Vivek Agnihotri REACTS to Saeed Akhtar Mirza calling The Kashmir Files ‘garbage’: ‘Bollywood has zero empathy towards Hindus’
By: Divya Thearia
20 December 2022 (New Delhi): Bollywood filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri reacted to screenwriter and director Saeed Akhtar Mirza calling The Kashmir Files ‘garbage’.
On Tuesday, Vivek took to his official Twitter account and shared a screenshot of a news article on Mirza’s comments. Along with it, he called Bollywood ‘ungrateful’ and said that the industry has ‘zero empathy towards Hindus’.
He tweeted, “I never wanted to say this but I think it’s time to speak the HARSH TRUTH: All their lives they made films on Muslim victimhood. Only India has a genre called ‘Muslim Social’. Hindus made these people rich & famous. Yet, ungrateful Bollywood has zero empathy towards Hindus.”
In another tweet, he wrote, “Maine kaha Mirza sahab ko Salaam. Fir milte hain Janaab, #TheDelhiFiles ke baad. 2024.”
In an interview with The Indian Express, Mirza said that the ‘point is not to take sides’ and added that it is necessary to ‘try to understand’ the issues. The screenwriter also made it clear that, in his opinion, the issue faced by the Kashmiri Pandit is real.
“For me, The Kashmir Files is garbage. Is the Kashmiri Pandit issue garbage? No, it’s not. It’s real. Is it just Kashmiri Hindus? No. Muslims, too, are caught in an incredibly vulgar trap of the machinations of intelligence agencies, nations with so-called national interests, and paid guys from across the border, who continue to create havoc. The point is not to take sides. Be human and try to understand,” he said.
The Kashmir Files, written and directed by Vivek, centers on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during militancy in the early 1990s. It was screened at IFFI 2022 on November 22 under the Indian Panorama section at IFFI.
The films stars Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumarr, Mithun Chakraborty, Puneet Issar and others.
Saeed Akhtar Mirza is known for films such as Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai, Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro and Naseem. He is the director of popular TV serials like Nukkad and Intezaar.