Dabangg director Abhinav Kashyap has launched a fresh salvo against his film's lead actor Salman Khan, calling the Bollywood heavyweight "a gunda and a badtameez insaan".
The duo worked on the 2010 superhit film Dabangg and apparently parted ways on bad terms.
In a new interview with SCREEN, Abhinav has accused Salman of misbehaviour and unprofessionalism. His comments come days ahead of the 15th release anniversary of Dabangg on September 10, 2025.
"Salman is never involved. He is not even interested in acting, and he hasn't been since the last 25 years. He does a favour by turning up to work. He is more into the power of being a celebrity, but he is not interested in acting. He is a gunda (goon). I was not aware of this before Dabangg. Salman badtameez hai, ganda insaan hai (Salman is ill-mannered, he is a bad person)" the filmmaker said.
Calling Salman the "father of the star system in Bollywood", Abhinav Kashyap said, "He is from a film family which has been in the industry for 50 years. He continues the process. They are vindictive people. They control the whole process. If you don't agree with them, they come after you."
Abhinav Kashyap also said his elder brother director Anurag Kashyap had cautioned him about working with Salman Khan.
"The same happened with him (Anurag Kashyap) in Tere Naam. How would he guide or advise me? He told me before Dabangg that, 'You won't be able to make a film with Salman'. He just didn't tell me in great detail why I won't be able to make a movie with him. He just thought I'll get easily bullied, he knows these vultures," he shared.
According to Abhinav Kashyap, Anurag Kashyap eventually left Tere Naam.
"He wrote the script of Tere Naam. Boney Kapoor misbehaved with him, then he left it. They didn't give him credit either. The exact same thing that happened with me. The basis of any good film is a good script," he recalled.
In 2023, Anurag Kashyap claimed he was fired from Tere Naam as director as he didn't want Salman Khan to shave his chest.
Abhinav Kashyap And Salman Khan's Equation
This is not the first time that Abhinav Kashyap has spoken out against Salman Khan.
In 2020, the director in a Facebook post accused the actor and his brothers Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan as well as father-veteran screenwriter Salim Khan for sabotaging his career. After one such interview in 2020, Arbaaz Khan said he will take legal action against the filmmaker.
Salim Khan, on his part, called Abhinav Kashyap "a crazy person". "He shouldn't be given so much importance. I have completed over 50 years in the film industry and everyone knows my work. Nothing is hidden from anyone. People also know Salman and Arbaaz very well. Who is Abhinav Kashyap? What has he done in life? He is a very frustrated person."
When the media reached out to Anurag Kashyap for his response in the matter, the filmmaker shared a tweet at the time, which read, "For the media calling me and people who want to ask, treat this as my statement. 'More than two years ago, Abhinav had told me clearly to stay out of his business and it's not my place to comment on anything he says or does.' Thank You".
While Salman Khan has never publicly addressed the rumoured feud with Abhinav Kashyap, the Dabangg director has time and again gone on record criticising the superstar.
