On Thursday, Vivek was seen attending a press event in Delhi where he spoke on the issue. He said that after the film was a historical success, foreign media publications felt that it was affecting his story.
He said, “Every big player who malign India’s image at international level without checking the truth started calling me and their question was only Hindu-Muslim. No one, not even anybody. Didn’t bother to ask me about all the victims I interviewed for. This movie. Nobody even tried to ask me about the facts shown in the movie and whether they are right or wrong.”
Vivek also reacted to the allegations against his film. The film performed tremendously at the box office and is still running in theatres. He shared his views on a section of people who called the film “problematic” and said that it was promoting “anti-Muslim sentiments”. He said, “Most of our crew was Muslim. In Kashmir, our crew was 100 per cent Muslim. One of the most important scenes in the film where the protagonist of the film talks with a boy in Shikara, I requested a Kashmiri Muslim worker from Kashmir Valley to write that scene. I said you should have representation. We made sure that the scene was created by a Kashmiri Muslim activist boy in Kashmir. It is shameful that I have to come and say all this but I want to expose those who use Islamophobia as a political weapon against us.”
Agnihotri further said, “There is an international political campaign against the film. They blame us for Islamophobia. I have clearly recorded that Islamophobia as a political weapon against my film as part of an international political conspiracy.” The film is actually anti-terrorism. The word ‘Muslim’ is not used even once in the film. The word Pakistan or Pakistani is not used in the film. It is an anti-terrorism film.”
The National Award winning director also spoke about the allegations that his film was backed by the central government after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated it. Vivek said, “The film became a historic success in the first four days. Till Tuesday, it was undeniable that the film was going to create history. Till then not even a single person said that it was government-backed. But when the Prime Minister spoke about it. I spoke of it in a different context, suddenly it became a government-funded film.”