23 august 2024 : Kolkata, Director Vivek Agnihotri, who was accused of making propaganda movies, said he has the liberty to choose his subject.
Agnihotri’s 2022 film ‘The Kashmir Files’ depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the North Indian state following members of the community being killed by terrorists. His 2019 film, ‘The Tashkent Files’, revolves around the mysterious death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in Uzbekistan in 1966.
Agnihotri told PTI that a significant part of his upcoming film, ‘The Delhi Files’, will focus on undivided Bengal’s violent history, with references to the Noakhali riots of 1946, the Muslim League, Congress, Mahatma Gandhi and Md Ali Jinnah.
“There are people who ask why Vivek Agnihotri is not making a film on the situation in the northeastern region. There are so many filmmakers. Let anyone among them take up the task. Let me choose my subject. Can’t I create awareness about the issue chosen by me,” he added.
The ‘Vaccine War’ director came to Kolkata to participate in a rally on Wednesday protesting against the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor in state-run R G Kar Hospital here.
“There are so many women MPs in India. Why are they not protesting against such an incident, why don’t they sit on the street? You cannot trust politicians. India has been destroyed by politicians,” he said.
To a question, he said he wanted to join the rally as a citizen of the country and to express solidarity with the protestors, but he would not make any film on the ghastly incident.
“I have a daughter and a sister. I don’t want to exploit such an issue for commercial reasons. Let politicians do that. They are like vultures,” the filmmaker said.
On West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s criticism of his film ‘The Kashmir Files’ in the past, he said it was “unwarranted”.
Banerjee may have thought it is an anti-Muslim film but it is not true, Agnihotri said.
He also alleged that the West Bengal government tried to stop his team’s research for the film ‘The Delhi Files’.
To a question, he said, “I am not a politician. I am a filmmaker. My job is not to file FIRs. I can’t go to court,” Agnihotri said asserting that he believed in approaching “the people’s court”.
The director said he was in West Bengal in his childhood.
“I had been inspired by four personalities – Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, writer Saratchandra Chattopadhyay and later on by the works of filmmaker Satyajit Ray,” Agnihotri said.