The director of Chhapak says that Deepika’s visit to JNU left a dent in the film

On a cold night in January 2020, Indian superstar Deepika Padukone probably took the seat of a lifetime. The Pathan The star stood on the sidelines with protesters at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where students were attacked.

The star, who was in the Indian capital for the promotions of her then upcoming film, attended the meeting and stood as former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar gave a speech. Dressed simply in black with her hair in a bun, Padukone was flanked by her publicist and manager. She left 15 minutes later without saying a word, leaving the rest of the world to interpret her actions.

The stand of solidarity with the downtrodden students was of great importance since he had a film, Chhapaak out in a few days. Many on the right called for a boycott of Meghna Gulzar’s bid, while others were in awe of Padukone using her influence and being on the “right side of history”.

Much has been made of the famous star’s view on the matter. Padukone’s days were flying by too Chhapaak introduced the actor to new fame. Now, almost four years later, the film’s director is speaking out about the issue.

Talking about Padukone’s stance in 2020, Gulzar shared on Indian Express Adda event, “I’m sure the answer is pretty obvious. Yes, of course, it made a dent in the film.” He added, “Because the conversation went from the acid violence, which I intended the film to enhance, to somewhere else. So of course it affected the film. There’s no question.”

Before going to the protest, Padukone had spoken about violence against students on the JNU campus in a 2019 interview with NDTV. “I feel proud to see that we are not afraid to express ourselves. I think the fact that we are thinking about the country and its future. Whatever our point of view, it’s nice to see,” he had said.

The star’s presence on campus led to trolls slamming her and calling it a PR stunt for her film. However, there are many others on the social networking site who are praising her for her solidarity with the students. Several hashtags, both positive and negative, such as #DeepikaPadukone, #IStandWithDeepika, #BoycottDeepikaPadukone and #BoycottChhapaak were top trends on Indian Twitter.

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