On the evening of October 17, at the grand ceremony of the 69th National Film Awards in Delhi, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri took a surprising step. The celebrated director, who received the prestigious Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration for his movie ‘The Kashmir Files’, seemingly deepened rumors of a feud with renowned filmmaker Karan Johar. Vivek Agnihotri and Karan Johar, both in attendance at the event, had reportedly been at odds with each other. Their differences in cinematic approaches had been widely discussed in the public sphere, most notably when Vivek accused Karan and Shah Rukh Khan of ‘damaging India’s cultural fabric’ in August this year.
As the event concluded, the distinguished award winners gathered for a group photograph, an annual tradition of capturing the essence of Indian cinema’s finest moments. However, when Vivek Agnihotri shared the snapshot on his Instagram account, he conspicuously edited out Karan Johar from the image.
The photo features an array of industry luminaries, including Vivek Agnihotri, accompanied by his wife Pallavi Joshi, and notable figures such as Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, R Madhavan, Waheeda Rahman, SS Rajamouli, Allu Arjun, Kriti Sanon, and Shreya Ghoshal, among others. Notably, Karan Johar was notably absent from the visual narrative. In addition to the awards and his bold cropping decision, Vivek Agnihotri used the opportunity to spotlight women empowerment, celebrating the incredible talent present at the National Film Awards ceremony. He emphasized this by featuring images of Pallavi Joshi alongside Waheeda Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal, Alia Bhatt, and Kriti Sanon.
Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ had taken the Indian box office by storm when it was released on March 11, 2022. The film delves into the poignant story of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus during the turbulent events of the Kashmir insurgency in 1990. It boasts a formidable cast that includes accomplished actors like Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumaar, Mithun Chakraborty, and Pallavi Joshi. The deliberate cropping of Karan Johar from the National Film Awards winners’ photo continues to fuel speculations and discussions about the reported feud between these two influential personalities in Indian cinema. As the image circulates and garners attention, the public eagerly awaits further developments and clarifications regarding this intriguing episode in Bollywood’s ever-evolving landscape.