Had your brother been killed, you wouldn't have bothered about data on casualties: Vivek Agnihotri

Vivek Agnihotri, the director of The Kashmir Files, spoke to India Today about reducing the film and the persecuted to mere statistics and data.

The director of The Kashmir Files - Vivek Agnihotri, riding high on the success of his film that claims to portray a part of India’s history long ignored by many, tells India Today TV that “terrorism has no diverse views”.

Asked whether he committed commercial suicide with a film as unapologetic as The Kashmir Files, Agnihotri said, “This film is about humanity and education. Give it due respect if you want to change India and don’t get involved in the number game.”

“They (the persecuted people) are not statistics. They are human beings. Nobody asked Steven Spielberg (the director of Schindler’s List) for data on the holocaust and accepted that the Holocaust is the most inhuman and the most barbaric thing to have happened ever,” he said.

“If your parents were killed, you would not have cared if 4,000 people were killed or 400. If your brother was killed or your sister was raped, you would never ever, in your life, ask whether there are diverse views.”

The Kashmir Files, which portrays the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, who had to leave their homes overnight to escape persecution in the Valley, has been witnessing a political whirlpool around it. The film has earned the Prime Minister’s nod and several states have extended tax breaks.

Also Read: | Tax cuts, screening for MLAs: Centre, states push for The Kashmir Files