B-town stars including the likes of star couple Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut previously tweeted in support of the Indian army and were called out for standing in favor of war. However, a number of local celebrities reacted with restraint and propagated peace.
“I’d like to commend Pakistani actors that despite facing propaganda, bans and being misused to some extent in India, they have always extended a hand of friendship and tried to bridge the gap.”
Referring to an old video of Akshay Kumar’s that resurfaced during the time, Mikaal added, “I’d like to actually credit Akshay Kumar, whom I’ve worked with, who’s a brilliant actor and who actually really cooled down the situation. I don’t know if it (his video) was related to this incident but it was relevant and what he had to say was what I would have hoped to have heard from the Indian side.”
Sherdil fared well at the box office because it released at the time of the attack. Admitting the film-makers used it to their advantage, Mikaal continued, “It kind of worked in our favor obviously because sentiment for the air force was high. The air force defended the nation so there was immense pride; people wanted to see jets in the air.” However, he went on to clarify that the clash was purely coincidental. “This is something we planned over a year ago. Even to the extent that the last scene was also filmed a year ago. A lot of people came up and said, ‘Oh you must’ve just done that’ but we kind of milked the situation quite a lot.”
Mikaal confessed that he has never worked so tirelessly on a project, calling it one of his most challenging roles to date. “I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder on a project. It was a challenging role and I did use my decade-plus of experience and put everything into it. So yes, I had very high expectations for the film. And, I knew there was a lot in the film that hadn’t been shown in Pakistan like the visual effects,” he concluded.
