After brouhaha, Israeli director, Nadav Lapid issues apology for 'Kashmir Files' vulgar comment, claims he 'never intended to insult anyone'
Lapid had earlier claimed the movie was "vulgar propaganda."
By ET Online | Updated:
Agencies
Nadav Lapid, the Israeli film director, and International Film Festival of India (IFFI) jury head who recently faced a massive backlash after he called ‘The Kashmir Files’ “vulgar propaganda”, has backtracked on his earlier statement and issued an apology.
In an interview with CNN News-18, Lapid apologised for inadvertently offending the sentiments of any community. “ 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 claimed that the rest of the jury supported his stance, although fellow juror, director Sudipto Sen stated that the views endorsed by Lapid were entirely his own.
Earlier in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Nadav had adamantly defended his views and claimed that he knew “how to recognise propaganda disguised as a movie.” Citing the films of Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl, he said that three minutes into the movie he could feel that the movie had specific propaganda. He also claimed that the movie was showcased in the festival due to political pressure and denounced the movie as a “ very crude, manipulative, and violent propaganda film.”
For those who are uninitiated, Nadav became the centre of a huge controversy after he described the Vivek Agnihotri directorial as a “propaganda vulgar movie” and claimed that the jurors were deeply disturbed and shocked by the film. He also added that the film was ‘inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival’.
Agnihotri reacted to Nadav’s remarks through a scathing tweet. On Thursday (December 1) he wrote, “People do and say things to hurt you because somewhere they are unhappy that you have got what they desired. That’s why they want to destroy you. Letting such people hurt you is not just cowardice but self-destruction.”
Released in March, this year ‘TKF’ narrates the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley during the early ‘90s. Although the movie was heavily criticised for allegedly showing an extremely biased perspective of the exodus and fanning communal tensions, the movie went on to be a huge blockbuster and earned more than Rs 250 crores.
In an interview with CNN News-18, Lapid apologised for inadvertently offending the sentiments of any community. “ 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 claimed that the rest of the jury supported his stance, although fellow juror, director Sudipto Sen stated that the views endorsed by Lapid were entirely his own.
#IFFI #IFFI2022 @nfdcindia @ianuragthakur https://t.co/GBhtw0tH6C
— Sudipto SEN (@sudiptoSENtlm) 1669662088000Earlier in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Nadav had adamantly defended his views and claimed that he knew “how to recognise propaganda disguised as a movie.” Citing the films of Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl, he said that three minutes into the movie he could feel that the movie had specific propaganda. He also claimed that the movie was showcased in the festival due to political pressure and denounced the movie as a “ very crude, manipulative, and violent propaganda film.”
For those who are uninitiated, Nadav became the centre of a huge controversy after he described the Vivek Agnihotri directorial as a “propaganda vulgar movie” and claimed that the jurors were deeply disturbed and shocked by the film. He also added that the film was ‘inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival’.
Agnihotri reacted to Nadav’s remarks through a scathing tweet. On Thursday (December 1) he wrote, “People do and say things to hurt you because somewhere they are unhappy that you have got what they desired. That’s why they want to destroy you. Letting such people hurt you is not just cowardice but self-destruction.”
GM. People do and say things to hurt you because somewhere they are unhappy that you have got what they desired.… https://t.co/Nkz4fIWDYh
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) 1669858863000Released in March, this year ‘TKF’ narrates the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley during the early ‘90s. Although the movie was heavily criticised for allegedly showing an extremely biased perspective of the exodus and fanning communal tensions, the movie went on to be a huge blockbuster and earned more than Rs 250 crores.
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#TheKashmirFiles is the first #Hindi film to cross ₹ 250 cr [post pandemic]... Absence of notable film/s this weeke… https://t.co/WKZL1ma0DA
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) 1649657598000After almost two years of silence, the box-office is roaring back to life thanks to hit films such as 'RRR', 'Spider-Man: No Way Home', 'The Kashmir Files' and more.
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