The Sholay sequence showing Dharmendra hiding behind a Shiva statue has put Javed Akhtar bang in the centre of an escalating social media debate after his comment that he will never be able to write it today.

The undated video, in which the lyricist-writer is discussing freedom of speech and democracy, is back in circulation, prompting singer Lucky Ali, among others to take him on for his views on Muslims — and Hindus.

On Monday, he wrote on X in response to a post on Akhtar’s video, “Don’t become like Javed Akhtar, never original and ugly as f***… (sic).”

As the comments gained traction, he put out another strongly worded post on Wednesday.

“What I meant was that arrogance is ugly… It was a mistaken communique’ on my part… monsters may have feelings too and I apologise if I hurt any

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