One of the most prestigious film festivals IFFI held in Goa. The 53rd International Film Festival of India or IFFI Jury head's remarks on the movie 'The Kashmir Files' have triggered a stir. Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who headed the IFFI jury, called Vivek Agnihotri's directorial a "propaganda" and a "vulgar movie". It became a huge controversy as people started reacting on it and criticizing him for his words. After several times justifying the statement Nadav apologised for his statement.
Nadav Lapid said, “I didn’t want to insult anyone, and my aim was never to insult people or their relatives, who have suffered. I totally totally totally apologize if that’s the way they interpreted." He also said that he spoke on behalf of the entire jury. Nadav also said that his comments weren’t just his but also represented the thoughts of his fellow jurists.
This came after one of the jury members called his speech his personal opinion. Sudipto Sen, one of the members on the IFFI jury, said that, “Whatever has been said by IFFI 2022 Jury Chairman Mr. Nadav Lapid about the film Kashmir Files, from the stage of closing ceremony of 53rd IFFI was completely his personal opinion. In the official presentation of the Jury Board to the Festival Director and in the official Press Conference, where we 4 juries (the fifth jury had to leave for her personal emergency) were present and interacted with the press, we never mentioned anything about our likes or dislikes."
He further added, "Both were our official collective opinion. As juror, we are assigned to judge the technical, aesthetic quality and socio-cultural relevance of a film. We don't indulge in any kind of political comments on any film and if it is done, it is completely in a personal capacity - nothing to do with the esteemed Jury Board.”
Speaking of Kashmir Files was made on a budget of ₹15 crore and ended up grossing over ₹350 crore worldwide, largely due to strong word of mouth. The film, directed by Pallavi’s husband Vivek Agnihotri, dealt with the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley over 30 years ago. The film beat out several big releases like Ranbir Kapoor’s Shams Hera, Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, and Akshay Kumar’s Samrat Prithviraj in the box office race.
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