Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri defends ‘The Kashmir Files’; Says ‘it is not Islamophobic’ – Times of India

On Thursday, Vivek was seen attending a press event in Delhi where he spoke about the issue. He said that after the film became a historical success, foreign media publications realised that it was ‘denting their narrative’.

He said, “Every major player, who maligns India’s image internationally without checking the truth, started calling me and their line of the question was only Hindu-Muslim. Nobody, not even one bothered to ask me about all those victims who I interviewed for this movie. Not even one tried to ask me about the facts I’ve shown in the movie and whether they are right or wrong.”

Vivek also reacted to the allegations that are put against his film. The film enjoyed a tremendous run at the box office and it is still running in theatres. He shared his thoughts on a section of people who have called the film ‘problematic’ and said that it is propagating ‘anti-Muslims sentiments’. He said, “Most of our crew was Muslim. In Kashmir, 100 percent of our crew was Muslim. One of the most important scenes in the film where the protagonist of the film interacts with a boy in Shikara, I had requested a Kashmiri Muslim activist from Kashmir Valley to write that scene. I said that you must have representation. We made sure that scene was enacted by a Kashmiri Muslim activist boy in Kashmir. It’s embarrassing that I have to come and say all these things but I want to expose these people who use Islamophobia as a political weapon against us.”

Agnihotri further added, “There is an international political campaign against the film. They blame us for Islamophobia. I categorically put on record that Islamophobia is being used as a political weapon against my film under an international political conspiracy. The film is actually anti-terrorism. The film does not use even once the word ‘Muslim’. The film does not use the word Pakistan or Pakistani. It’s an anti-terrorism film.”

The National-Award-winning director also spoke about the allegations that his film was supported by the central government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated it. Vivek said, “The film became a historical success in the first four days. By Tuesday, it was indisputable that this film is going to create history. Until then not even one person said it’s government-supported. But when the prime minister spoke about it in a different context, suddenly it became a government-funded film.”