'Deepika had no idea about JNU politics': Vivek Agnihotri on Deepika Padukone's controversial visit to JNU in 2020
The JNU fiasco was largely responsible for the immense backlash Deepika Padukone, and eventually her film Chhapaak got. But Vivek Agnihotri has a different take
Deepika Padukone's 2020 release Chhapaak, was a daring venture in itself, bringing to the silver screen, the very harrowing yet equally inspiring story of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. Sadly but, any and all merit of the film was completely overshadowed by the JNU fiasco the actor got herself involved in, shortly before the film's release.
Now when we speak of the overlap between Bollywood and politics, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri is a consistently recurring name. And he has quite the take to share when it comes to Deepika's JNU fiasco. As per a PTI report, during a recent chat with journalist Shubhankar Mishra, Vivek says that the backlash Deepika's short visit to JNU received, was actually not her fault at all.
Now before you raise your eyebrows, Vivek essentially referred to the actor as having been politically unaware at the time, especially when it came to understanding the scape of JNU politics.
“I can guarantee that Deepika had no idea about JNU politics when she went there...It’s not about being dumb.” Not wanting to stoke any extra drama, Vivek was also quick to clarify that he in no way, finds Deepika to be "dumb" — "I don’t know her personally, so I don’t know what ideology she aligns with. I do know that she is a very smart and intelligent woman. Had she known that this is a politically sensitive place and that it might impact her career, she would’ve definitely not gone. During film promotions, there are too many voices telling stars what to do and who to speak to. Her PR was mistaken, they thought it was an event. But it wasn’t an event. Bigger fish than her have been fried for getting involved in politics".
Do you think Vivek's take on Deepika is right?
