In 2020, Kangana said that Mahesh had almost physically assaulted her after she rejected the film Dhokha, which was directed by his daughter, the actor-director Pooja Bhatt. Before the release of Alia Bhatt's film Gangubai Kathiawadi earlier this year, Kangana had also made a subtle jab at Mahesh Bhatt and his daughter, the actor. The biggest error in the movie, according to Kangana, is the ’wrong casting.’ She also inadvertently referred to Alia as ‘daddy's angel’ and Mahesh as ‘movie mafia.’
According to Hindustan Times, Kangana had written on her Instagram Stories in February of this year, “This Friday ₹200 crore will be burnt to ashes at the box office... for a papa (movie mafia daddy) ki pari (who likes to keep a British passport) because papa wants to prove that romcom bimbo can act... biggest drawback of the film is wrong casting... yeh nahi sudhrenge (these people won't change)…”