“Insecurity Hits New Lows”: Did ‘Fighter’ Director Siddharth Anand Take Indirect Dig At Akshay Kumar’s ‘Sky Force’?
Amid the ongoing comparisons between ‘Fighter’ and ‘Sky Force’, Siddharth Anand has seemingly taken a dig at the Akshay Kumar starrer.
Akshay Kumar, Veer Pahariya, Sara Ali Khan and Nimrat Kaur-starrer ‘Sky Force’ finally released in theatres today. The initial response to the new Hindi movie is positive. However, the project continues to be compared with last year’s ‘Fighter’, directed by Siddharth Anand. The 2024 Hindi movie starred Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles. ‘Fighter’ filmmaker has now taken to X to share a cryptic post, and fans believe it is a veiled dig at ‘Sky Force’.
“Hahahaha!! Insecurity hits new lows! I feel so important today! Have faith in your own self! Come on yo!! An old saying – By blowing off another candle, won’t make yours burn brighter! But alas,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Hahahaha!! Insecurity hits new lows! I feel so important today!
— Siddharth Anand (@justSidAnand) January 23, 2025
Have faith in your own self! Come on yo!!
An old saying - By blowing off another candle, won’t make yours burn brighter! But alas…
It is important to state that both ‘Fighter’ and ‘Sky Force’ deal with tales of Indian Air Force. However, the storylines for both the films are different.
“Both will be replica to each other. Skyforce will be Fighter of 2025. BO collections will confirm this,” commented one user.
Another user wrote, “Why are you reacting to it? Feeling insecure? It’s a different movie, different releases in a different year. Let it be whatever it does. You made a movie with 400 Cr. This one is made for free (they say the budget is 80 Cr whereas Akshay Kumar alone charges 100 Cr).”
For the unversed, ‘Fighter’ received mixed reviews upon its release last year. The film earned more than Rs 200 crore in India and Rs 350 crore worldwide. It was one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2024.
Siddharth Anand had famously remarked that ‘Fighter’ underperformed because majority of the country is not familiar with air travel.
“Fighter is a huge leap for a filmmaker. It’s a space that is unexplored and absolutely new. It has no reference point for the audience. They are like, ‘What are these planes doing?’ There is a huge percentage of our country, I would say, 90 per cent, who have not flown in planes, who have not been to an airport, so how would they know what’s happening in the movie? This is my dissection. They felt this is a little alien. They didn’t understand what kind of exhilaration they are supposed to feel in the air action, so there is a certain initial disconnect,” he had told Galatta Plus.
‘Sky Force’, on the other hand, is about India's retaliatory attack on Pakistan’s Sargodha airbase during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965.
As per industry tracker Sacnilk, ‘Sky Force’ sold 1,60,828 tickets for the opening day grossing Rs 3.78 crore. It is important to state that the tickets for the film are available on discounted rates till Republic Day.
