Vivek Agnihotri receives threats over Pathaan comment, invokes ‘badshah’ Shah Rukh Khan’s words on ‘negativity’

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, who recently posted a video on Twitter criticising Pathaan song Besharam Rang, has now shared several screenshots of receiving threatening messages. Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Vivek also seemingly hinted at actor Shah Rukh Khan’s comment on ‘negativity’ on social media platforms. (Also Read | After Vivek Agnihotri’s reaction to Pathaan song Besharam Rang, Twitter reminds him of his ‘erotic thriller’ Hate Story)

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 had 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.

Amid the row over Pathaan, last month Shah Rukh had attended the Kolkata International Film Festival 2022 (KIFF) and 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.”

Helmed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan also stars John Abraham apart from Deepika and Shah Rukh. The film is scheduled for theatrical release in January in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.

Vivek, on the other hand, has now started the shooting of his next film The Vaccine War which is all set to hit the theatres on Independence Day this year. The film stars Anupam Kher and Nana Patekar. It will release in Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada, among other languages.