Vivek Agnihotri recalled Deepika Padukone's 2020 controversy when she attended JNU's student protest and said that it was probably a PR move. "I can guarantee Deepika had no idea about JNU politics when she went there...Her PR must've told her [it's] a good opportunity to promote [Chhapaak], because university is associated with politics [and so is the film]," said Agnihotri.