Vivek Agnihotri sends legal notice to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for her comment against 'The Kashmir Files'
May 09, 2023
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 9 : Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri opened up about filing the defamation case against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her remarks against 'The Kashmir Files.' He said that he won't be silent anymore and will take strict legal action for targeting his film.
Agnihotri told ANI, "I was silent for the last several days. Any chief minister, whether he is the Chief Minister of Delhi or the state or big journalists or big politicians, used to say that 'The Kashmir Files' is propaganda but now I thought enough is enough. Whoever is saying it is propaganda should come forward and prove which shot or dialogue or frame or scene or facts are wrong. Otherwise, I and my producers Abhishek Agarwal and Pallavi Joshi are going to take strict legal action against them."
Amidst the controversy around 'The Kerala Story', West Bengal CM banned the film saying, "it is to avoid any incident of hatred or violence," she further commented on 'The Kashmir Files' and added, "What was 'The Kashmir Files'? It was purely meant to humiliate a particular section of society. What is 'The Kerala Story'? It is a distorted story."
Vivek further shared pointing towards the West Bengal CM, "Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee said that 'The Kashmir Files' and my upcoming film which is based on the genocide in Bengal are propaganda. She said that BJP sponsors and funds me for the films I make. This is a blatant lie that affects my livelihood and is baseless allegation that Mamata ji has said just to please her vote bank under a political agenda."
"We have sent a legal notice to CM Mamata Banerjee against the statement she made and asked her to prove with facts otherwise this is completely defamatory with malafide intention," Agnihotri told ANI.
The filmmaker took his Twitter handle, "I have alongwith Abhishek Agarwal & Pallavi Joshi, sent a LEGAL NOTICE to the Chief Minister, Bengal @MamataOfficial for her false & highly defamatory statements made with malafide intention to defame us & our films #TheKashmirFiles & upcoming 2024 film #TheDelhiFiles." He shared the picture of a legal notice along with his tweet.
Furthermore, sharing how he has been threatened a number of times, he added, "Since 'The Kashmir Files I have been threatened and that is why I have been given security by central intelligence agencies. In fact some communal fact checkers took my daughter's pictures from social media and made her popular. This is cannot be justified in democracy. Number of things have been told against me still I remained silent so as to avoid creating any issue. But in democracy you cannot curtail the creativity of a filmmaker. we want to raise such issues so that no filmmaker is forced to remain silent in this country. I want to set example for coming generations."
