Anupam Kher and Vivek Agnihotri spat with Shashi Tharoor after The Kashmir Files is banned in Singapore
Highlights
- The film will be refused classification for its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims
- The authorities have assessed the film to be “beyond” Singapore’s film classification guidelines
- The Kashmir Files is being screened in India since March to mixed reviews
The Kashmir Files, a Bollywood movie on the exodus of Hindus from the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, has been banned in multi-racial Singapore as the film has been assessed to be “beyond” the city-state's film classification guidelines, a media report said on Monday. The authorities have assessed the Hindi-language film to be “beyond” Singapore’s film classification guidelines, said the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in a joint statement with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Read: Time to work on new film: Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri teases 'The Delhi Files'
“The film will be refused classification for its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the on-going conflict in Kashmir. These representations have the potential to cause enmity between different communities, and disrupt social cohesion and religious harmony in our multiracial and multi-religious society,” the authorities told Channel News Asia.
On Singapore banning The Kashmir Files, director Vivek Agnihotri indulged in a Twitter war with MP Shashi Tharoor. The former union minister posted that Kashmir Files film had been banned in Singapore for being "provocative" and "one-sided". Tharoor took to Twitter to share a news article and wrote, "Film promoted by India's ruling party, #KashmirFiles, banned in Singapore."
To this, Vivek shared a list of popular films that have been banned in Singapore but hailed worldwide, calling Singapore the "most regressive censor in the world." "Dear fopdoodle, gnashnab @ShashiTharoor, FYI, Singapore is most regressive censor in the world," Vivek wrote tagging Tharoor in his Tweet. "It even banned The Last Temptations of Jesus Christ (ask your madam). Even a romantic film called #TheLeelaHotelFiles will be banned. Pl stop making fun of Kashmiri Hindu Genocide," Vivek added.
Furthermore, the director also asked whether the late wife of Tharoor, Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu and that the Congress MP should delete his tweet and apologise to Sunanda's soul. "Hey @ShashiTharoor, Is this true that Late Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu? Is the enclosed SS true? If yes, then in Hindu tradition, to respect the dead, you must delete your tweet and apologise to her soul," wrote Vivek.
The Kashmir Files actor Anupam Kher also waded into the spat by sharing a screenshot of a Twitter thread of the late Sunanda Pushkar and asking Tharoor to "show some sensitivity towards Kashmiri Pandits for Sunanda's sake." "Dear @ShashiTharoor! Your callousness towards #KashmiriHindus genocide is tragic. If nothing else at least for #Sunanda's sake who was a Kashmiri herself you should show some sensitivity towards #KashmiriPandits & not feel victorious about a country banning #TheKashmirFiles (sic)," Kher posted along with a broken heart emoji.
The Kashmir Files, being screened in India since March to mixed reviews, is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley the 1990s due to terrorism.
The film, written and directed by Agnihotri, stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi in lead roles.
(With news agencies inputs)
