69th National Film Awards: Vivek Agnihotri excludes Karan Johar from group photo amid ideological clash; Read
Vivek Agnihotri removes Karan Johar from National Film Awards group photo due to their differing film philosophies, highlighting ongoing industry tensions
FollowDirector Vivek Agnihotri made a noteworthy move at the 69th National Film Awards ceremony, where he removed Karan Johar from a group picture taken at the event. Vivek, known for his public criticism of Karan Johar's filmmaking style, attended the ceremony to accept the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film on National Integration for his film "The Kashmir Files." Meanwhile, Karan Johar was also present at the event to accept the Special Jury Award for "Shershaah," a film he had produced. Their conflicting views on cinema have been a subject of public discourse.
A video from the event captured Vivek Agnihotri seemingly rolling his eyes when Karan Johar received his award. However, the director took his stance even further by sharing a photo on social media, in which he cropped Karan Johar out of the group picture.
Vivek's photo displayed the winners of the 69th National Film Awards alongside Droupadi Murmu, the President of India, and Anurag Thakur, the Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting. The image included Vivek, his wife, actress Pallavi Joshi, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, R Madhavan, Waheeda Rahman, SS Rajamouli, Allu Arjun, Kriti Sanon, Shreya Ghoshal, and others. However, he intentionally edited Karan Johar out of the frame.
In addition to the edited picture, Vivek also shared photos featuring Pallavi posing with Waheeda, Shreya, Alia, and Kriti, as well as a selfie with Waheeda. Vivek captioned the photo with praises for the talent and women power present at the National Awards, using the hashtag #NationalAwards.
The ongoing public disagreement between Vivek Agnihotri and Karan Johar is no secret. In August of the same year, Vivek accused both Karan and Shah Rukh Khan of "damaging India's cultural fabric." In an interview he expressed his concerns, saying, "After the advent of Amitabh Bachchan as a superstar – not the one from 'Deewar' but one from 'Shehanshah' – the cinema after that never told real stories. Especially Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan's cinema, that has actually damaged the cultural fabric of India in a very disastrous way. So, I felt it was important to tell real, honest stories."
