Bollywood actor John Abraham recently revealed that he will never do films that sway people politically, citing examples such as The Kashmir Files and Chhaava. Now, in an interview with NDTV, Vivek Agnihotri has hit back at John for his remarks on his film and further asked him to stay away from commenting on cinema.

Vivek Agnihotri lashes out at John Abraham’s comment

Vivek lashed out at John’s remarks and said, “John is not a historian, an intellectual, a thinker, or a writer. He has been making very, very jingoistic films like Satyameva Jayate too. He made Diplomat and all those kinds of films. He must have said (that) for a variety of reasons. If you had told me some great historian had said this, I would have understood it. I don’t care about what he’s saying.”

Vivek added, “When was India’s atmosphere not hyper-political? When was it that Hindu-Muslim and caste issues never existed in India? He is known for driving motorbikes, showing his body and eating protein—he should focus on those things. Filmon mein naa hi ghuse toh behtar hai (better if he doesn’t get into talking about films).”

What John Abraham said

In an interview with India Today, John revealed that he would never make films that politically sway audiences. He said, “I haven’t seen Chhaava, but I know that people have loved it—and also The Kashmir Files. But when films are made with the intent to sway people in a hyper-political environment and such films find an audience, that is scary for me. To answer your question, no, I have never been tempted, and I will never make those kinds of films.”

The Kashmir Files centred around the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir. Featuring Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar and Pallavi Joshi in lead roles, the film was a box-office success, earning ₹341 crore worldwide.

Vivek Agnihotri’s upcoming film

Vivek is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film The Bengal Files. The film presents a storyline focused on the 1946 Great Calcutta Killings and the Noakhali riots, depicting the violence and its aftermath. Starring Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumar, Simrat Kaur, Anupam Kher, Saswata Chatterjee, Namashi Chakraborty, Rajesh Khera, Puneet Issar, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Sourav Das and Mohan Kapur, the film is scheduled to release in cinemas on 5 September.