Filmmakers slam critics on 'Koffee with Karan'

Mumbai, Apr 21 (UNI) This week's special episode of 'Koffee with Karan' features four filmmakers whose films not only rake in the moolah but also created a huge impact on audiences and critics.

Show host Karan Johar meets up with Rakesh Roshan, Rakeysh Mehra, Rajkumar Hirani and Kunal Kohli, in the episode to be telecast this Sunday at 2100 hrs.

''I feel we are in some 'director's summit' today and I am hosting this summit,'' Karan said as the five directors chat and discuss about their films, their take on film critics, their expectations on the films they made and the fact that a director is truly the 'Captain' of the ship.

Rakesh Roshan shared that a lot was on stake with 'Krissh' as he had invested huge amount of money and when asked about his take on film critics he said, ''They don't know anything about film making. I don't give them importance at all.'' Rakyesh Mehra said he was overwhelmed with the kind of adulation he received for his film 'Rang De Basanti', adding that although he was criticized for the climax of the film, ''it should be the way it was.'' Raju Hirani and Kunal Kohli too felt that the knowledge of critics about cinema was not ''deep enough'' and said they did not expect their films to be such huge hits. In a special segment on the episode, four film critics shared their opinion about the most successful films of 2006.

The rapid fire round resulted in some very interesting revelations to questions like Hrithik, the son or Hrithik, the father - the sight that makes Rakesh Roshan happier, the worst criticism Kunal Kohli has ever received for his films, who is the most over-rated actor according to Raju Hirani, preference for Oscar or Filmfare.

Responding to a question about the remark that Hrithik Roshan was hit only with his father Rakesh Roshan and it's only his father that gets the best out of him till 'Dhoom' happened, Rakesh Roshan said, ''No, I did not feel a divide at home at all. On the contrary, I was very happy because the film Dhoom 2 belonged to my son,'' he said.

Recalling his experience of 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' and the disconnect of today's youth with Gandhi an philosophy, Rajkumar Hirani says, ''The first recording of the song we were doing, there was a guy who came to serve chai, he asked 'film ka naam kya hai' that time it was called 'Munnabhai meets Mahatma Gandhi' so he said, ''Munnabhai to theek hai... ye Mahatma Gandhi Kaun hai'' To a question on the criticism of the climax of 'Rang De Basanti' where the protagonists kill the defence minister, Rakyesh Mehra says, ''The characters did what they did. If I would have felt otherwise, I would have shot it otherwise. My point of view is that killing of a defence minister is politically incorrect. But film making is not about being politically correct.'' UNI