Anubhav Sinha says being labelled 'anti-national' doesn't surprise him: I love the original idea of India

Anubhav Sinha spoke about the criticism of his upcoming film Bheed, him being labelled an 'anti-national' filmmaker, and more in a recent interview.

Since the release of its trailer earlier this month, Anubhav Sinha's Bheed has grabbed attention. The Hindi film starring Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar highlights the struggles of migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The trailer came under fire as it compared the events from 2020 to what the country faced in 1947 during the partition. The director addressed the criticism of his film and asked people to focus on the story. He also added that he was fine being labelled 'anti-national' for his films' subjects.

Anubhav Sinha shared that he was fine with being labelled an 'anti-national' ahead of the release of his new film Bheed.

Besides the comparison to the partition, co-producer Bhushan Kumar of T-Series has also reportedly stepped away from the film. The producer has not issued any statement on the matter as yet. A voiceover of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the lockdown was also removed and replaced in a new trailer. Anubhav shared that all films go through these kinds of challenges and asked viewers to concentrate on the story instead.

Anubhav told Indian Express in an interview that he was used to the name calling by now, "Yes I have heard I am anti-national before. I do hear it for most of my films. But it didn’t surprise me. I love India, I love the original idea of India. Anybody who loves India more than I do, I respect that person. I’m trying to do my best as a lover and I’m sure even they’ve done their best as lovers of the country."

He continued, "The teaser got that reaction because it’s the angle. When you see a black spot on the road it may look like sh*t or a coal tar. It’s how you see it and the angle is always of convenience. These things happen when the other angle is inconvenient. Then you want to shift to the convenient angle, see it and reject the inconvenience. So I am fine with it really."

Bheed has been shot in black-and-white and also features Dia Mirza, Pankaj Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, Kritika Kamra and Kumud Mishra. The film, produced by Anubhav's Benaras Mediaworks, will be released on March 24.