Actress and filmmaker Kangana Ranaut came to the defence of filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri after his new film 'The Vaccine War' failed at the box office in its opening week. She responded to a "nasty, cruel and judgmental" report slamming Vivek and his film.
She said, "Why do you want to write such nasty things about any film? Does success means only money?? Why do you all humiliate artists like this? Of all the releases The Vaccine War got the best reviews, a well made film in itself is not success? Do all businesses always see profits? Some endeavours bear fruits and some don't. Why like vultures always looking for corpses? Writing obituaries? Shame on people like you. Someone like you, who sits at home, knows not even F of films, how do you even muster the courage to be so nasty, cruel and judgmental?"
A social media user responded to the post and said, "Don't support him my love. Nobody can be more nasty than Vivek Agnihotri. He drunk abused me. He's far from being an artist. See what he said about Shah Rukh Khan also. He doesn't need any empathy especially from a straight shooter like you." Kangana responded to them by writing, "I stand for every one I stood for even those who did everything in their capacity to ruin me, I stand for better future and collective well being."
Vivek's 'The Vaccine War' was released theatrically on September 28. It is a fictional retelling of the development of Covaxin during the Covid-19 pandemic in India and sheds light on scientists' efforts involved in its creation. The movie features Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher, and Nivedita Bhattacharya, among others.