Vivek Agnihotri says Prabhas fans trolled him for clash with Salaar | Bollywood

Vivek Agnihotri is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film The Vaccine War. In an interview with The New Indian Express, the filmmaker revealed how he was abused by the fans of Prabhas online, when his film The Vaccine War was pitted against Salaar. (Also read: Sudha Murty reacts after watching Vivek Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War, talks about film’s ‘message’)

What Vivek said

Speaking to The New Indian Express, Vivek Agnihotri shared how every film should get a chance and no film should be targeted beforehand. Referring to the clash with Prabhas’s next Salaar, Vivek said, “The Vaccine War is a small film with no stars, made at ₹12.5 crore budget. Another film, Salaar, was coming. A huge ₹300 crore film. Their fans were abusing, trolling me, isko bhagao, nahi aana chaiye… Bhaag koi aur gaya (Get hin away from here, he should not come here. Why is he here).. But it was someone else who ran away.” He seemed to be referring to the postponed released of Salaar. 

Vivek also revealed that there are fans online who have been trolling and abusing him online.

About The Vaccine War

Touted to be India’s first-ever Bio-science film, The Vaccine War stars Nana Patekar as the head of scientists, as they proceed on the journey to create India’s first vaccine against Covid-19. Anupam Kher, Raima Sen, Sapthami Gowda and Pallavi Joshi also play pivotal roles in the film. Earlier, the film was supposed to clash with Prabhas-starrer Salaar. But as per new reports, the release date of Salaar has now been pushed back to December. The film is now set to clash with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dunki, which is directed by Rajkumar Hirani.

Earlier in a chat with Hindustan Times, Vivek had said that he is not concerned with the box office as much as the audience reaction. He said, “For me, if even one girl gets inspired by my film to become a virologist, I’ll consider my film successful. We’ve shown it to 5,000 people in the US so far. They’ve cried, laughed, felt proud, they came out and hugged us and thanked us for making this film. Now, how people react to it in India will be a litmus test. I care about reactions of people, I don’t care about box office.” The Vaccine War is set to release in theatres on September 28.