IFFI 2022 courted controversy when jury head Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid called director Vivek Agnihotri’s film The Kashmir Files a “propaganda, vulgar film.” The remark by the filmmaker has received severe backlash with director Vivek Agnihotri, actor Anupam Kher and producer Abhishek Agarwal speaking up against his remarks. Now, Priya Samant, who took The Kashmir Files to the UN, reacted to IFFI 2022 jury head’s ‘vulgar’ comment.
PRIYA SAMANT REACTS Priya Samant called The Kashmir Filesa movement which speaks volume about the plight of a community and questioned how it can be called vulgar. “If such a movement which speaks volume about the plight of a community of our society, is considered VULGAR, I don’t know what is decent,” she said.
“A statement like this, creates an unnecessary and unpleasant situation in driving what the vision of the entire event stands for. A statement like this, stains the artistic representation and values,” Samant said, adding, “The film has a soul of a very sensitive and extremely pivotal cause of Kashmiri pandits.”
“A statement like this one is hurtful towards not just the artists and makers of the film, but the community too. Having said that, I feel such success and impact speaks for the film itself,” she opined.
“Calling it vulgar is sorrowful and derogatory and poorly reflects the human values that we stand for,” Samant shared.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE KASHMIR FILES
Calling The Kashmir Files a movement within itself which has given voice to a after 32 long years of oppression and struggle, she added, “The film has raised awareness in many societies where people were completely unacquainted with the magnitude of brutality against Kashmiri Pandits. The Kashmir Files in today’s day and age brings the essence of truth in the public eyes, in its most raw and truest form.”
