We are putting the country, humanity first: Arjun Kapoor on India's Most Wanted

Actor Arjun Kapoor is gearing up for his next, India’s Most Wanted (2019), which is based on the hunt for a dreaded terrorist. The teaser had a terrorist reciting a line from the Hindu holy book Bhagwad Gita.

Speaking at the trailer launch of India’s Most Wanted on Thursday (2 May), Kapoor said, “I am not Hindu nor Muslim. I’m an Indian. Be rest assured we are putting the country, humanity first. This film is about people who don’t think about religion, caste and creed.” His comments came in light of reports that some netizens had taken offence to the scene. Kapoor played down the criticism and said that their film was a pro-India film.

Kapoor felt that such criticism was belittling the heroics of ordinary heroes and intelligence officers who put their lives on the line to protect the nation. The action reminded that terrorists use religion to spread their hatred.

“People use words to rationalize badly. People use religion to make others feel a certain way. We are depicting a film which is pro-India, just give the film a chance then give importance to these things [criticism]," Kapoor explained.

Earlier, Kapoor shared an interesting story about how he got the film. Kapoor said he had called director Raj Kumar Gupta to appreciate the trailer of his film Raid (2018). “I called him up because I liked the trailer of Raid. He just asked me, 'are you free?' I said yes and he said he’s e-mailing me something.”

“He didn’t tell me what it was. It was Valentine’s Day. I read the script. Raj Kumar Gupta gave me the best Valentine’s Day gift,” added Kapoor.

Kapoor also thanked Ashutosh Gowariker for being gracious enough to delay his film Panipat (2019) by a month.

“I was committed to Panipat, but it was grateful [sic] on his part that he pushed Panipat by a month, and we got dates [for India’s Most Wanted]. From start to finish, we shot in the stipulated period of time,” said Kapoor.

India’s Most Wanted will be released on 24 May.