‘Either sex sells or Shah Rukh Khan’: Neha Dhupia says even after 20 years her statement rings true amid Pathaan buzz

In 2004, actor Neha Dhupia grabbed attention by saying that ‘either sex sells or Shah Rukh Khan’. She was responding to a question on her ‘intimate scenes’ in Julie (2004), and had said that since Shah Rukh was not in Julie, the film had to have ‘love-making scenes and shots’.

Neha played a sex worker in the film that also featured Priyanshu Chatterjee and Sanjay Kapoor. Almost two decades later, Neha revisited her old statement about Shah Rukh, and recently took to Twitter to praise him after watching Pathaan on Republic Day 2023.

On Saturday, the actor responded to a Twitter user, who spoke about Pathaan’s box office performance, tweeting, “Almost two decades back Neha Dhupia had given a statement ‘only sex or Shah Rukh Khan sells’ and that stays true even today!” In reaction to the tweet, Neha wrote, “20 years on, my statement rings true. This is not an ‘actor’s career’ but a ‘king’s reign’!” She added the hashtag ‘king Khan’.

In her original statement during an interview with The Times of India in 2004, Neha had said, “Julie has love-making scenes and shots exposing my bare back… I’m not affected by the sex symbol tag. It doesn’t bother me if people say I have overshadowed Mallika Sherawat and Bipasha Basu by exposing in Julie. In today’s time, either sex sells or Shah Rukh Khan. So I would rather be a sex prop in my next five films.”

Earlier, on Thursday, Neha had taken to Twitter to praise Pathaan, Shah Rukh Khan as well as his co-stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in a series of tweets. Sharing a photo of shirtless Shah Rukh from the action film, which was released in cinemas worldwide on January 25, Neha wrote, “Shah Rukh, the love we have for you is hard to explain. Deepika Padukone, you set the screen on fire with your gaze and your kicks and tricks. John Abraham you make bad look so good! Salman Khan we would go back to the cinemas to watch the best cameo in history. Pathaan is here to stay!!!”

Neha also tweeted about her movie watching experience, writing, “It was a packed house, there were whistles, there was cheer and our hearts rejoiced… we laughed on beat, we applauded on every dialogue and we jumped out of our seats on cue each time Pathaan kicked. Shah Rukh Khan, thank you for you… this is what cinematic victory looks like!”

Pathaan is directed by Siddharth Anand, and backed by Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films. The film faced boycott threats before its release, due to the song Besharam Rang, among other reasons. The Pathaan song was released last year, and was slammed by some for featuring Deepika in an orange swimsuit. The film has been making and breaking box office records after grossing ₹106 crore worldwide on its opening day.