'To those who think of Bol Bachchan as crap, CHILL!'

Hours after the Bol Bachchan trailer debuted online, the social media was abuzz with a number of media personalities and film critics panning the film for its devastating awfulness.

Although Rohit Shetty is never really burdened with the expectation to develop an intellectually stimulating film, Bol Bachchan's first trailer, even by his own standards, hit a new low with Rediff's Raja Sen calling it "a film that'll make Priyadarshan's recent bunch look smart." 

At a panel discussion held at Whistling Woods International, which celebrated 100 Years of Indian Cinema over a three-day festival, Shetty shared his opinion on his brand of cinema while also defending his stance of making entertaining films.  

However, the director confessed that there were fellow directors who have trashed his Golmaal trilogy and he isn't ashamed to face it upfront.

"It is not only my critics but even in the industry, I have been looked down upon for the kind of movies I have made," Shetty said. "What they don't realise is that a lot of hard work goes behind making the kind of movies I do."

Shetty believes that he isn't pretentious in his cinema and that has led to a lot of people hating him, both within and outside the industry.

"In my films, I speak from my heart and I'm very honest about what I'm going to deliver. Perhaps that is something which offends a lot of people," he says.

The director also hits at the media for being overly-critical about his work. 

"For God's sake it's a movie and not a nuclear plant where I'm scheming how to bump off Pakistan!" he exclaims. "All this negative fuss is created by you guys. I make commercial potboilers which were always made in Bollywood. It has just got a different title in today's era. If Amar Akbar Anthony had released today, it would have been called a multiplex film. The time hasn't changed really. We still are making the same kind of films."

Although he may not have a perspective that can be universally agreed upon, Shetty firmly believes that he cannot function under someone's diktats.

"To everyone who thinks of Bol Bachchan as crap, I can only say that you got to chill, relax a bit and take it easy. Everyone should make films and all kinds of films should be made. You cannot pressurize me to make a certain, different brand of cinema."

Talking about the films the other directors in the panel had made, Shetty said he doesn't have the guts to be as brave as the other three -- R Balki, Amol Gupte and Habib Faisal.

"Honestly, I would never ever think of making a Taare Zameen Par or Stanely ka Dabba because I'd be immensely terrified thinking whether the film will work at the box office or not. If I have an Amitabh Bachchan in my film, I CANNOT make him look like an Auro. Again, I'm not courageous enough to make my debut film with a Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh as the lead pair."

Whether he was being deliberately self-effacing or plain honest was a little hard to tell. As for reports which said that Bol Bachchan was a rehash of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's iconic Golmaal, he said that is for the viewers to decide as their approach has been quite different.