Rajkumar Santoshi has rejected Shabana Azmi’s theory that audiences struggled to accept Sunny Deol as a Muslim in Batwara 1947. Citing Amitabh Bachchan’s Coolie, Santoshi questioned whether viewers have become less tolerant, stressing cinema should focus on the filmmaker’s intent

Shabana Azmi has linked Batwara 1947’s weak box-office performance to audiences struggling to accept Sunny Deol as an Indian Muslim character. She praised the film’s message of humanity, questioned reactions to its India-Pakistan theme and called the response contradictory