SRINAGAR: The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri has accused Shah Rukh Khan of reducing Bollywood to a realm of ‘PRs, hype, glamour, and stardom.’
In a recent interview with India.com, the filmmaker expressed his appreciation for SRK while simultaneously disapproving of the superstar’s ‘politics,’ holding him responsible for the perceived deterioration of Bollywood.
“Do you know I’m a fan of SRK? I’ve always said there’s no one as charismatic as him. However, I disagree with Shah Rukh Khan’s politics. In my view, they’ve contributed to the decline of a once-great institution like Bollywood. The essence of Bollywood has been eroded. Nowadays, it’s all about PR, hype, glamour, and stardom. Anything other than stardom is disregarded. That’s my concern,” Vivek Agnihotri told India.com.
Agnihotri asserted that Shah Rukh Khan seems to hold the belief that the audience lacks intelligence and criticized his movies for not being ‘people’s films.’
“My second significant issue is mediocrity, the strong belief that the audience is gullible. I can’t tolerate that. I create films for the people. They create box office films. When their film succeeds, it’s a success attributed to Shah Rukh Khan. When my film succeeds, it’s the people’s success. We stand at two opposing poles: the North Pole and the South Pole. As much as I admire him at times, it’s like ‘Shakti’ or ‘Deewar’ where you love your father and brother, but one is a police officer and the other is a smuggler. Now, you decide who’s the police officer and who’s the smuggler in our dynamic (laughs),” the filmmaker added.
Vivek Agnihotri further responded to the question of whether he would collaborate with Shah Rukh Khan, stating, “If Shah Rukh Khan is open to my approach, I’m open to collaboration. However, in my film, the writer and director will be at the forefront, and he’ll be in the background, a notion he’ll never accept. Thus, a partnership between us is unlikely.” The director of ‘The Kashmir Files’ concluded by affirming that anyone attempting to marginalize him and make himself the face of the film will not find collaboration with him.”
