Salman Khan cheers for Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar despite feud with Abhinav Kashyap

Salman Khan shared the teaser for Bandar on his Instagram account. The film is directed by Anurag Kashyap and stars Bobby Deol.

Superstar Salman Khan and Dabangg director Abhinav Kashyap may have shared a bitter public fallout over the years, with the filmmaker repeatedly levelling allegations against the actor. But putting old tensions aside, Salman has now extended support to Abhinav’s brother, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, for his upcoming film Bandar, which stars Bobby Deol.

Bobby Deol essays the lead role in Anurag Kashyap's Bandar.

Salman supports Bandar

While juggling the shoot of his next untitled film with Nayanthara in Mumbai, Salman recently took time out to cheer for Bobby and Sanya’s upcoming film Bandar. The actor shared the film’s teaser on social media shortly after it was unveiled on May 7.

Salman posted the teaser on his Instagram handle and wrote, “Bandar Teaser out now! The movie starring Bobby releases on June 5!"

Salman also shared the teaser on his Instagram stories and wrote, "B for Bobby deol A for aag N nahi jaoge toh pachtaoge D for deol ABB sunny deol A for abhi kya? Aamir khan? R for Race so Race to the cinema to see it Akele mat jaana doston ke saath jao aur haan Bandar karega ab sab ko Cinema ke andar."

It translates to, “B for Bobby Deol, A for fire, N for ‘if you don’t go, you’ll regret it,’ D for Deol now Sunny Deol. A for what now? Aamir Khan? R for Race, so race to the cinema to watch it. Don’t go alone, go with your friends. And yes, now Bandar will bring everyone inside the theatres.”

Salman's Insta Story

Interestingly, Bandar is directed by Anurag Kashyap, making Salman Khan’s public show of support even more noteworthy. The gesture has sparked chatter online, especially in light of the actor’s long-standing fallout with Anurag’s brother, Abhinav Kashyap, who had earlier levelled several allegations against Salman and his family.

“Salman sir always for everyone… Love u bhaijaan,” one social media user shared, with another writing, “You know the movie’s going to be a banger when Bhai talks about it.” One social media user wrote, “Salman sharing an AK film teaser”, and another commented, “SalmanKhan is there celebrating everyone but who is there for him?”

For the unversed, Abhinav has been making several claims and accusations against Salman for quite some time. He claimed that the actor took undue credit for Dabangg and hinted that Salman was involved in manipulation. Abhinav recently appeared on a podcast where he revisited an old incident from the set of Tere Naam, claiming that Salman made things so difficult for his brother Anurag Kashyap that he had to walk away from the project.

Salman addressed the allegations made by Abhinav in the Weekend Ka Vaar episode of Bigg Boss 19. The actor shared, “Mujhe baat buri sirf ek hee cheez lag rahi hai ki apne apne aap ko destroy kar diya. Agar kisike parivar ke peeche padhna hai toh khudke parivar ke peeche padho. Apne bhai ke peeche padho, usse pyar karlo, Maa Pita se pyar karlo, biwi bachho ka khayal rakh lo. Yeh toh least hai (The one thing that hurts me the most is that you are destroying yourself. If you want to get after someone, please go after your family or your brother (Anurag Kashyap). Or, love your brother, your parents, your wife. That’s the least you can do).”

What do we know about Bandar

On May 7, the makers of Bandar unveiled the much-awaited teaser of the film, leaving audiences excited. The teaser offers a glimpse into the life of Sameer Mehra, a fading star who gets caught in a major scandal while his sister fights to save him.

The teaser shows Bobby making a stylish entry as a rockstar at a party, dressed in a dazzling jacket and holding a guitar. However, his carefree life takes a dramatic turn when Sameer is arrested for alleged sexual assault. The teaser also introduced Sanya Malhotra as Bobby’s sister, who attempts to save him with the help of a lawyer.

In an interview with Sudhir Srinivasan on his YouTube channel, Anurag praised Bobby Deol for agreeing to do the film. He said, “A complete surrender for somebody who’s been a star for the longest period of his time, then he has seen a total lull, and then when he’s getting all kinds of big mainstream movies, he picks Bandar and says, ‘I want to do it.’ Because he’s thinking, ‘I’ve never been asked to just be vulnerable.’ He’s so vulnerable in the film, so emotionally naked. Every single scene he has performed is with such fantastic actors. Bandar is full of theatre actors, great actors from all languages, five National Award winners.”

Directed by Anurag Kashyap, produced by Saffron Entertainment and presented by Zee Studios, Bandar is written by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee. The film features an ensemble cast including Sapna Pabbi, Saba Azad, Indrajith Sukumaran, Jitendra Joshi, Raj B Shetty and Nagesh Bhonsle. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and is scheduled to be released in theatres on June 5. The film is written by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee.