Jaya Bachchan mocks Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Pad Man; angry trolls say ‘Abhishek ki movie kitne…’-OxBig News Network

During an India TV event, when the interviewer pointed out how movies have come out aligned to campaigns of the ruling party, giving Toilet: Ek Prem Katha as an example, Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan stated, “Abhi aap naam bhi dekhiye toh main aisi picture khud kabhi naa dekhne jaaun. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, yeh koi naam hai? Yeh koi title hai? Please bataiye aap logo mein se kitne log iss tarah ke title ki film dekhne jaayenge? Abhi itne log mein 4 log haath utha rahe hain, very sad. Yeh toh flop hai, picture flop hai.” She went on to add, “Aaj kal toh political parties bhi films bana rahi hain.” Well, Jaya’s statement has irked a lot of netizens. But why?

Made on a budget of ₹75 crore, Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar starrer Toilet: Ek Prem Katha not only received rave reviews but also collected ₹311.5 crore worldwide. Not just India, but the film also reached heights in China. It shook the box office, becoming Akshay’s highest grosser at the time, apart from the fourth highest grossing Indian film of 2017. But that’s not all. Inspired by a true story, the film raised awareness about the need to improve sanitation conditions in India as well as eradicate the issue of open defecation. As a result of the film’s release aligned with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 60 million toilets had reportedly been built under the scheme by the end of the year. In 2019, India was declared open-defecation free by the government.

So when Jaya said ‘yeh koi naam hai, yeh koi title hai’ at the India TV event, many fans made it their business to highlight the film’s impact on the society and box office in the comment section below.

One such social media user shared, “Toilet was a really good movie though! It brought awareness to a topic that’s rarely spoken about in public and Akshay was very funny in it. It was a hit too I think,” whereas another angry fan wrote, “How ridiculous. That movie was a great message of the troubles of women in India surviving in a villages. People like her have luxurious life and talk.Akshay did a great job.” Stating facts, another netizen shared, “It was not a flop, it was a box office hit,” whereas a comment read, “For those who didn’t have a toilet , this movie made a difference.” Meanwhile, some resorted to trolling Jaya’s actor son Abhishek Bachchan. For instance, one nasty comment read, “Isko poocho uske bete Abhishek ki movie kitne log dekhne jate hai ek bhi haaath nahi uthega 😝,” whereas another troll shared, “What abt Drona? Audience ko aaya Rona.” A viral tweet read: “Jaya Bachchan says nobody will watch movies with name like Toilet Ek Prem Katha, Padman. Collections: Toilet ek prem katha- 216 crore, Padman- 191 crores. Much more than movies of Abhishek. Btw Amitabh Bachchan made a movie Piku where all he talked about was Toilet.”

During the interview, Jaya’s fellow MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also mentioned Akshay’s 2018 film Pad Man. Based on a real story of a man who made low-cost sanitary pads for women in rural areas, Pad Man heightened awareness and paved way for open discussions about menstrual hygiene and the need to make sanitary pads more affordable for women across the country.

Coming back to the debate at hand — The outrage on social media suggests that for those who have watched the film, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha served as a milestone in the pages of Hindi cinema’s history. What are your thoughts on Jaya Bachchan’s viral statement?