Sunil Pal Takes Aim at Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar Over ‘Hanuman Ansh’

Comedian Sunil Pal has taken aim at some of Bollywood's biggest stars while speaking about the performance of smaller films and the industry's approach towards independent filmmakers. At the Love Lottery premiere, Sunil specifically mentioned Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar while discussing the success of Hanu-Man and Hanuman Ansh. He questioned whether established stars and the wider film industry are doing enough to support smaller projects.

Sunil made his point bluntly while talking about the power of audiences in making stars. “We made Salman Khan; Salman Khan did not make us. He is a star today because of all of us—because of the media and the public; we have watched hundreds of his films, and that is why he is a star,” he said. He then extended his comments to other major Bollywood names, adding, “Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan—take a lesson from this; your time has passed.”

The comedian then pointed towards the box-office performance of Hanu-Man as an example of how films made on comparatively modest budgets can connect with audiences. Sunil said, “Hanu-Man earned 500 crore—a film made on a budget of just 2 crore—whereas films costing 200 crore are struggling to earn even 50 crore.” His comments were aimed at highlighting what he sees as a gap between the resources available to big productions and the audience response that smaller films can sometimes generate.

Sunil also accused the established film business of making it difficult for smaller filmmakers to get opportunities. “You all should be ashamed; you are such huge stars and have effectively bought up the entire corporate system, preventing smaller filmmakers from making movies,” he alleged. He went on to credit divine blessings for the making of Hanuman Ansh, saying, “It was Lord Hanuman's grace. Hanuman Ansh was made.”

Continuing on the same theme, Sunil drew a comparison between the reported performance of Hanuman Ansh and the potential of a much larger Hanuman-themed production. “If Hanuman Ansh has earned this much, imagine how much a full-fledged Hanuman film would earn!” he said. He concluded with the statement, “But cinema is cinema, and that cinema is titled Jai Shri Ram.” His remarks underline his belief that audiences can create demand for films regardless of the scale of their production.

Sunil Pal's comments are likely to generate discussion, particularly because he directly named Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar while questioning the industry's support for smaller filmmakers. His remarks about Hanu-Man and Hanuman Ansh also place the spotlight on the relationship between production budgets, audience interest and box-office performance. As the debate around big-budget Bollywood films and independent cinema continues, Sunil's outspoken assessment has added another voice to the conversation.