Nadav Lapid, IFFI’s jury head, during the concluding ceremony of the festival, termed the movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ as ‘vulgar’ and ‘inappropriate’, and said that the spirit of the festival can surely accept a critical discussion as well, which is essential for art and life.

Earlier on Monday, Lapid said that the IFFI was disturbed about this film.

Sharing the experience of the jury, he said that 14 out of them (international films) had cinematic quality.

“All of us were disturbed and shocked by the 15th film ‘The Kashmir Files’. That felt to us like a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival,” Lapid added.

“I feel totally comfortable to openly share these feelings here with you on this stage. Since, the spirit of the festival can surely also accept a critical discussion, which is essential for art and life,” he said.

On November 23, Anupam Kher, lead actor in this movie, speaking about the ‘The Kashmir files’ had said that it helped people all over the world to be aware of the tragedy that happened to Kashmiri Pandits community in 1990s.

“It is a film based on true incidents. Film Director Vivek Agnihotri interviewed around 500 people all around the world for the movie. On the night of January 19, 1990, five lakh Kashmiri Pandits had to leave their homes and memories in the Kashmir Valley following rising violence. As a Kashmiri Hindu, I lived with the tragedy. But nobody was recognising the tragedy. World was trying to hide this tragedy. The film started a healing process by documenting the tragedy,” Kher had added.

One small film Kashmir Files which is based on true events that happened in Kashmir is now the topic across the country. The film opened to a fantabulous response after it got released in a limited number of screens. The film gained strength every single day and is raking massive numbers. The word of mouth is so strong that Kashmir Files is running with packed houses even on weekdays. The film had a super-strong Monday and collected Rs 15.05 crores in India. The film’s Tuesday numbers are more than Monday which never happened for any Indian film.

Kashmir Files grossed Rs 18 crores on Tuesday and this is a record. The fifth-day numbers are the highest for Kashmir Files after its release. Comparing the Tuesday numbers post-pandemic, Kashmir Files surpassed Sooryavanshi (Rs 11.22 Cr) and Gangubhai Kathiawadi (Rs 10.01 Cr) with the Tuesday numbers. Kashmir Files is expected to end up as the biggest hit in Indian cinema after the pandemic.