Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has once again opened up about the challenges, directing the 2007 game Dhan Dhana Dhan Gol,. In an interview recently, Agnihotri criticized the performance of actor John Abraham in the film, called it “average status”, and revealed that the actor was brought on board due to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. He also talked about the tension on the set due to the breakup of the lead pair John Abraham and Bipasha Basu during the production of the film.
In a conversation with Dainik Bhaskar, Agnihotri said that the production house UTV did not believe in his writing skills at that time and despite creative mismatch, filmmaker was more keen to cooperate with Anurag Kashyap.
John Abraham and Bipasha Basu’s breakup influenced the production of the film
“But there were many problems during the time. In the midst of all this, Bipasha Basu and John Abraham broke during the production of the film. When you are in love, you have to deal with a set of issues, and after a breakup, a new set of problems arises. Therefore, it was very difficult for me to manage everything.
Agnihotri criticized John Abraham
While Agnihotri did not hesitate to call the film “Good for It’s Time” and accepted its chart-topping music, he was particularly important how some casting decisions were made-especially John Abraham was included in the lead role.
“Everyone was like this,” Let’s take John, he is a footballer. Similarly he became a part of the film. But you tell me, if it is a film about football, what should an actor do? We called Arshad Warsi, Raj Joshi to train Raj Joshi, and they all used to prepare their souls, but they had to shoot their souls, but we had to shoot a different scene.
Agnihotri unlike John’s perspective with Arshad Warsi, who said that he completely immersed himself in a role, undergoing intensive training, and never demanded easy dialogue or special treatment.
“And Arshad had given everything for that film. He questioned me on things, he did not tell me, ‘Why reduce my dialogues’? Because you can’t say them at once?
The filmmaker also clarified the previous reports which suggested that Anurag Kashyap was sidelined during production. According to Vivek, it was Anurag who convinced John to join the project, despite claiming that he was not present during the London schedule.
About wealth wealth round
Released in 2007, the goal of ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan’ was set against the backdrop of Southol, the UK, and revolving around a fictional South Asian Football Club to recover its lost heritage. While the film attempted to deal with serious subjects such as racism and identity through the sports lens, it received mixed reaction from both critics and audiences.
Vivek Agnihotri’s next
Currently, Vivek Agnihotri is ready for his next direction – ‘The Bengal Files: Right to Life’. The film has been established in the 1940s politically charged Bengal and has a star-stacked artist including Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi and Govind Namdev. It is slapped for a dramatic release on 5 September 2025.
