
Recently, a viral tweet by senior journalist Vir Sanghvi sparked a major word fight between Hansal Mehta and Anupam Kher. After the death of the former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh many took to social media to honour him and pay their respects. Sanghvi too took to his X account and shared that 'The Accidental Prime Minister' which was a biopic on Manmohan Singh was actually "the worst Hindi movies ever made" and he also went on to say that the film which starred Anupam Kher was a major example of "how media was used to tarnish the name of a good man.
"This tweet of course gained a lot of traction and while some dissed the journalist for expressing his thoughts, several others supported him. Amongst the many who supported Sanghvi was filmmaker Hansal Mehta. The director re-tweeted Sanghvi's post and agreed with him by writing "+100."
Anupam Kher took offence to the fact that Hansal Mehta who was the Creative Director of the film had decided to take a stance against it. He wrote, "The HYPOCRITE in this thread is NOT @virsanghvi. He has the freedom to not like a film. But @mehtahansal was the #CreativeDirector of #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister. Who was present at the entire shoot of the film in England! Giving his creative inputs and must have taken the fee also for it." After a feud of words, in a recent interview with HTCity, Hansal Mehta has opened up about the clash.
In the interview, the filmmaker spoke about how he is extremely proud of his many works but also needs to take responsibility for his failures. He owned up to accepting his mistakes just like he would accept any other major decisions of his life.
The HYPOCRITE in this thread is NOT @virsanghvi. He has the freedom to not like a film. But @mehtahansal was the #CreativeDirector of #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister. Who was present at the entire shoot of the film in England! Giving his creative inputs and must have taken the fee… https://t.co/tkr3H1ChyX
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) December 27, 2024
Mehta said, "I stand by my successes as I do my failures. I own up to my mistakes as much as I do any other choices I've made in my life. But to self-reflect, to introspect and to admit in hindsight that I've erred is my prerogative. There are times in a career where you carry out professional duties even when in dissonance or not in control with the work assigned to you. By self-reflection I hope to make lesser errors of judgement in the future."
The 'Scoop' director spoke about how after the passing away of Manmohan Singh he felt that he needed to pay him respect but while doing so he never intended to be disrespectful towards Anupam Kher. He also clarified that there is no love or respect lost for the actor and that he would not resort to being upset about Kher calling him names or even for that matter sharing his opinions.
"I think what irked Mr Kher was my agreement with another senior journalist's criticism of the film. That might have been ill timed and deemed unnecessary but it reiterated some of my sentiments. Mr Kher is a senior and I will not resort to any mud-slinging towards him, his name calling or his opinions. I might have differences with him but the process of working with him was made pleasant because of his affable nature and commitment. Having said that I have often been self-critical and that is who I am. It helps me evolve and move forward. Nothing or nobody can stop that," said Mehta.