EXCLUSIVE: Fanaa, Roza, Haider didn’t even mention the word Pandit: Vivek Agnihotri slams Vishal Bhardwaj, Mani Ratnam

Vivek Agnihotri-directed The Kashmir Files Unreported which released on 11 August on Zee 5 and is totally unfiltered as it speaks about the Kashmir Genocide. This is the second part of The Kashmir Files which was released in 2022 and gained appreciation. As the film revolved around the tragic Kashmir genocide, director Vivek received praise for bringing out the harsh reality.

Now, the director has come up with an unfiltered craft with The Kashmir Files Unreported. Vivek took some precious time from his busy schedule and sat down with us for an exclusive interview. While the film revolves around the point of view of the Kashmiri Hindus, we happen to ask him whether a particular section of the society felt neglected?

Vivek Agnihotri opens up on films like Haider and Fanaa among others, that did not emphasize on Pandits’ point of view

Speaking about the Hindu-Muslim differentiation in the film, the director said, “When Haider comes or Mission Kashmir or Fizaa, Fanaa, all these so-called ‘celebrated’ films including Mani Ratnam’s film, including Dil Se, Roja and all these kinds of films. All these films are set in the terrorism period of Kashmir in 1985-1992/93. Haider is set in that period because it is based on a book by a Muslim writer.”

The director emphasized that there was mention of the Pandit point of view, nor a word of Pandit. He added, “My film opens with a Muslim boy helping a Hindu boy. My film mentions that Muslims were killed. Does even one person think about the Dalits? Do they think about the Sikhs? Do they think about Christians, Buddhists, Gujjars, women, children? My film mentions that. It talks about that. And openly, categorically, in the pan ultimate climax of the film. Hypocrites are the people who are questioning me. Hypocrites are the people who feel you shouldn’t say anything about Muslims because it is not very secular, but you can say anything about Hindus. That is wrong. If something is happening against Christians, we should be talking about it. But, if Christians are also doing something wrong against Hindus, that also we should talk about. Let’s not fall into the trap of Western hypocritical ideology, which says that majority is always wrong.”

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Further in the interview, Vivek Agnihotri also opened up about the negativity he faced for his comment on Besharam Rang song from Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan.

Watch the full interview here:

Also read: The Kashmir Files Unreported REVIEW: Vivek Agnihotri’s docu-series is daunting and disturbing