Vivek Agnihotri crops out Karan Johar from National Film Awards group photo? Netizens react

The photo shared by Vivek Agnihotri that has `cropped` Karan Johar

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri was in New Delhi on Tuesday to receive the prestigious Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration at the 69th National Film Awards. His film The Kashmir Files won the Best Feature Film on National Integration award this year.

The filmmaker took the opportunity to mingle with other National Award winners, and posted several photos with them. From Alia Bhatt to Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi and Allu Arjun several others won the prestigious awards for their projects. Vivek's wife Pallavi Joshi bagged the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in the film The Kashmir Files.

Vivek shared photos with the winners, including Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award winner Waheeda Rehman. "Such talent. Women power," he wrote in the caption.

However, in one of the group photos, it seemed like Vivek Agnihotri cropped out filmmaker Karan Johar. Karan Johar who was at the ceremony to accept the Special Jury Award for Shershaah, a film he produced. A group photo featuring all the major winners, including Alia Bhatt, Pankaj Tripathi and R Madhavan, among others, was shared by Vivek, which seemed to exclude Karan Johar. Take a look:

Netizens pointed out the fact that Karan was missing from the photo. "But Removing Karan Johar from the frame is a childish behaviour. Grow Up," read one comment. "Karan Bhai ko kyu crop Kiya," said another.

Vivek has expressed his dislike for Johar's approach to films in the past. In an interaction with DNA, he had reportedly said, "After the advent of Amitabh Bachchan as a superstar - not the one from Deewar but one from Shehanshah - the cinema after that never told real stories. Especially Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan's cinema, that has actually damaged the cultural fabric of India in a very disastrous way."

The National Awards ceremony took place at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu and Union Minister Anurag Thakur were present.

Talking to ANI, Vivek Agnihotri said, "We worked very hard for four or five, now five years on this film, and getting this award is really a recognition of the efforts and the struggle and sacrifice the entire team of 'The Kashmir Files' made."

He added, "I think, above all, it's a tribute to all the victims of genocide, victims of religious terrorism and victims of persecution all over the world. We are going through very turbulent times where half of the world is fighting and is at war, especially with Israel and Palestine. This film is a great message for the world to understand what happens when you let religious terrorism succeed."