Siddharth Anand reacts to Fighter receiving legal notice

A few days ago, Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone-starrer Fighter received a legal notice over a kissing scene. Now director Siddharth Anand has addressed the issue in a new interview with The Times of India, where he clarified that the film was made with ‘complete conjunction with the IAF.’ (Also read: Fighter gets legal notice over kissing scene between Hrithik-Deepika: It normalises inappropriate behaviour in uniform)
Speaking with The Times of India, Siddharth Anand said, “This film is in complete conjunction with the IAF. IAF has been a co-collaborator on the film and has been a huge associate partner on our film. This film has gone through meticulous procedures with the IAF, right from the submission of the script, to the production planning, viewing the film before the censor saw it on the censor board, watching it again at the IAF, reviewing the film after the censor, and then giving us a physical copy of the NOC No Objection Certificate. After that, we got the certificate. We got the censor certificate. Then, we showed the entire film to everyone in the Air Force, including the Air Force Chief, Mr. Chaudhary, and over 100 Air Marshals from across the country. We called them and hosted a screening for them one day before the film’s release in Delhi, and they gave us a standing ovation.”
Last week, an India TV report said that an officer of the Indian Air Force, Wing Commander Saumya Deep Das, has given a legal notice. The notice pointed that the film normalises inappropriate behaviour in uniform and was critical of the kissing scene where the lead actors were seen in uniform, on a runway.
Helmed by Siddharth Anand, Fighter also stars Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover and Akshay Oberoi. The film released on January 25, and is doing well at the box office. It marks Siddharth’s third collaboration with Hrithik (after Bang Bang, War) and Deepika (after Bachna Ae Haseeno, Pathaan) respectively.