Was impossible to work with Kashyap: AK vs AK at Netflix's virtual press conference

The virtual press conference for Vikramaditya Motwane's AK vs AK was dominated by the bizarre feud between Anurag Kashyap and Anil Kapoor.

The two actors will be playing themselves in the meta-cinema to be streamed on Netflix later this month.

The press conference held online saw the co-stars continue their online squabble, with director Motwane playing the uncomfortable mediator.

Kashyap and Kapoor had started the faux fight online through their Twitter handles as a tactic to promote the film. 

Explaining the spat, Anil Kapoor said, "I would not have said this. But he started it on Twitter, and it went out of hand. There is a sense of humour, but he took it too far."

The actor added, "It was impossible to work with him, but being a professional and with Vikram [Motwane] on set, I had to. The entire team of AK vs AK was a phenomenal team and were very supportive and kept encouraging me. The undercurrent of tension was always there, but it was a challenging experience. But being a professional, I did my best."

The feud is a promotional tactic for the film, which features Kashyap and Kapoor playing themselves. Kashyap has the role of the antagonist director who abducts Sonam Kapoor Ahuja to make her father dance to his tune.

Describing the film, Motwane said, "A writer friend of mine, Avinash Sampat, sent me this concept seven years ago. It took seven years to make. We have had a lot of fun developing it, until now."

Motwane added that he gained 10 kilos playing mediator between the two feuding actors.

In tune with the feud, the makers showed three trailers cut to suit the three guests. While Motwane shared the director's cut, Kapoor and Kashyap screened their own cuts of the trailer. 

Motwane insisted the feud was on throughout the shooting of the film. Speaking about a scene in the trailer where Kashyap and Kapoor come to blows, he said, "It was supposed to be a dialogue scene. It turned out to be an action scene. They ended up breaking the set."

Kapoor added, "Sunita [his wife] was upset. I gave you permission to shoot in the house, and you broke it."

"Of course," Kashyap retorted, "You must have had memories of the 1980s stored there."

To raise the tension farcically, Kapoor flung a glass of water on to Kashyap's face, replicating a scene from the trailer.

On being asked if he ever felt tempted to abandon the film, Motwane said, "The film is much more important than these two. The first trailer is the best trailer, by the way. The film is good, it's great. I would never abandon the film, and I am very proud of it, besides what I have been through and what these guys made me go through."

While Kapoor insisted the audience should watch the film for him, Kashyap said, "If you want to see how it [the fight] happened organically, then Vikram Motwane was there with a camera. That you should see. You should see the film because this is the first time I am acting, you would have been bored seeing Anil Kapoor all these years."