New Delhi: ‘The Kashmir Files’ director Vivek Agnihotri has accused Shah Rukh Khan of making Bollywood all about ‘PRs, hype, glamour and stardom’. In a recent interview, the filmmaker shared that even though he likes SRK, he does not approve of the superstar’s ‘politics’ and blamed him for ‘destroying Bollywood.’
“Do you know I am a fan of SRK? I always say there’s nobody as charismatic as him. But, I don’t like the politics of Shah Rukh Khan. I think they are responsible for destroying a great institution like Bollywood. They have destroyed everything in Bollywood. Now, it’s only PRs, hype, glamour and stardom… anything which is not stardom is not accepted. That’s my problem,” Vivek Agnihotri told India.com.
Agnihotri argued that Shah Rukh Khan believes that the audience is ‘dumb’ and added that his movies are not ‘people’s films’. “My second biggest problem is mediocrity, their hardcore belief that the audience is dumb. I cannot tolerate that. I make people’s films. They make a Box Office film. When their film is successful, it’s a Shah Rukh Khan film which is successful. When my film is successful, it’s the people’s film which is successful. So, we are standing on two different poles: the North Pole and the south pole. However much I love him… sometimes I think it’s like Shakti or Deewar… where you love your father and brother but one is a police officer and one is a smuggler. Now you decide who’s a police officer and who’s a smuggler in our relationship (laughs),” the filmmaker added.
Vivek Agnihotri further answered if he will ever work with Shah Rukh Khan and said, “If Shah Rukh Khan is willing to work my way, I have no problem. But, if he is working in my film, the writer and the director will be in the foreground and he will be in the background which he will never accept. So, he will never work with me.” The Kashmir Files director concluded by saying that anyone who thinks he can corner him to become the face of the film will never work with him.
