Vivek Agnihotri slams Anupama Chopra for sabotaging 'The Kashmir Files'
National Film Award-winning director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has launched an attack on movie critic Anupama Chopra by posting an "expose" video on Thursday. According to the filmmaker, Chopra and her entertainment journalism portal Film Companion are boycotting his upcoming venture, The Kashmir Files, while blatantly promoting other Bollywood films. He also questioned the integrity of Chopra's husband, filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Here's what happened.
Agnihotri had called Chopra 'Shoorpanakha of Bollywood'
On Wednesday, Agnihotri called out Chopra on Twitter for "sabotaging" his film. Calling her the "Shoorpanakha of Bollywood," he wrote: "If you have any guts, sabotage #TheKashmirFiles openly...Your only qualification is...you are married to a Producer who despite being a KP [Kashmiri Pandit], stabbed KPs in their back (sic)." To recall, Vidhu's film Shikara—accused of whitewashing Kashmiri Hindus' "genocide"—also dealt with the same subject.
Here's what Agnihotri tweeted earlier this week
He accused Chopra of being prejudiced against his movies
Understandably, many social media users were left wondering what "dirty tricks" had Chopra pulled, and then, The Tashkent Files helmer revealed that he would explain everything in a video soon. And, that said video was released on Thursday evening on YouTube. In the nine-minute-long clip, Agnihotri accused Chopra and, by extension, Film Companion of being prejudiced against his movies.
'Film Companion' is deliberately promoting 'Gehraiyaan,' alleged Agnihotri
The 47-year-old filmmaker explained Twitter recommended him a Film Companion article on Gehraiyaan recently after which he found out the organization did multiple articles on this film. Agnihotri alleged this was their bid to promote the Deepika Padukone-starrer. But the firm, which prided itself in supporting independent filmmakers, had not covered the news of the trailer launch for his The Kashmir Files, he noted.
Agnihotri challenged Chopra to cover his film sans bias
"On one hand, we have a film [Gehraiyaan] that has no relation with India...and they are celebrating it as if it has won an Oscar," noted the filmmaker. He accused Chopra of ignoring his film on Kashmiri Pandits when she had allegedly promoted her husband's film on the same subject (Shikara). Agnihotri then challenged her to cover his film—releasing on March 11—without any bias.
Watch the video here
Earlier, Chetan Bhagat had brought serious allegations against Chopra too
This isn't the first time Chopra's work ethics are being called into question. In 2020, shortly after Sushant Singh Rajput's death, noted author Chetan Bhagat accused Chopra of being silent when her husband Vidhu didn't give Bhagat story credits for 3 Idiots and bullied him.
