Update (13 December 2022): Another post is being widely shared claiming that Shahrukh Khan said “No one has the guts to make Pathan flop. If Pathan flops, I will leave India”. However, there are no reports of Shahrukh Khan making any such statements.
A couple of screenshots of breaking news templates of a news channel are being shared on social media claiming that Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan has challenged bhakts to make ‘Pathaan’ a box-office failure. This post claims that Shahrukh was furious over people for making Laal Singh Chaddha a box-office failure and so, he challenged them to do the same with his movie. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Shahrukh Khan challenged bhakts to make his upcoming film ‘Pathaan’ a box-office failure.
Fact: Shahrukh Khan did not make any such statement challenging people to boycott his upcoming movie ‘Pathaan’ or make it a a box-office failure. As on date, Shahrukh Khan did not react to the box office failure of Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether Shahrukh Khan had made any such statement challenging people to make his upcoming movie Pathaan a box-office failure, we could not find any reliable information. If Shahrukh Khan had made such a statement, several news and entertainment websites would have reported them owing to his celebrity status.
Further, Shahrukh Khan did not make any such statement on any of his official social media handles like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Tweets made by Shahrukh Khan related to his ‘Pathaan’ movie can be seen here. While responding to a Twitter user’s question about whether he watched the Laal Singh Chaddha movie, Shahrukh Khan replied, “Arre yaar Aamir kehta hai pehle ‘Pathaan’ dikha!!”(Aamir is asking to screen ‘Pathaan’ for him first!!). Shahrukh Khan as of now did not make any statement about the box office failure of Laal Singh Chaddha.
Earlier, when a similar fake statement was attributed to Aamir Khan alleging that he called out people for wasting milk on Hindu idols, FACTLY published a fact-check article debunking that claim. Also, FACTLY debunked many fake social media posts shared in the context of Laal Singh Chaddha film They can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, Shahrukh Khan did not challenge people to make his upcoming film ‘Pathaan’ a box-office failure.