Abhinav Kashyap tells Shah Rukh Khan to live in Dubai since ‘his jannat’ is there, fans livid: ‘Reeks of Islamophobia’
Fresh from his rant against Salman Khan, filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap has now set his sights on another superstar Khan – Shah Rukh. In a new interview, the Dabangg director has said that Shah Rukh has ‘wrong intentions’ and asked him to move to Dubai since he ‘only takes’ and gives nothing back to the society. This has sparked angry reactions from social media users, with many saying the interview’s tone seems quite Islamophobic.
Abhinav Kashyap’s comments against Shah Rukh Khan
In an interview with Bollywood Thikana, Abhinav spoke about the Khans and said, “This community knows only to take, not to give. They only take, take, and take more. Shah Rukh Khan’s Dubai house is called Jannat, while the one here is called Mannat. What does that mean? All your mannatein (prayers) were answered here. He keeps making more prayers. I heard he is building two more floors on his bungalow. So the demands are increasing. But if your jannat (paradise) is there, go live there. What are you doing in India?”
The filmmaker then addressed Shah Rukh’s famous line from the 2023 film Jawan and added, “Then he says lines in films like, ‘bete ko haath lagaane se pehle baap se baat kar’. What do we talk to these people? They have created their palaces beyond the reach of the common man. What do I care what their net worth is? Do you give me food? Shah Rukh may be a well-spoken person but neeyat uski bhi gadbad hi hai (his intentions are also wrong).”
Social media slams Abhinav
The comments have not gone down too well with social media users, though. After a brief clip from the interview was shared on Reddit, one person wrote, “Mentioned it beforehand that this lunatic is an Islamaphobe. Half the avarice shown against the Khans is rooted in exactly that.” Another echoed this sentiment and added, “He is trying to bring in hindu-muslim angle to his personal issues.. which is the most shameful thing to do as a human being. Shameful. As long as he was sticking to his issue with Salman because of his mistreatment, it was fine, but bringing in derogatory remarks about religion and all is a new low.” A Redditor added, “This whole video reeks of Islamophobia tbh.”
Many felt that while his comments on Salman previously were at least rooted in some basis, they were taken aback by this unprovoked attack on Shah Rukh, someone he has never worked with. “At least with bhai he was speaking somewhat about his shooting experiences…. Yahan toh kuch bhi bak raha hai… Jannat mannat ko lekar thesis banaa li (He is talking nonsense, making thesis out of Jannat and Mannat).”
One comment read, “Well now this just invalidated everything he said about Salman. At least he shot with Salman, so you’d think maybe he knew/saw something, but this just showed he was talking out of his a** the whole time.”
Abhinav Kashyap’s career
Abhinav Kashyap, brother of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, began as a screenwriter with Jung before turning to direction with the Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg. He has since directed just one more film – Besharam.
