Aamir Khan is gearing up for his much anticipated return with Sitaare Zameen Par, the spiritual sequel to his 2007 cult classic Taare Zameen Par. The film, which focuses on specially abled children and features Aamir as a basketball coach recently faced an unexpected hurdle ahead of its release.
Ahead of its release where the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asked for suggested cuts, which Aamir initially refused to implement, citing the creative integrity of the project. However, the film was officially cleared by the CBFC.
As reported by Bollywood Hungama the suggested edits included replacing the term “Business Woman” with “Business Person,” changing “Michael Jackson” to “Lovebirds,” removing the word “Kamal” (lotus) from a scene, deleting the original disclaimer and adding a new one with a voice over, and incorporating a quote by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the disclaimer.
Directed by RS Prasanna, the film also stars Genelia D’Souza and introduces ten first time actors playing specially abled characters and is a remake of the Spanish film Campeones.
Set to release this Friday, June 20, the film has had a slow start at the box office with underwhelming advance bookings.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film’s advance booking for Day 1 crossed just Rs 1 crore by Thursday morning, merely 24 hours before its theatrical release. This number is low in comparison to Aamir’s previous film Laal Singh Chaddha, which had garnered Rs 5.52 crore in advance bookings, despite its own underwhelming box office run.