Latest : Two boys barged into Vivek Agnihotri’s office after watching Kashmir Files 2022
Two boys barged into Vivek Agnihotri’s office after watching Kashmir Files
A few weeks ago, two boys barged into our office, pushing my manager, and threatened my life.” Vivek Agnihotri wrote in The Kashmir Files. Vivek Agnihotri also said that two boys recently pushed my manager.
We had a difficult time catching Vivek Agnihotri for an interview. Vivek’s life has been turned upside down since the publication of The Kashmir Files. However, he is the same person he was before. He says, “You know me from when I created Chocolate back in 2005.”
I couldn’t fit into the Bollywood model even back then. I decided 17 years ago that I would never make a star-driven film and would make films that make sense to me. I firmly believe that cinema is the medium of writers and directors.”
Vivek Agnihotri was threatened with death after depicting the Kashmir Files in his blog; his comment was, ” My manager was recently pushed by two boys who entered my office.”
The Kashmir Files is not just a movie. It’s a movement. Vivek is overwhelmed by the stupendous success that he’s experienced. “Audiences around the world are watching the film in pin-drop silence. Three hours and fifty minutes of the intense, emotional film is not something to scoff at.”.
A new series of The Kashmir Files is reaching millions of Kashmiri Pandits across the world. Why is it so successful in Canada? It started with two shows, now it has over ninety. The film has connected Indians everywhere in discussions and debates.
Ramu (Ram Gopal Varma) made a video where he explains why he hates The Kashmir Files, it’s a superb review. The Kashmir Files took four years to complete.
We used our own money and mortgaged our house. We travelled to many parts of the world to research it. And even after all that work, we had no idea what would happen.”
After having struggled for a while to find a producer, Vivek finally got Abhishek Agarwal who made an unconditional commitment to the project.
After the film had been half-completed, Zee came on board. Bollywood producers wanted me to make traditional black-and-white potboilers, which we refused to do. In 2010, we decided to make our films with self-generated funds, and we’ve made Buddha In The Traffic Jam, The Tashkent Files, The Kashmir Files
In an interview with Vivek Sagar, he admits he is clueless as to why Bollywood follows the star system and pays actors in multi-crores.
“I quit Bollywood long ago. Even while promoting The Kashmir Files, my wife (actress Pallavi Joshi) and I have been doing the needful. We believe that we are the creators of the product. We need actors and not stars.”
Vivek admits there have been threats to his well-being after the controversy over The Kashmir Files’ success. “Yes, there were threats. In the recent past, two boys barged into our office while my wife and I were not there. Only our manager, an older woman, was there.
They pushed her with the door, and when she fell they asked for me and then fled. I never spoke about this because I didn’t want such elements to get publicity. I told them not to bother with security. But they insisted.”
Filmmaker Jeremy Schneider isn’t planning any more ‘Files’ sequels. ” My next film will be The Delhi Files, and the trilogy will be completed after that,” he said. My mission has never been to develop the Files into a franchise.
There has always been an intention to make this a trilogy. Nothing can change that. Anyone who knows me from my past will know that I’ve been making the movies I want to make for the last ten years. I am the last person to think, ‘The audience is addicted to the franchise, so let’s make one more.’ I will never do that..”
What’s happening with the Files? “The trilogy was originally conceived as a trilogy. One day I was thinking about the three pillars of democracy – truth, justice and life. The Files trilogy was inspired by this tenet.
The Tashkent Files concerned the right to truth. The Kashmir Files centred around the right to justice. We will be talking about the right to life in The Delhi Files. And the fourth pillar is the audience – let them decide what they want to see.”
Not just his film, Vivek argues that the pandemic has changed the grammar of screen entertainment. “Covid also changed a lot of things. Audiences will not clap for crap anymore.
You see, for us (Vivek and Pallavi), cinema is not about socializing. And neither do we drink. Our sleep patterns have been interrupted more than four times since we began working on Kashmir Files, not because we were partying but because we were constantly checking and rechecking the logistics of the writing, filming, and release.
There were just 600 screens, to begin with. However, it was suddenly a B and C centre film as well. As such, we had to provide screens to these centres as well.”
Many people think the film is getting a tax exemption because Vivek is close to the BJP. Vivek emphatically refutes this claim. “No! That’s not true.
That’s the Government’s acknowledgement of the film’s relevance. If they didn’t make the film tax-free, their voters would revolt against them.”
Even though The Kashmir Files has been labelled anti-Muslim, Vivek maintains in a statement, “Our intention was never to malign any community. I have not even spoken against Pakistan in the film. I think my audience is intelligent enough to understand that the real antagonist of the film is terrorism.
There is a line in the film that says even Muslims and other communities apart from Hindus are victims of terrorism.”. You deserve to know another secret I have. Remember the scene on a shikara where a Kashmiri says what he thinks about the situation to Darshan Kumar? I asked him to say everything that he feels and to write the dialogues himself.
That was a real Kashmiri Muslim boy from Srinagar who said every word he thought about the situation. Anti-Islamic labels are political if they are applied to the film. That is not what matters to me. What matters is that the film is reaching out to people and touching hearts.
A 75-year-old woman and an 85-year-old man who had never stepped into a cinema went to see The Kashmir Files. That is my real achievement. The film has now reached villages..”
In 2016, The Kashmir Files reactivated the mass exodus into the theatres? Vivek hesitates to claim the credit. “I had been fighting with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Delhi, Maharashtra government to reopen theatres after Covid. Nobody was listening.
Then I fought to ensure one hundred per cent attendance in theatres while everyone was busy collecting fat paychecks by selling their films on OTT. They wondered why I was fighting for re-opening theatres.?
He was not getting any buyers on OTT, so he went to the theatre. But I understood that cinema needed a revival. Today they’re saying not only footfalls for the cinemas but shops too have risen since the release of The Kashmir Files.”
Vivek has an insightful explanation when I bring up the lack of support the film has received from within the industry. He explained, “I resigned from Bollywood in 2010”. Currently, we run a small boutique directing company. We make films because we love them. Since I do not have any Bollywood friends, I am happy with that fact. In this case, I would feel tempted to make what they want to make to make their happiness. Now that I am speaking to you, I am close to being able to earn a lot of money and go home happy. That’s not an option for me. It’s just not my nature.”
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
