‘He should focus on – Firstpost

Vivek Agnihotri, who is currently busy with the promotions of his upcoming movie The Bengal Files, slammed John Abraham for saying he would never make films like The Kashmir Files to “sway people in a hyper-political environment” in one of his recent interviews.

The filmmaker said that the actor is not a historian and writer and should focus on driving motorbikes, showing his body and eating protein. “John is not a historian, an intellectual, a thinker, or a writer. He has been making very, very jingoistic films like Satyameva Jayate too. He made Diplomat and all those kinds of films. He must have said (that) for a variety of reasons,” said Agnihotri while talking to NDTV.

In memory of the victims of Direct Action Day (16th August 1946), I present to you the official trailer of #TheBengalFiles — the boldest film ever on the untold story of the Hindu genocide.

In cinemas 5th September 2025.

Please bless us.🙏🏻

Watch on YouTube:… pic.twitter.com/pIFvyTGI3d

— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) August 16, 2025

“If you had told me some great historian had said this I would have understood it. I don’t care about what he’s saying. When was India’s atmosphere not hyper political? When was it that Hindu-Muslim and caste issues never existed in India?” he added.

“He is known for driving motorbikes and showing his body and eating protein, he should focus on those things, film-on mein naa hi ghuse toh behtar hai (better if he doesn’t get into talking about films),” the filmmaker further shared.

“I am not saying that Hindus should not like Muslims… My film is the voice of We, the people, of Bharat. It is showing how a common man suffers when the political powers use communal politics and communal violence. And when they empower these rowdy people, illegal immigrants or the goonda section of the society like tolabaz (extortionists) in Bengal, we, the people of Bharat, suffer,” Agnihotri said.

Interestingly, John Abraham collaborated with Agnihotri for Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, which also featured Arshad Warsi, Bipasha Basu and Boman Irani in prominent roles.

The Bengal Files, which is set to hit the screens on September 5, stars Mithun Chakraborty, Saswata Chatterjee, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Darshan Kumar in key roles.