Vidhu
Vinod
Chopra's
Shikara
released
in
theatres
on
February
7,
2020.
The
film
recently
hit
a
controversy
when
a
woman,
belonging
to
the
Kashmiri
Pandit
community,
broke
down
after
watching
the
film
in
a
special
screening
in
Delhi
and
slammed
the
filmmaker
for
'commercialising
the
plight
of
Kashmiri
Pandits.'
After
being
accused
of
commercialising
the
exodus
of
Kashmiri
Pandits
through
his
latest
directorial,
the
director
on
Sunday
wrote
an
open
letter
on
Facebook,
to
talk
about
the
sufferings
that
he
and
his
family
had
to
face
when
they
were
driven
out
of
their
homeland
as
a
result
of
being
targeted
by
Islamist
insurgents
three
decades
ago.
The
filmmaker
addressed
the
letter
to
'young
Indians'
and
wrote,
"The
recent
incidents
related
to
Shikara
have
deeply
disturbed
me.
I
am
an
affected
Kashmiri
Hindu.
My
house
in
Kashmir
was
ransacked
and
my
family
members
attacked.
My
mother
who
came
with
a
small
suitcase
to
Bombay
for
the
premiere
of
Parinda
(1989)
could
not
go
back
home
-
she
died
in
exile
in
Mumbai".
"While
most
of
you
know
me
for
producing
films
like
Munnabhai
and
3
Idiots,
I've
actually
been
making
films
for
the
last
40
years
-
my
first
short
film
was
nominated
for
an
Oscar
in
1979.
My
journey
in
cinema
has
been
extremely
satisfying
and
I
have
never
felt
even
an
iota
of
doubt
in
my
mind
that
I
ever
strayed
from
the
commandments
of
the
iconic
filmmaker
Ingmar
Bergman
who
said
that
Thou
Shalt
Entertain
but
that
Thou
Shalt
Entertain
Without
Selling
Your
Soul."
Describing
the
accusations
as
"nonsensical," Chopra
continued,
"Now
I'm
being
accused
of
selling
my
soul,
of
commercialising
the
subject
of
Kashmiri
Pandits.
It's
a
nonsensical
accusation
because
if
I
wanted
to
make
money
I
would
have
made
the
sequel
to
Munnabhai
or
3
Idiots.
But
the
reason
I
made
Shikara
is
because
I
have
witnessed
firsthand
what
the
loss
of
a
home
means.
And
because
most
of
you
are
unaware
of
the
extent
of
our
tragedy.
You
weren't
even
born
when
we
were
thrown
out
of
our
homeland
in
1990.
And
if
you
don't
know
history,
you
will
be
condemned
to
repeat
it."
He
further
wrote,
"The
movie
is
my
truth.
It's
is
my
mother's
truth.
It's
my
co-writer
Rahul
Pandita's
truth.
This
is
the
truth
of
a
community
which
despite
going
through
such
trauma
did
not
pick
up
a
gun
or
spread
hate.
Shikara
is
an
attempt
to
do
the
same
-
to
speak
of
unimaginable
pain
without
sowing
the
seeds
of
violence
and
animosity.
And
to
begin
a
conversation
that
will
hopefully
enable
Kashmiri
Pandits
to
return
to
Kashmir."
"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," he
wrote
in
his
open
letter.