Anupam Kher says Anurag Kashyap’s take on why Bollywood films aren’t working ‘has been proven wrong’ and ‘not important’

Anupam Kher has reacted to Anurag Kashyap’s remark that even some good films are not performing well in theatres these days because people do not have a lot of money owing to the economic slump in India, and they want to spend it carefully. Anupam, whose film The Kashmir Files is the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022 and his latest Telugu release Karthikeya 2 is also performing well at the box office, said Anurag has been proven wrong about his statement. Also Read| Anupam Kher says South films ‘tell stories’ while Bollywood is ‘selling stars’

In a recent interview, Anupam said that Anurag Kashyap’s opinion is not important to him. The actor also noted that he thinks people are not going to theatre due to lack of content rather than lack of money.

Anupam told Siddharth Kannan, “Why should I legitimise his statement by answering that question? It’s not important to me what he thinks, it’s not important what he believes. This country gives him complete freedom of speech, and he exercises that. But he has been proven wrong about it.”

The actor added, “You can’t find plane tickets these days, you can’t buy tickets for good films because the halls are packed. Malls and five-star hotels are overflowing with people. The parking lots are full, roads are jammed with cars. What does he mean there’s no money? People are just spending intelligently. People want to see good content.” He also noted that while he doesn’t think the Hindi film industry is ‘ailing,’ he believes it needs a change in its approach as the audience was introduced to diverse new content and a lot of choices during the coronavirus pandemic.

Several big-budget and highly-anticipated Bollywood films failed to perform at the box office this year even as South Indian films like KGF 2 and RRR did record-breaking business. Reacting to the slump ahead of the release of his film Dobaaraa, Anurag Kashyap had told News 18, “I agree there are a few good films in the recent past which haven’t worked but one should also understand that we are going through an economic slump in the country. Basic things like biscuits and paneer are being taxed today. Do you think people will buy expensive tickets of a film until they are sure that the film will entertain them?”

Anupam’s strong reaction to Anurag’s statement also comes after the filmmaker had said in an interview that he hopes The Kashmir Files isn’t selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars this year. The film’s director Vivek Agnihotri had also reacted to Anurag’s comment and criticised him for judging the film without watching it.