Vishal Bhardwaj skipped 'The Kashmir Files,' 'The Kerala Story' 'consciously'
What's the story
The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story were two massive blockbusters of 2022 and 2023, respectively, and despite polarizing reviews, dominated the box office.
Directed by Vivek Agnihotri and Sudipto Sen, respectively, the films were criticized for allegedly promoting Islamophobia and "attempting to divide the nation."
Now, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has weighed in on the matter and revealed he didn't watch these films "consciously."
VB's comments
Why he stayed away from these films
In an interview, Bhardwaj told PTI, "I didn't see [these movies]...I didn't see them consciously. The kind of things I was hearing about these films, I didn't want to get impacted."
"I was hearing that they are propaganda films from my friends and people I know. So, I just wanted to stay out of it because, for me, it is a very sensitive subject."
Negativity
Filmmaker wanted to remain out of negativity
Further explaining why he skipped TKF and TKS, Bhardwaj said, "If there's so much negativity, I want to remain out of this negativity, I love my peace... I didn't want to see them."
"I want my community of filmmakers to treat such stories sensitively and not use it as propaganda."
To note, Bhardwaj's Haider reportedly earned critical acclaim for sensitively portraying the Kashmir conflict.
Changing times
Bhardwaj believes times are now changing
In a similar vein, recently, actor Naseerudddin Shah called these films "jingoistic."
Separately, Bhardwaj also responded to how the objective of filmmaking has changed in cinema.
He noted, "Cinema is such a thing that you can use it the way you want. If people are accepting it and seeing it, then we should accept that people are changing. We are changing as a society."
Projects
Work calendar: What Bhardwaj is working on currently
Meanwhile, Bhardwaj's OTT series Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valley will drop on SonyLIV on Wednesday.
Notably, the pilot premiered in June, while the remaining episodes will now make their way to the streamer.
Additionally, he has another release in the form of the spy thriller Khufiya, starring Tabu, Ali Fazal, and Ashish Vidyarthi.
It will drop on Netflix on October 5.