Vivek Agnihotri is all set to come up with ‘The Kashmir Files: Unreported’, which is an extended take on his massively popular film ‘The Kashmir Files’. It’s going to be released on Zee5 on August 11, and it has already created a massive buzz amongst the audiences.
Talking to Prateek Sur, Vivek Agnihotri opens up about how he has been handling the backlash from certain sections of society ever since he made ‘The Kashmir Files’. He also responds to the criticism of the film targeting Muslims. Excerpts from the chat:
How difficult is it to make a series on such a controversial topic since there might be backlash from many?
Anybody who follows me knows I have never cared about any kind of backlash. Backlashes will happen. Imagine when the Raja Ram Mohan Roy said the Sati Pratha should not happen, there were backlashes. Even when people said they want freedom, there were backlashes. Whenever you try to change the society and bring truth in front of people, there are going to be backlashes. I remember reading somewhere that when the first woman became a journalist, there were backlashes. So, anybody who tries to break the stereotype and wants to disrupt the system, there will be backlash from the people who are against it. When Elon Musk made Tesla, he also faced a lot of backlash. I am a disrupter; I am disrupting the storytelling in this country so there are going to be backlashes. When The Vaccine War, my next movie comes out there will be backlashes and I am prepared for it.
Many say that the film targets Muslims, what do you have to say about that? Do you have Muslim friends or colleagues and how safe or unsafe do they feel in today's world?
Anybody who is saying that the film targets Muslims is not thinking right. How is it targeting if the villain of the film is a terrorist that is behind bars right now and the government of India has appealed to the court for his capital punishment? One must have seen in open interviews that Bitta Karate says he would have killed his mother if his high command had told him then how does it has anything to do with Muslims! This means you are assuming that all the terrorists are Muslims, so the problem is with the people who are saying it. It's their mind and not mine. My film opens with a Muslim boy helping a Hindu boy, it starts with good people and the film talks about Muslims being killed in terrorism. The film is about Terrorism vs Kashmiri Pandits. So, it is very stupid for anybody to say that in their mind they are very prejudice, and they think all Muslims are terrorists.
