A Supreme Court lawyer has filed a complaint with the Director General of Police (DGP) of Goa, seeking registration of an FIR against Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid for calling the movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ a ‘vulgar’ and ‘propaganda’ film.
The complaint has been filed by Advocate Vineet Jindal against Nadav, who slammed the movie during the closing ceremony of the 53rd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Monday.
Nadav was heading the IFFI jury.
Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon on Tuesday publicly denounced Nadav through an open letter on Twitter.
In a series of tweets, Gilon said, “An open letter to #NadavLapid following his criticism of #KashmirFiles. It’s not in Hebrew because I wanted our Indian brothers and sisters to be able to understand. It is also relatively long so I’ll give you the bottom line first. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED. Here’s why.
“In Indian culture, they say that a guest is like God. You have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at @IFFIGoa as well as the trust, respect, and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you,” the Envoy added.
Nadav had said on Monday that the jurors at IFFI were ‘disturbed’ and ‘shocked’ by ‘The Kashmir Files’.
He further said that the movie was like a propaganda and vulgar, calling it inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival. His remarks evoked strong reaction from Indians. The jury, taking note of the huge backlash Lapid received, distanced itself from his remarks and termed them as his “personal opinion”.
Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, the movie revolves around the exodus and killing of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990. The film has witnessed its share of controversies after releasing in March this year. Some people termed it as a poignant depiction of a tragic period, while critics alleged that the flick did not show the correct facts.
The Envoy further rebuked Lapid for abusing the Indian invitation to the judges’ panel in the ‘worst way’.