Shikara director pens open letter, calls accusation 'nonsensical'

Dismissing all the accusations, filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra today penned an open letter elaborating the sufferings they had to go through when they were driven out of their homeland after being targeted by Islamist insurgents three decades ago.

Mumbai: Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra on Sunday said that he is "deeply disturbed" by the accusation that his latest release Shikara commercialises the subject of Kashmiri Pandits.

In an open letter, the director dismissed the allegation claiming it to be "nonsensical."

Chopra's response came days after a Kashmiri Pandit woman broke down after watching the film and accused the director of "commercialising the plight" of the community members who were forced to leave the Valley in 1990s when militancy rose its head in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Calling himself an "affected Kashmiri Hindu", Chopra recalled how his house in Kashmir was ransacked and his family members attacked.

"My mother who came with a small suitcase to Bombay for the premiere of Parinda could not go back home – she died in exile in Mumbai... Now I'm being accused of selling my soul, of commercialising the subject of Kashmiri Pandits."

"It's a nonsensical accusation because if I wanted to make money I would have made the sequel to Munnabhai or 3 Idiots," he argued in the letter shared on social media.

Chopra said he made Shikara because he was a first-hand witness of the incident.

READ | Shikara in storm: Hysterical woman charges at Vidhu Vinod Chopra post watching film

"You weren't even born when we were thrown out of our homeland in 1990. And if you don't know history, you will be condemned to repeat it. Shikara is my truth. It's is my mother's truth. It's my co-writer Rahul Pandita's truth," he added.

The producer further said that Shikara is an attempt to highlight the unimaginable pain "without sowing the seeds of violence and animosity."

"This is the truth of a community which despite going through such trauma did not pick up a gun or spread hate... And to begin a conversation that will hopefully enable Kashmiri Pandits to return to Kashmir," he added.

"Violence will only beget violence. I have seen my home destroyed by hate. Do not let it consume you. I want you to have a future that is different from my past," he concluded.

Featuring Aadil Khan and Sadia, the film released last Friday.

With inputs from PTI.