Veteran filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has addressed a long-standing perception among some fans and critics that his career took a hit after he collaborated with Bollywood bigshot Karan Johar, a claim he strongly disagrees with.

In a recent interview with SCREEN, Kashyap looked back on the 2015 film Bombay Velvet, where Johar played the antagonist — a significant departure for the Dharma Productions head, known more for producing mainstream hits than acting. The movie, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, and Johar himself, was one of the most talked-about projects of its time but ultimately failed at the box office.

Kashyap said that some people still frame his career downturn as beginning with what they call “shaking hands” with Karan Johar — a metaphor used by critics to suggest he had compromised his artistic integrity by working with an establishment figure. “People saw me and Karan as rivals, as two different ends of a spectrum,” Kashyap explained, noting that many followers felt disappointed and claimed he had “sold out.”

Despite the backlash, Kashyap insists that including Johar in the film was simply a creative decision — one he believed was right for the role. He said he was genuinely impressed by Johar’s performance and that casting him felt “completely natural.” The backlash, he added, has persisted for years and continues to shape how some view his career path.

Kashyap also reflected on the emotional fallout of the film’s failure. He admitted it was difficult to face some of his co-stars after the film tanked and that the experience influenced his subsequent choices in filmmaking. Despite the controversies, he described trying to move forward by focusing on smaller, more personally meaningful projects.

The Bombay Velvet episode remains one of the most debated chapters in Kashyap’s career — often invoked when discussing the divide between indie sensibilities and mainstream Bollywood, and how audiences perceive artistic collaborations across that spectrum.