Mumbai: With filmmaker Karan Johar commenting that his October 2016 video promising not to work with Pakistani talent was recorded "at gunpoint", the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena which was behind the controversy responded saying it was indeed a threat.
MNS leader Amey Khopkar said his party will continue to take a forceful stand against Indian filmmakers including Pakistani actors in their productions.
"If Karan Johar thinks he made a statement because he was under gunpoint then he was right. We will not compromise when it comes to Pakistani actors. It was indeed a threat," Khopkar said.
The reaction comes after Johar said in an interview on CNN-News18 that his statement - made after MNS protests stalled the release of his film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil featuring Pakistani actor Fawad Khan - was in effect a "hostage video" as described by his critics.
"Everyone said it as a joke, and I don’t blame anyone because it really felt like that. It felt like there was an invisible gun on my head,” Johar told Vir Sanghvi on the show Virtuosity.
Veteran film-maker Ashok Pandit said Johar's comment was "uncalled for" as it would reignite the whole controversy.
"Working with Pakistani actors and not identifying with people's emotions is like committing a mistake and then making accusations of a gun being pointed. Now things are over and people are peaceful, and he is trying to rake up the issue again, which means he wants to create this controversy again," Pandit told CNN-News18 over the phone.
In the interview, Johar also called the attack on Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the sets of Padmavati ‘appalling’. “You haven’t seen the film, it’s being shot there. What do you know about it and how dare someone come on that set and assault that man? It’s ridiculous. And I saw myself in that frame. I thought it could happen to me tomorrow. I could be making a film and be in this situation and it would be appalling if that happened.”
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