deepika Padukone, along with director Siddharth Anand, were like the characters in Manmohan Desai's classic 1977 movie Amar Akbar Anthony. Shah Rukh spoke about playing numerous characters in movies and urged people not to take their alter egos too seriously, stating that everything is done for amusement purposes.

He stated, "Sabka maksad ek hi hota hai. We should spread happiness, brotherhood, love, and kindness—even when I'm playing a bad guy like in Darr. Even if I'm playing a Baazigar, even if John is being bad in the film (Pathaan). None of us is bad. We are all playing characters to make you happy. If we say things in the film, none of them is meant to hurt any sentiment or anybody. It is just entertainment."

He continued, "We love each other, we joke with each other. We have fun with each other. Fun and entertainment should be left at that. Don't take it more seriously. We all one. All of us are loving each other and try to make that love spread. Just to tell you in a very simple manner... this is Deepika Padukone, yeh Amar hain. Main Shah Rukh Khan hoon, main Akbar hoon. Yeh John hain, yeh Anthony hain. And this is what makes cinema."

Before Shah Rukh Khan's movie, Pathaan came out, there was a campaign to stop people from seeing it, and some offensive words were said about him on social media. All of this didn't affect how well the movie did at the box office, though, because Pathaan got a lot of positive feedback from fans, and SRK fans around the world were excited to see him back in a movie after four years. The movie made Rs 542 crore in five days and joined the Rs 100 crore club on its first day of release.