The director shared a video of a woman criticising the music video for spreading ‘vulgarity’ and wrote, “WARNING: #PnV video against Bollywood. Don’t watch it if you are a Secular.”
The post lead to many Twitter users trolling the director and calling him a ‘hypocrite’ while sharing his own video clips during the promotions of his 2012 erotic thriller ‘Hate Story’. Amidst the trolling, the director took to his handle to allege that he has been receiving death threats.
Badshah was right. There is negativity on social media. (But we are positive). https://t.co/1tU6cTGsnx
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) 1672475851000
Sharing four screenshots of some messages he received from handles believed to be SRK fan clubs, Agnihotri wrote, “Badshah was right. There is negativity on social media. (But we are positive).”
One of the messages that the director received in his DMs read, “Dhond raha hun tujhe main tujhe… ghar ke andar ghus kart era bheja udhao ga. Just watch. Or delete ur recent Tweet.”
Another DM took a dig at his daughter saying, “Tumhari beti bhagwa bikini mein dikhati hai aur tum srk ko troll karega.”
The director’s tweet, went viral online prompting some users to ask him to take the legal route instead of just tweeting about it. “Be safe File an FIR first,” a fan advised.
@vivekagnihotri Be safeFile an FIR first
— आलोक कुमार बरनवाल (@alok010167) 1672495953000
However, it seems that other netizens felt that Agnihotri was ‘playing the victim card’.
“Bola tha na mi ne , ye victim card khelega , lo ab shuru ho gaya,” read a tweet with a laugh out loud emoticon.
Another shared a meme that read, “The sympathy card always works.”
@vivekagnihotri Bola tha na mi ne , ye victim card khelega , lo ab shuru ho gaya
— timoothi (@Srkian_Bidar1) 1672477241000
@vivekagnihotri https://t.co/eF1BgKuYM4
— Viktor (@army_kingx) 1672477417000
However, there were those who also replied to the director asking him why he was only ‘targeting’ Muslims. “He finds only Muslim SRKians names in most of DMs…” read a tweet.
Another commented, “Are yaar tum to sirf muslim ko target karne pe lage hue ho are bhai kehna kya chahte ho ye to sirf aaina hi dikhaye hai kar lo jo karna hai hame kya.”
He finds only muslim SRKians names in most of DMs … Wha gawar tere pass itna time hai @vivekagnihotri. https://t.co/TM1Ek9NJCU
— Harsh Mishra.. (@iamharsh55) 1672482288000
@vivekagnihotri Are yaar tum to sirf muslim ko target karne pe lage hue ho are bhai kehna kya chahte ho ye to sirf… https://t.co/2IfCxnggWP
— Being najrul (@BeingNajrul) 1672570022000
While alleging that the director was using messages from handles of Muslim people to ‘run propaganda’, a Twitter user pointed out that one of the DMs that Vivek received was not even from an SRK fan handle and that the man did not even follow Shah Rukh Khan on social media. His message was simply clubbed with the other handles bearing the actor’s picture or name. The post read, “This guy @/mohamme23431312 isn’t even a shah Rukh Khan fan, neither he follows SRK anywhere nor he’s being followed by any #ShahRukhKhan fans. but as he has to run propaganda so he’s just using a Muslim name to fulfil his own agenda.”
This guy @/mohamme23431312 isn’t even a shah Rukh Khan fan, neither he follows SRK anywhere nor he’s being followed… https://t.co/jC6ho3HgSJ
— ♕ (@TweetsofSoldier) 1672487018000
Previously, Agnihotri took a dig at the ‘Besharam Rang’ choreography and wrote, “First Insta reels used to look like bad copies of Bollywood songs. Now Bollywood songs look like bad copies of Insta reels.”
Featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead, the track has been topping the charts with over 100 million views online, despite being mired in controversies. According to the latest reports, the CFBC has asked the makers of the film to make changes to the film and even its songs.
‘Pathaan’ which marks SRK’s return to the big screen is slated for a wide release on January 25.
