Filmmaker-Director- Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra lashed out at people criticizing his film Shikara, a film on Kashmiri Pandits. He called the people donkeys as they are not able to understand the plight of Kashmiri Padis in the film.
Chopra said that he produced films like 3 idiots which crossed the mark of Rs 33 crore on the very first day and he knew from the start that Shikara will cross about Rs 30 lakh and despite everything he invested his 11 years in making Shikara.
He further added to it that people form an opinion before even watching the film because they are donkeys and gave a suggestion that they should not be donkeys and should go out and watch the movie and then form the opinion.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra also talked about the video that went viral in which a woman was yelling at Chopra by saying that it was not the right representation of her pain.
To this, he said that he walked into a packed theatre for one of the first screenings of his latest film, Shikara. Three hundred people, most of them were Kashmiri Pandits, stood up and applauded. But one lady at the back screamed that the film wasn’t representative of her pain. She wanted more. He further added that he was accused of commercializing the tragedy of a community that was exiled 30 years ago.
He added to it that he have spent many days thinking about what she said. And he realized that what she wanted was more hate. She wanted a film that demonized Muslims, and that sowed even more animosity and bloodshed. In fact, one of her issues with the film was that Muslim actors were playing Pandit characters.
After a week of shrill accusations, controversy, and introspection about what he could have done differently, he has come to the conclusion that he is not that storyteller. He concluded by saying that he will never peddle hate for profit.
