Exclusive! Afwaah actor Appurv Gupta: The film has archival value

Last Friday, two films - Afwaah and The Kerala Story - released in theatres. While the latter has been in the limelight due to its controversy, the subject of the film, and the politics around it during the Karnataka state elections, Afwaah hasn't been able to bring people to theatres despite being praised by critics.

Stand-up comedian and satirist-turned-actor Appurv Gupta, who made his Bollywood debut with the Sudhir Mishra directorial, spoke to us about the performance of his film in theatres.

Asked if he feels an important story like Afwaah is pushed to a corner due to the noise around The Kerala Story, Appurv told OTTplay, "I have not watched The Kerala Story, so I should not comment on the merit of the film. We live in a democracy, where every kind of film should exist. I think people will eventually watch Afwaah, maybe not in theatres, but when it releases on OTT platforms. At the end of the day, people should be aware of every side of reality and should have a debate on rumour mongering. Some films take more time to get noticed than others, but our film will surely have an archival value for the future. I am sure that the makers knew that the film is thought-provoking but might not get big box office collections at the beginning.

Although Afwaah has received a lot of appreciation from film critics and a section of the audience, the box office numbers are abysmal. 

The film is set in Rajasthan, and it revolves around the tussle between politicians, election campaigning and how social media is used to spread rumours that create clashes among communities. 

Afwaah also stars Sumeet Vyas, Bhumi Pednekar, Sharib Hashmi, and Sumit Kaul. It is written and directed by Sudhir Mishra and produced by Anubhav Sinha. The film is currently in theatres.