Vivek Agnihotri opens up about creative clashes during Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal: ‘Actors had clauses limiting dialogues…’

Vivek Agnihotri opened up about the creative compromises he had to make while working on Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, and how he wasn’t satisfied with several aspects of the film’s production.

Vivek Agnihotri last directed The Bengal Files.Vivek Agnihotri recently opened up about his experience working on the 2007 sports drama Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has often spoken candidly about his experience working on the 2007 sports drama Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, where he collaborated with Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. Once again, in a recent conversation with trade analyst Komal Nahta on his show Game Changers, Vivek opened up about the creative compromises he faced during the making of the film.

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“With Goal the problem that I faced was actors in their contracts were adding clauses like I can’t say dialogues more than two lines, or I say only these many dialogues and what not. And we had such great dialogues, Anurag was writing them, and they used to meet him at night and ask him to cut those lines, or reduce the amount. So I wasn’t happy with that,” Vivek shared.

The filmmaker went on to reveal that he was also advised to simplify Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal for a broader audience. “I was told that audience is very dumb so keep things very massy and for the lowest common denominator. When the entire film was ready and it was on football, suddenly they were like let’s add a song. That’s how the song Billo Rani came. Tell me in a football film, why do you need that. It’s a lovely song, it’s a blockbuster song. But I wasn’t happy with all those things.”

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During the same conversation, Vivek Agnihotri recalled how even producer Ronnie Screwvala had asked him whether the song should be removed. However, the filmmaker said it wasn’t possible due to the influence of the film’s stars. “There are actors, stars who then are completely against it, because they know that it is through this song they will be promoted, they will get future work, will get shows and brand endorsements, so they are always insisting that we should keep it.”

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Vivek has previously made similar remarks about Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, particularly regarding John Abraham’s involvement. He had said, “In all of John’s scenes, we had to shoot his face and feet separately.” He further questioned the attitude of certain actors toward their work, adding, “If someone tells me ‘reduce my dialogues’ — why? Because you can’t say them at once? You can’t say five lines of dialogues in rhythm at once. This is your problem. Then why are you taking so much money?” Vivek said that producers should ask themselves why they are paying crores to actors who are not bringing value to the project.

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