Kolkata: Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, whose release Shikara: The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits has hit the theatres, has recently arrived in Kolkata for his film promotion.
During the screening of his film in the city, the director said that he believes Shikara is one of his best creations.
"I took me 11 years for me actually make a film and I believe it is one of my best films," he said.
The director-cum-producer was also accompanied by film's lead pair Aadil Khan and Sadia.
Speaking about what went behind making the film, he said that Aadil and Sadia were stationed in Kashmir to get acquainted with the Kashmiri culture.
"These kids spent six months in Kashmir, just being Kashmiris," he said.
Shikara is my best film, says director Vidhu Vinod Chopra When asked about a particular refugee camp scene in the film, Chopra explained: "James Cameron who saw the film in New Zealand told me 'Vinod I thought they were apples. How can you think that the refugees would be given tomatoes?'"
He further said: "What I couldn't show in the films was when the tomatoes ran out, till the refugees were lining up, then they started cutting the tomatoes into halves and giving a refugee family half a tomato."
In a separate interview, he said: "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."
Addressing the row over his film Shikara, Chopra concluded: "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."
