Explained: The Anurag Kashyap-Pankaj Jha Controversy

"Don't remember what exactly happened," Anurag Kashyap said

Anurag Kashyap and Pankaj Jha have been featuring in headlines ever since the Panchayat actor allegedly made statements against Pankaj Tripathi and Anurag Kashyap. It all started when Pankaj Jha was asked about the time he lost the role of Sultan in Gangs Of Wasseypur to Pankaj Tripathi. In an interview to Digital Commentary, the actor was asked, "Do you think this involved any internal politics?" To which he replied, "I stay unbothered of the politics. If I be affected by the politics then it would mean victory of the person who is doing the politics. Why would I let that happen? People who do politics are cowards."

"We are director-maker actors. If a film makes someone an actor, it also makes a director. But in this industry, we have so many cowards and spineless people who can't even place their opinion before others. Eventually, you get to understand that directors too are suffering without jobs," he said. Pankaj Jha's "spineless" comment did not go down well with a section of the Internet.

Prakash Jha had previously worked with Anurag Kashyap in films like Gulaal and Black Friday. However, in a recent interview with The Indian Express, the actor claimed that he never mentioned Pankaj Tripathi in any of his interviews. "I never mentioned the name of any Tripathi in any of my interviews so far. You can go listen to all of my interviews, you will know I haven't mentioned anybody's name at all. This is very childish thing to do. Why will I go talk all this to anybody? Media always needs masala, I never said any such thing, they just made it up. Becoming an actor is not the ultimate achievement. Just like how every actor wants to become a big star, several journalists also run behind fame. They make up stories to gain attention and recognition," Pankaj Jha told The Indian Express.