British actor Jason Shah, who impressed audiences with his performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi, is all set to feature in Vijay’s Jana Nayagan. In an interview with Screen, the actor spoke about how films have “lost their innocence” and criticised Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar and Yash’s Toxic teaser.
Jason Shah criticises Toxic teaser, violence in Dhurandhar
Jason shared his views on how religion and politics influence cinema today. He said, “Religion and politics have had a heavy play on movies, not just in India but also around the world. You see all the subliminal messages that are being put into movies — it’s because times have changed. Cinema has been an art form that speaks to people, it connects to them, so if films don’t evolve, people may lose interest. However, I feel the innocence of movies is lost. Would everyone go to watch Partner today? I don’t think so. People want to see so much violence. I was seeing the teaser of Toxic, which shows where our minds have evolved to as producers.”
He also criticised people enjoying violence in Dhurandhar and said, “I was shocked to see people enjoy the violence in Dhurandhar. Parents took their young children to watch the film. But again, Dhurandhar was related to politics; it was a story about something that happened in India, a very serious subject, and people like to see other people’s opinions on what they have created on this subject.”
About Dhurandhar and Yash’s Toxic
Helmed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar is an espionage spy thriller starring Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan and Arjun Rampal in lead roles. The film tells the story of an Indian spy infiltrating criminal gangs in Pakistan’s Lyari to eliminate terrorism at its roots. The film received immense love upon release and collected ₹1,300 crore worldwide at the box office. Fans are now awaiting its sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which is scheduled to release in theatres on March 19.
Yash’s Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups is also set to release on the same day. The film received backlash over a graphic scene in the teaser, with many criticising the makers for pandering to the male gaze. The female actor featured in the teaser, Beatriz Taufenbach, was reportedly forced to delete her social media following the backlash. The film also stars Nayanthara, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, Huma Qureshi and Kiara Advani in key roles.
