Israeli filmmaker and jury chief of the International Film Festival of India, Nadav Lapid, described the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ as ‘obscene’ and ‘disinformation’. After widespread criticism about this, he said that he stands by his statement. He has apologized for inadvertently hurting the sentiments of any community.
New Delhi/Jerusalem: Israeli filmmaker and International Film Festival of India (IFFI) jury chief Nadav Lapid has come under attack from a section in India for calling Hindi film ‘The Kashmir Files’ an obscene and propaganda film.
Unfazed by the widespread criticism of his remarks, Lapid said he stood by his statement because he “knows how to recognize disinformation in film form”.
Lapid, who has been in the news for his anti-establishment statements, alleged that ‘The Kashmir Files’ was forced into the official competition of the festival under ‘political pressure’.
The filmmaker said he came to know that ‘The Kashmir Files’ was included in the film festival due to ‘political pressure’ and felt it was his ‘duty’ to speak out against it.
“We have come to know that due to political pressure the film was included in the official competition of the festival, which is the biggest film festival in India. So I think as a foreigner who goes there, you have an obligation to say things that may be difficult for people living there to say.
He said, ‘I do not believe in secrecy and whispering. If you were to stand on the stage and you were asked to speak, what would you talk about? Will you only talk about the beach you saw and the food you ate?’
Meanwhile, Lapid, in an interview to CNN-News18 news channel, apologized for unknowingly hurting the sentiments of any community and said that he did not want to insult anyone or their relatives, who are victims.
Responding to the criticism, Lapid said it was not a crime to make a bad film, but the Vivek Agnihotri-directed film was “incomplete, deliberately distorted and violent”.
He said in an interview to the Israeli newspaper ‘Haaretz’ that as the president of the international jury it is his responsibility to speak his mind.
Lapid said, ‘Imagine, one day such a situation could arise in Israel as well and I would be happy if in this situation the head of the foreign jury prefers to speak the way he sees things. In a way, I felt that I have a responsibility towards the place where I have been invited.
On Monday (November 28) at the closing ceremony of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, Lapid had described the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ as ‘obscene’ and ‘propagandistic’. The film was screened in the ‘Indian Panorama’ section of IFFI on 22 November.
It was followed by the film’s writer-director Vivek Agnihotri, its actors Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant along with some BJP leaders, Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon and its Consul General in Mid-West India Kobbi Soshani. strongly criticized Lapid.
Agnihotri wrote in a tweet on Thursday morning, ‘People do and say things that hurt you because somewhere they are sad that you got what they wanted. That’s why they want to eliminate you. Letting such people hurt you is not cowardice, but self-destruction.
GM.
People do and say things to hurt you because somewhere they are unhappy that you have got what they desired. That’s why they want to destroy you.
Letting such people hurt you is not just cowardice but self-destruction. #creativeconsciousness
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) December 1, 2022
Lapid claimed to have evidence that his fellow jurors also agreed with the stand he had decided to take, although filmmaker Sudipto Sen, who was also a member of the jury, said the Israeli filmmaker’s statements were his personal opinion. .
When Lapid was asked whether he knew anything about the conflict in Kashmir, which he came to the conclusion, he admitted that he did not know much.
However, he added, ‘You can also watch Leni Riefenstahl films and you know what you’re looking at without being an expert on that period.’
German filmmaker Leni glorified the Nazi Party.
On his criticism by Israeli diplomats in India, Lapid, who is based in Paris, said that the statements of diplomats are ‘political’ and do not represent his country.
Lapid found support from Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and actress Swara Bhaskar amid criticism of the statement on social media and protests by Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu against it.
He claimed that he has received emails and messages from many personalities of the Indian cinema world, who are happy about this statement.
Lapid said, ‘This film is promoted by the Government of India, so I believe the government is not happy about it. But is a country considered only by its government?’
He said, ‘What I said is not comfortable for the Government of India, nor for the government that is going to be formed in Israel, which is represented by the ambassador.’
Israeli filmmakers Dan Volman and Lior Raj have also condemned Lapid’s statement.
When asked if he would make some changes in the way he expresses his opinion, Lapid said that he was invited to the ceremony as a director and talked about the subject of a film.
He said, ‘I did not go to express my opinion on the conflict in Kashmir.’
In another interview to Israel’s news website Ynet, Lapid had said that India’s Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur and Israel’s ambassador had discussed ‘fighting a common enemy’ on the stage of IFFI.
In his response to Lapid’s claims, Ambassador Gillon shared an open letter on Twitter on Tuesday (29 November) saying that Lapid had twisted his words.
It is known that ‘The Kashmir Files’ was released in theaters on 11 March. The film is based on the community’s exodus from Kashmir after the killing of Kashmiri Pandits by Pakistan-backed terrorists in the year 1990. It stars actors Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi in other prominent roles.
After the release, there was a debate in political parties regarding its content.
The film, its cast and its filmmakers were praised by several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. At the same time, the opposition called it one-sided and extremely violent.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP’s opponents, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said on March 15, 2022 that such films should continue to be made, as they bring the truth to the fore. The truth which was tried to be hidden for a long time is being brought to the fore, those who used to try to hide the truth are protesting today.
He had said, ‘The Kashmir files are being discussed a lot these days. Those who always roam around with the flag of freedom of expression, the whole group has gone berserk.
In addition the film was actively promoted by the BJP-led central government and the film was declared tax-free in all BJP-ruled states. Not only this, in many states government employees were given special leave to watch the film,
The film incidentally became one of the highest grossing Hindi films of the year.
(With inputs from news agency Bhasha)
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