The Kashmir Files: Saeed Akhtar Mirza calls Vivek Agnihotri, Anupam Kher's film 'garbage'

Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, the hard-hitting political drama The Kashmir Files has been in news recently when the Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who was the jury head at the recently held International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2022, called it a 'propaganda, vulgar' film.

Now, veteran filmmaker Saeed Akhtar Mirza too has lashed out at the film calling it 'garbage'. Talking to The Indian Express, Saeed said, "For me, The Kashmir Files is garbage. Is the Kashmiri Pandit issue garbage? No, it’s not. It’s real. Is it just Kashmiri Hindus? No. Muslims, too, are caught in an incredibly vulgar trap of the machinations of intelligence agencies, nations with so-called national interests, and paid guys from across the border, who continue to create havoc. The point is not to take sides. Be human and try to understand."

For the unversed, Saeed Akhtar Mirza is known for his immense work in the Indian parallel cinema movement. Mirza's critically acclaimed films include Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai, Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro, Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan and Naseem among others.

Coming back to The Kashmir Files, released in March earlier this year, the film turned out to be a blockbuster success as it earned over Rs 340 crore at the global box office becoming the second-highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year behind Brahmastra Part One: Shiva starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.

READ | Vivek Agnihotri replies to Twitter user saying The Tashkent Files was better film than The Kashmir Files

Starring Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi among others, the film was declared tax-free in multiple states governed by the ruling party Bhartiya Janta Party and a few states even provided official vacations to government employees to go and watch the film.