Sidharth Malhotra reacts to comparisons between Alia Bhatt’s Raazi and his spy film Mission Majnu: ‘I think it is fair’

Sidharth Malhotra praised Raazi, the 2018 spy thriller starring Alia Bhatt, and welcomed comparisons between it and his most recent film, Mission Majnu. In addition, Sidharth addressed claims that Mission Majnu supports negative preconceptions of Pakistanis.

In a recent interview, Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna talked about their movie Mission Majnu. Sidharth plays Tariq, an Indian spy operating in Pakistan, while Rashmika plays Nasreen, a Pakistani. Sidharth also discussed whether or not their film maintains the stereotypes of Pakistanis in Hindi cinema and how it compares to Alia Bhatt’s 2018 film Raazi.

According to the creators, the 1970s-set Mission Majnu was “inspired by true occurrences.” In it, RAW spy Sidharth Malhotra is seen carrying out India’s “deadliest covert operation” in Pakistan. Some people compared the movie to Raazi after the teaser for it debuted earlier this year. The 1971 film starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal was based on the story of Sehmat, a 20-year-old Kashmiri spy who was married to a Pakistani Army officer (Vicky) and used her position as a conduit for intelligence to the Indian Army.

Sidharth acknowledged the comparison between Mission Majnu and Raazi in a recent interview. “People looking for a reference point for a movie is never a bad thing. Raazi is an excellent movie. The similarity doesn’t seem to be as concerning as it may be. Yes, the exterior parts that are visible from the trailer could resemble each other. Although it takes place in the same decade (1970s) and contains comparable aspects, I believe the experience is entirely different. It is only right to communicate with people after January 20 (the day that Mission Majnu is released), after they have seen the movie… When the movie is released and we can debate it, I believe the comparison is fair, and our conversation will be better for it. in comparison to

The actor responded, “We have deliberately made an effort in the script that it is never to take on a particular population,” when asked if his role in the movie contributes to the perpetuation of stereotypes of Pakistanis in Hindi movies. I have completed a movie called Shershaah, which is based on the historical conflict between India and Pakistan. When you watch the movie, you’ll realise that, except from maybe four moments in Pakistan, we never really focused on the story of this man’s journey in this country, which involved (Army captain) captain Vikram Batra giving his life.Therefore, there is a similar deliberate effort (with Mission Majnu), there is no personal animosity toward anyone, and these are just historical points that have been documented but for which we will never have all the facts, so you need to establish perhaps specific characters in an x amount of time for that. In the movie, the shots they are referring to (from the trailer) are meant to be ironic. Since it is never about a group or making fun of someone, which deviates from the plot of the movie, I believe the discussion will be fair once everyone has seen the movie. In the movie, a religion or community is never a problem.

Shantanu Bagchi is the director of Mission Majnu, which Ronnie Screwvala, Amar Butala, and Garima Mehta also co-produced. Sidharth had previously revealed a few sneak peeks of his appearance in Mission Majnu. In December 2022, he captioned one poster, “Ek jaanbaaz agent ki ansuni kahaani (the unsung story of a daring agent),” and another, “Kya aap iss Majnu se milne ke liye taiyaar hain (are you ready to meet this Majnu)?”