Pathaan Controversy: Vivek Agnihotri Receives Threats, Says Badshah (SRK) Was Right On Negativity

New Delhi: It seems ‘The Kashmir Files’ filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri is receiving threatening tweets. In the screenshots, shared by Vivek, a few Twitter users sent him abusive messages. One of the messages also read, “I’m searching for you. I’ll enter your home and blow your brains out). Just watch. Or delte ur recent tweet (sic).”

Sharing the screenshots, Vivek tweeted, “Badshah was right. There is negativity on social media. (But we are positive).” Reacting to his tweet, a fan wrote, “This is intolerance. Can’t anybody express his opinion??? We are living in a democratic and secular country. Where are we heading? We should respect each and everyone’s opinion. Abusive language is very distasteful. Thank you Vivek ji, May God give them a peaceful and sound mind.” Vivek responded with a bunch of red heart emojis.

Last week, Vivek had shared a video criticising actors Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan’s Besharam Rang. He tweeted, “WARNING… video against Bollywood. Don’t watch it if you are a ‘secular’.” Besharam Rang, released on December 12, features Shah Rukh and Deepika romancing in Spain wearing orange and green outfits. A section of the people criticised the lyrics as well as the costumes in the song. Some people also called for a boycott of the film.

At the Kolkata International Film Festival 2022 (KIFF) last month, SRK had spoken about negativity on social media. He had said, “The collective narratives of our times are shaped by social media. Contrary to the belief that the spread of social media will affect cinema negatively, I believe cinema has an even more important role to play now. Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of view that limits human nature to its baser self. And its somewhere that negativity increases social media consumption and thereby increases its commercial value as well. Such pursuits enclose the collective narrative making it divisive and destructive.”