Prakash Raj attacks 'Kashmir Files', says 'international jury spit on them'

Prakash Raj has slammed 'The Kashmir Files' and the film's director Vivek Agnihotri.

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 08: Multilingual actor Prakash Raj has made critical remarks against 'The Kashmir Files' saying the international jury "spit on" the movie.

Speaking at Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters in Kerala, Prakash Raj called 'The Kashmir Files' a "nonsense film" and slammed the film's director Vivek Agnihotri, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

"The Kashmir Files is one of the nonsense films, but we know who produced it. Shameless. International jury spit on them. They are still shameless. The other fellow, the director is still telling, 'Why I am not getting Oscar?' He will not even get a Bhaskar," he is quoted as saying.

He added, "I tell you because there is a sensitive media out there. Here you can do a propaganda film. I know, according to my sources, they have invested around ₹2000 crore only to make films like this. But you can't fool people all the time."

Prakash Raj is known for his anti-Hindu, anti-BJP and anti-Modi remarks. He had also supported Deepika Padukone over her vulgar song 'Besharam Rang' in Shah Rukh Khan's 'Pathaan'.

His current views on 'The Kashmir Files' being loathed by international jury is a reference to Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid's remarks on the Vivek Agnihotri's film.

Nadav Lapid called 'The Kashmir Files' as "vulgar" and "propaganda" film at the closing ceremony of IFFI (International Film Festival of India) which triggered massive outrage in India.

"All of us were disturbed and shocked by the movie 'The Kashmir Files'. It felt to us like a propaganda and vulgar movie that was inappropriate for an artistic and competitive section of such a prestigious film festival," he said. "I feel comfortable to openly share this feeling with you since the spirit of the festival can truly accept critical discussion which is essential for art and life", Lapid said.

Israeli Ambassador to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, Naor Golin too slammed the comments and said that the Leftist filmmaker should be "ashamed of himself" for making those controversial comments.

In fact, Prakash Raj, who has worked in multiple languages including Kannada, Hindi and Telugu, had reacted to the controversy with a tweet, "Shame is official now".

'The Kashmir Files' written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri is centred around the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Hindus Kashmir. The film has Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Pallavi Joshiand others in the cast. The movie minted a lifetime collection of Rs 252.9 crore in India.