Hansal Mehta opened up recently about the time when some members of Shiv Sena attacked him and vandalised his office after the release of his film Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar (2000). He revealed how he was made to apologise in front of 10,000 people.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Hansal said that the incident left a deep impact on him and he took to alcohol to find solace. “Now, these things have names such as PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) and there’s a lot more information regarding them. But back then, the only medicine I knew was alcohol. I was very broken at that time. Not only had my movie failed, but four weeks later, when we were dealing with financial losses, people entered my office and vandalised it. They painted my face black. Then they told me to come tomorrow and seek an apology because they wanted to create a bigger public spectacle,” he said.

He added, “I was made to apologise in front of 10,000 people. But the apology was not the issue for me. I later on realised that people who violate your self-respect and freedom do not belong to any particular ideology or party. They are unfortunately engulfed in a greed for power; and they are nameless, faceless cowards. It took me time to realise that I was not the coward; I was attacked by cowards. The moment I realised that I found my voice.”

Hansal had recently also spoke about the incident in a social media post following the backlash which comedian Kunal Kamra’s video received where some members of Shiv Sena vandalised the venue where Kunal had recorded the video.

On the work front, Hansal’s last directorial was the Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer The Buckingham Murders.