Do we like them?

Do we like Zakir Khan?

Our score: 6 out of 10. Nothing harmful in his own words or acts in what we read, but the record we could open is thin.

The most recent stoush: at the Screen Awards in April 2026, Zakir Khan joked that the success of Dhurandhar 2 had left filmmakers in Juhu and Bandra envious. Asianet Newsable reported that he also made a remark about fake love and hidden envy in the industry.

Director Siddharth Anand fired back online, listing the blockbusters made by Juhu and Bandra filmmakers and saying only a “real duffer” would ignore them. Actor Ameesha Patel urged Khan to stop spreading negativity. Social media split, with some backing Anand and others calling him overreactive, and the article reported no reply from Khan.

Months earlier, in December 2025, lyricist Javed Akhtar criticised modern stand-ups for leaning on vulgarity and cuss words. NewsX described Khan's side as: swearing is not meant to offend, but to portray middle-class life raw and unfiltered. That's a row about taste and language, not about hurting anyone.

On the harm test, nothing in what we read targets LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet, and both rows above are about industry pride and language. Search results also pointed to coverage of criticism of his older stage material about women, but we couldn't open it, so we haven't weighed it. Check that for yourself before you buy tickets.

On being a decent human, the recent fights are punching sideways at an industry, not down at fans or staff. We found no court cases and no misconduct allegations against the comedian, and we couldn't verify any charity work. That's honestly a thin file, so this is a provisional thumbs up rather than a gushing one.