New Delhi: The success of Vivek Agnihotri's film 'The Kashmir Files' is not being digested by many critics and politicians. He alleges that the central government is promoting this film. These people are also raising questions on making this film tax free in BJP ruled states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana. NDTV's senior journalist Srinivasan Jain has also questioned the central government for the praise being given to this film, which shows the truth of the horrific massacre of Kashmiri Pandits.
Jain has tweeted and asked, 'Can anyone tell when was the last time the Indian government used all its might to promote a commercial film to target its political opponents?' After this tweet by Jain, it has come to the fore that while Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi gave $10 million (about Rs 75 crore) to British filmmaker Richard Attenborough to make 'Gandhi' movie. The intention behind this was to propagate the Congress among the people under the guise of 'Gandhi'. Popular Twitter user Vikrant has informed Jain of NDTV about this fact related to the film 'Gandhi'. He wrote in his tweet that, 'In 1980, the then PM Indira Gandhi provided a fund of $ 7 million to Richard Attenborough to make the film Gandhi. The script of the film was also vetted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Indira. The purpose of this film was to glorify Gandhism and the contribution of Congress in the freedom struggle. Vikrant wrote in his next tweet that, the total funding was $10 million, 7 million was the initial funding.
1980 - PM Indira Gandhi financed ($7 Million) to Richard Attenborough for making the Movie Gandhi The Script was especially vetted by I&B ministry The idea was to capture Indian mind with Gandhism & glorify the role of Congress in freedom struggle We are still paying for it.. https://t.co/CfW69Hqb2X
— Vikrant ~ विक्रांत (@vikrantkumar) March 15, 2022
According to Vikrant's claim, the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) was also among the organizations producing the Gandhi film. This organization, which comes under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has been promoting Indian cinema since 1975. In 1982, DVS Raju was the chairman of NFDC. According to publicly available information, the film's co-producer Rani Dubey had convinced PM Indira Gandhi to give 10 million dollars from the National Film Development Corporation of India. Produced and directed by Attenborough, the film was released in cinemas in India on 30 November 1982. The film also pays tribute to the last British Viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten and Motilal Kothari, India's High Commissioner in London. Motilal Kothari was considered a strong supporter of Gandhi and Nehru. According to the reports, there were two attempts to make the film 'Gandhi'. It was also director Attenborough's dream project. Hungarian filmmaker Gabriel Pascal had earlier expressed his desire to make a film on Gandhi in 1952 in front of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
However, due to the death of Pascal in 1954, this film could not be made. Later, through Louis Mountbatten, Richard Attenborough met the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi in the year 1962. Then Nehru allowed Attenborough to make the film and also assured to raise funds for it. Once again this film could not be made after Nehru passed away in the year 1964. However, Attenborough did not give up. He decided to complete the project with Warner Bros. in the year 1976. At the same time Indira Gandhi imposed emergency in India. In this way, once again this film could not be made. Finally, after 20 years, Indira Gandhi not only gave permission to make this film, but also arranged money for it.
Sonia Gandhi remembers Ghulam Nabi Azad after Congress's crushing defeat
Not even 60 hours lasted, road built in 60 lakh... another example of corruption in Congress govt