Anil Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap spar via billboard advertisements as they promote Netflix film AK vs AK

Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap aimed jibes at each other through hilarious billboard advertisements as part of a marketing campaign for Netflix film AK vs AK.

Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the film sees Kashyap as a "brash film director" who kidnaps the daughter of a well-known movie star (Kapoor), only to film the desperate search and rescue operation in real-time as a bid to create his next blockbuster movie.

The two's onscreen rivalry was translated to these creative hoardings on Mumbai's roads. One carried Kapoor's quote: "Juhu leads to Andheri. Anurag's movies lead to andhera (Anurag's movies lead to darkness)." - Your timeless Lakhan, a reference to his character from the 1989 drama Ram Lakhan.

Kashyap's took a crack at his co-actor, "Yeh circle gol hai. Anil ki acting lol hai (This circle is round and Anil's acting is one big laugh)."

The actors even shared the hoardings on Twitter

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) December 21, 2020

In a recent interview with Press Trust of India, the two said that they have left behind their tense history of unfulfilled projects to come together for AK vs AK.

Before he became widely popular with films like Dev D, Gangs of Wasseypur series and the recent Netflix series Sacred Games, Kashyap wanted to make two movies — Allwyn Kallicharan and Grant Hotel — with Kapoor, the versatile and commercially successful star of Hindi cinema.

Both the projects couldn’t materialise due to factors that were beyond their control, but it complicated their personal equation as Kashyap admitted he used to blame Kapoor for the films not getting made.

The 48-year-old director said his views changed after he became a producer himself and realised how taxing it was to green light a project.

AK vs AK will premiere on Netflix on 24 December.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)