'It's made up of blood, sweat and tears.' Sanjay Dutt extends support, says 'Shamshera' will find its tribe some day

A day after director Karan Malhotra penned an emotional note for 'Shamshera', Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt showered love for the recent film which has failed to match people's expectations.

Despite being made on a massive budget of Rs 150 crore, the film couldn't perform in the theatres and was subjected to a lot of backlashes and trolling. The highly-anticipated movie managed to collect just Rs 36 crore till Tuesday, according to industry experts.

Taking to social media, the veteran actor captioned his post, "#ShamsheraIsOurs."



Extending his support to the film and the makers, Dutt, in a thoughtful note, said that 'Shamshera' is a 'labour of love' to which the cast and the crew gave their all.

"Films are acts of passion - passion to tell a story, to bring to life characters you've never met before. 'Shamshera' is one such labour of love to which we gave our all. It's a movie made up of blood, sweat and tears. It's a dream that we brought on screen," his note read.

The 'KGF: Chapter 2' star is confident that the hate for 'Shamshera' will end some day and the movie will find its tribe. "Movies are made for audiences to relish. And every movie finds its viewers, sooner or later... Shamshera will find its tribe some day..."

Talking about the online hate the film received, the 63-year-old said that most people trolled the film without having seen it. "'Shamshera' found a lot of people hating on it; some of the hate came from people who didn't even watch it. I find it horrible that people don't respect the hard work we all put in," he added.

In his detailed post, the 'Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.' star praised Malhotra for his cinematic skills. "I admire Karan as a film-maker, and mostly as a person. He is one of the best directors I have worked with in my long career of four decades. He has the knack of giving characters that strike a chord," he shared.

Before 'Shamshera', Dutt worked with Malhotra in the 2012 film 'Agneepath'. The actor recalled the director's vision when he created the character 'Kancha Cheena' for Dutt in the Hrithik Roshan-starrer. "The process of working on it ('Agneepath') was brilliant. He trusted me again with 'Shamshera' and what a ball of a time we had making this film, and bringing to life Shuddh Singh (Dutt's character in 'Shamshera')," he wrote in his note.

Dutt said that he will forever stand with Malhotra and the film. He also said that he will always cherish the memories he created while shooting for the movie. "Karan is like family and success or failure aside, it will always be an honour to work with him. I stand by him always... I stand resolute with the film, the memories we created, the bond we shared, the laughs we had, the hardships we went through," he added.

Ranbir Kapoor, who returned to the big screen after his 2018 success 'Sanju' (based on Dutt's life), also found a mention in Dutt's note. Talking about the online hatred towards Kapoor, he said that it was painful to see people spew hatred on the work of one of the 'most hardworking and talented' actors in the film industry today.

Dutt spoke about the 'bond for life' he formed with Kapoor after this film. "His craft and ability to depict emotionality on screen is par excellence," he said.

"I thank the whole unit - cast and crew of the film who stayed with the film for four years, through the pandemic, through my own personal rough times... Art and our commitment for it transcends the hate coming our way. The love we feel for the film and its people goes beyond everything that's being said," his post concluded.

He signed off by quoting the famous Kishore Kumar song - "Kuch toh log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna!" - from the 1972 film 'Amar Prem' - starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna.

On Wednesday, Malhotra revealed that he had consciously withdrawn after receiving 'hate' and 'rage' for the film. He shared that he couldn't handle the criticism.

The movie was released on July 22 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.