Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri on Tuesday received the prestigious Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration at the 69th National Film Awards.
Talking to ANI, Vivek Agnihotri said, “We worked very hard for four or five, now five years on this film, and getting this award is really a recognition of the efforts and the struggle and sacrifice the entire team of ‘The Kashmir Files’ made.”
He added, “I think, above all, it’s a tribute to all the victims of genocide, victims of religious terrorism and victims of persecution all over the world. We are going through very turbulent times where half of the world is fighting and is at war, especially with Israel and Palestine. This film is a great message for the world to understand what happens when you let religious terrorism succeed.”
“So I think it’s a great tribute to but above all, I think it’s a great honour and tribute to the voice of Kashmiri pandits who were persecuted and for 32 years who were silenced and nobody heard their voice,” he further added.
He also talked about his new film, saying, “Now we are making a film called ‘The Delhi Files’, which will tell you the history of Bharat right from Partition till date.”
Helmed by Vivek Agnihotri, the film starred Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Mithun Chakraborty and Darshan Kumaar in the lead roles.
‘The Kashmir Files,’ on the life of Kashmiri Pandits during the 1990 Kashmir insurgency, is based on first-generation video interviews of victims of the Kashmiri massacre, making an account of their pain, suffering, struggle and trauma.
The movie, which was originally released on March 11, 2022, made it to the Oscars 2023 reminder list when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) released the list of 301 feature films eligible for this year’s Oscars.
Recently, Vivek shared a screenshot of an email in which he received a request from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Library for the script of ‘The Vaccine War.’
‘The Vaccine War’ opened certain chapters about Indian bio-scientists and indigenous vaccines. The film also pays tribute to the dedication of the medical fraternity and scientists during the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The film narrated the tale of the triumph of scientists and 130 crore people who fought the battle in the COVID-19 era.
Helmed by Vivek Agnihotri, the film starred Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher and Pallavi Joshi in the lead roles and hit the screens on September 28. (ANI)
