Vivek Agnihotri defends 'The Kashmir Files' on being 'Islamophobic'

The mammoth success of The Kashmir Files has been a shocker for many where people continue to wonder what led to the astronomical numbers that the film fetched inspite of being a relatively 'smaller' film. Owing to the subject matter of the film, it is also known that the film has been constantly controversial and marked upon by plenty.

One of the topics that has constant is how the film has been marked upon for being Islamophobic. On Thursday, director Vivek Agnihotri was present at a press event at Delhi and mentioned that after the film became a historical success, foreign media publications realised that it was 'denting their narrative'.

He said that every major player who maligns India's image internationally without checking the truth, started calling him and their line of the question was only Hindu-Muslim. He further said that not one person bothered to ask him about victims who he interviewed for the film. He also said that nobody tried to ask him about the facts he has shown in the film and whether they are right or wrong.

Agnihotri also reacted to the allegations that are put against his film. The film enjoyed a tremendous run at the box office and it is still running in theatres. He shared his thoughts on a section of people who have called the film 'problematic' and said that it is propagating 'anti-Muslims sentiments'. He said, "Most of our crew was Muslim. In Kashmir, 100 percent of our crew was Muslim. One of the most important scenes in the film where the protagonist of the film interacts with a boy in Shikara, I had requested a Kashmiri Muslim activist from Kashmir Valley to write that scene. I said that you must have representation. We made sure that scene was enacted by a Kashmiri Muslim activist boy in Kashmir. It’s embarrassing that I have to come and say all these things but I want to expose these people who use Islamophobia as a political weapon against us."

Agnihotri further added, "There is an international political campaign against the film. They blame us for Islamophobia. I categorically put on record that Islamophobia is being used as a political weapon against my film under an international political conspiracy. The film is actually anti-terrorism. The film does not use even once the word ‘Muslim’. The film does not use the word Pakistan or Pakistani. It’s an anti-terrorism film."

The Kashmir Files released in March 2022 and has minted almost 340 crores at the box office making it one of the most successful movies of all time.