KRK now takes on Ajay Devgn, says actor worried about negative review

Taking a U-turn to Ajay Devgn's accusation of taking Rs. 25 lakh from Karan Johar to praise the teaser of his upcoming directorial venture 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' and badmouth 'Shivaay,' controversy king Kamaal R. Khan today stated that producer Kumar Mangat has asked him to do the exact opposite, adding they are afraid of his negative review.

"Kumar ji has told me to promote his film. He has called me many a times for speaking positive about the flick. He rather told me to be a bit negative about Karan Johar's movie, but that was just like a friend," he told the media here during a press conference.

"If a star like Ajay Devgn says if Kamaal Khan gives bad review about my movie then it will turn a flop, this means you don't have confidence in your product. It is a matter of pride for me that stars like Ajay Devgn too are afraid of the fact that if KRK gives bad review then that might affect the movie," he added.

Refuting reports about taking money from Karan, KRK said, "I have never said that I don't take money to promote films. I of course take money for film promotions. But you can see I have never reviewed those movies, which I have promoted. So in that case, if I even agree to the fact that I have taken money from Karan Johar to promote his movie then what's harm in that?"

On a related note, KRK even cleared the air on the Twitter-war he had with KJo and Anurag Kashyap before the release of 'Bombay Velvet'.

Khan, who had then accused the Dharma Productions head honcho of offering him money, today said it was just to irritate him.

"When Bombay Velvet was about to release, I brought up a message which said that Karan Johar offered me Rs. 25 lakh, which he actually did not. The truth is, it was just to irritate him," he told media.

All these started when the 'Singham' actor yesterday took to Twitter to release an audio-clip where KRK was heard saying KJo has offered him Rs. 25 lakh to speak ill about 'Shivaay' as both flicks are releasing on October 28.

"Hear what self proclaimed no. 1 critic and trade analyst Kamaal R Khan has to say," he captioned the clip.

This clip came after KRK tweeted about 'Shivaay', saying it will have a similar fate as 'Himmatwala 2.'

Explaining his tweet, KRK said, "I just wanted to send this message to Kumar Mangat ji that if you spread negativity against your movie then it will anyways turn into a flop just like Anurag Kashyap did with Bombay Velvet. That is when I said this movie will turn into Himmatwala 2."

KRK earlier tweeted denying the accusations, saying, "Let me clear it. Karan Johar has never paid me or asked me to bash #Shivaay n you can hear it in the tape. I said 25 Lakhs to avoid Kumar."

"Kumar+Ajay offered me money to bash #AeDilHaiMushkil as he is offering in the tape also but I refused. I told them that I will do it free," read his next tweet.

Releasing an official statement on the same, Ajay said, "I have been a part of the Indian film industry for the past 25 years and have been associated with over 100 films. My father was a professional action director and I have an emotional connection with this industry. It therefore pains me to see that people like Kamaal R Khan are holding the film industry to ransom by spreading negativity about films to extort money from producers."

"It is very sad that people from our own industry are supporting such elements and spoiling the ethos of the film industry. I would strongly demand that this be thoroughly investigated by competent authorities to clarify if Karan Johar was indeed involved in this," the statement read

Ajay's wife and actress Kajol, one of KJo's best-friend, took to Twitter to react to the ugly spat saying, "Shocked.