Vivek Agnihotri shares video message after IFFI controversy: ‘Will stop making movies if…’

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has finally broken his silence on the recent comments for The Kashmir Files by Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid. In a new video shared on his social media, Vivek said he would stop making movies if anyone could prove that whatever he showed in his film was not true.

At the closing ceremony of International Film Festival of India on Monday, jury chief Nadav Lapid had described The Kashmir Files as “propaganda movie” and “vulgar”. Since then, many officials, politicians and diplomats from India and Israel have condemned his words, asked for apology and even files complaints against him.

Now, in a new video shared on his social media, Vivek has addressed the controversy. “This is nothing new for me. Because such things are often said by terrorist organisations, urban naxals and by those who wants to divide the country. What is shocking to me is that narrative supported by those who wish to separate Kashmir from India were voiced at the stage of an event organised by the government on India. And a few who live India used it against the country. Who are these people,” Vivek asked before answering his own question.

He said that these are the same people who have been objecting to his film since four years ago when he began researching on the subject. The Kashmir Files portrays the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir following the killings of people from the community by terrorists. The much discussed film, which polarised opinions following its March 11 release, is one of the most successful Hindi films of the year.

Vivek said that he interviewed 700 people before making the movie. “It is often said that The Kashmir Files is a propaganda movie, that the Hindus were never killed in the valley. So today, I challenge all intellectuals, urban naxals and this great filmmaker from Israel: if they can prove that a single shot, dialogue, event from The Kashmir Files is untrue, I would stop making movies,” he said in the video.

Nadav Lapid had said at the closing ceremony: “I would like to thank the head of the festival and the director of the programming for the cinematic richness of the programme, for its diversity, for its complexity. It was intense. We saw seven films in the debutant competition, and 15 films in the international competition, the front window of the festival. 14 out of them had cinematic qualities, defaults and evoked vivid discussions,” he said in his speech.