Aamir Khan's 'Sitaare Zameen Par' faces backlash as netizens say 'Nation comes first'

Aamir Khan's upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par is in trouble more than a month ahead of its theatrical release. The trailer of the film, a sequel to the 2007 film Taare Zameen Par, came out on Tuesday. 

The almost three-minute trailer features Aamir Khan as a basketball coach to a team of specially abled children. Sitaare Zameen Par features Genelia Deshmukh as Aamir Khan's love interest. 

After the trailer was released, social media users called for a boycott of the film. Users were angry because of Aamir Khan's silence on the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives and no post from the actor-director on the Indian Armed Forces' Operation Sindoor. 

"The nation comes first. Boycott his upcoming movie. No place for the Khans," a social media user commented. 

"I'm choosing to #boycott '#SitaareZameenPar'. For the past decade, @AKPPL_Official’s often seem to mock Indians and India. Enough is enough. We must support the cinema of those who respect the nation and its people," another user wrote. 

"No post for Pahalgam. No post for Operation Sindoor & now his movie is about to release. You know what to do, right?" a netizen asked. 

"Let @AKPPL_Official understand that Indians/Bhartiya Janta aren't fools. Nothing can drag us to Theatres. Consider it as a Flop already. Boycott zone for #SitaareZameenPar," a netizen said while sharing Aamir Khan Productions' official statement on Operation Sindoor. 

Days after Operation Sindoor, Aamir Khan Productions said in a statement: "Saluting the heroes of Operation Sindoor. Heartfelt gratitude to our armed forces for their courage, bravery, and unwavering commitment to the security of our nation. Thank you to the Hon'ble Prime Minister for his leadership and resolve."

Besides his silence on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, some users also flagged Aamir Khan's meeting with the Turkish First Lady in 2020 as their reason behind the boycott of the film. 

Aamir Khan visited Turkey in 2020 for the promotions of Laal Singh Chaddha and met the First Lady, causing controversy amid India-Turkey tensions over Kashmir.

Sharing a picture from Khan's 2020 Turkey visit, a user wrote: "Remember Aamir Khan and his love for Türkiye? Yeah, keep that photo in mind before watching any of his movies again."

A social media user even said that Indians have not forgotten about Khan's meeting with the Turkish First Lady and wrote: "Oh, so Aamir Khan visits Turkey, chills with their First Lady while they bash India … And now he's back with #SitareZameenPar expecting applause? Nice try, but we don't have short-term memory loss like Bollywood thinks."

Yet another user said that after the successful boycott of Turkey tourism, it is now time to boycott Aamir Khan's upcoming film. 

"After successful Boycott Turkey Tourism... it time to Boycott Amir Khan’s new upcoming Movie “ Sitare Zameen Par “ . Amir Visited Turkey and met Turkish President & his wife . Turkey supported Pakistan," the user wrote. 

Directed by RS Prasanna, the film features Aamir Khan and Genelia Deshmukh. Sitaare Zameen Par also features several debutants --Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, and Simran Mangeshkar.

The film is set to release in theatres on June 20, 2025.