While Vivek Agnihotri’s film The Kashmir Files, which was released last week, continues to have a record-breaking run, some detractors have targeted the film for receiving significant government support. Critics have questioned BJP-ruled states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana, as well as Karnataka, which has announced that the film ‘Kashmir Files’ will be tax-free in the state.
NDTV’s senior journalist Sreenivasan Jain took a jibe at the BJP government for supporting the movie The Kashmir Files, which brings the brutally honest account of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide to the big screen. “Genuine q: can anyone recall the last time the Indian state threw its entire weight in promoting a privately produced movie while using it to target its political opponents?” the NDTV journalists tweeted, mocking the government.
Genuine q: can anyone recall the last time the Indian state threw its entire weight in promoting a privately produced movie while using it to target its political opponents?
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) March 15, 2022
The NDTV journalist implied that no government prior to this one has ever in the history of Indian cinema thrown its entire weight in promoting a privately produced movie. He further said that the government was using the movie to target its political opponents.
So, to get his facts straight, Jain was informed by popular Twitter user Vikrant that Congress leader and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi provided funding to Richard Attenborough for making the film ‘Gandhi’ in 1980.
“1980 – PM Indira Gandhi financed ($7 Million) to Richard Attenborough for making the Movie Gandhi The Script was especially vetted by I&B ministry The idea was to capture Indian mind with Gandhism & glorify the role of Congress in freedom struggle We are still paying for it..,” Tweeted Vikrant.
1980 – PM Indira Gandhi financed ($7 Million) to Richard Attenborough for making the Movie Gandhi
— Vikrant ~ विक्रांत (@vikrantkumar) March 15, 2022
The Script was especially vetted by I&B ministry
The idea was to capture Indian mind with Gandhism & glorify the role of Congress in freedom struggle
We are still paying for it.. https://t.co/CfW69Hqb2X
As rightly pointed out by Vikrant, the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) was indeed one of the producers of the movie ‘Gandhi’.
The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), headquartered in Mumbai, is the central agency responsible for promoting Indian cinema since 1975. It is part of the Government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and is responsible for film financing, production, and distribution.
In 1982, the National Film Development Corporation of India presided over by DVS Raju, was one of the production companies that financed the film ‘Gandhi’.
According to publicly available information, the decision was made after Rani Dube, the film’s co-producer, persuaded Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to provide the first $10 million from the National Film Development Corporation of India, on the back of which the remainder of the funding was eventually raised.
Directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, ‘Gandhi’ was released in India on November 30, 1982. Besides being based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, the movie was also a tribute to Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, Motilal Kothari, an Indian-born civil servant working with the Indian High Commission in London and a devout follower of Gandhi and the then Prime Minister of India and Congress leader, Jawaharlal Nehru.
‘Gandhi’ was director Richard Attenborough’s dream project, which he worked on for several years before finally finishing. According to media reports, two previous attempts to make the movie ‘Gandhi’ had failed. Gabriel Pascal, a Hungarian film producer and director, secured an agreement with India’s Prime Minister at the time, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to produce a film about Mahatma Gandhi’s life in 1952. However, Pascal died in 1954, and the film could not be made.
Through a connection with Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, Attenborough met then-Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi in 1962. Nehru appeared to have approved of the film and promised to help fund its production, but his death in 1964 was one of the film’s many setbacks.
That wasn’t the only time Attenborough struggled to finish his dream film. In 1976, Attenborough attempted to resurrect the project with the help of Warner Brothers. However, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India, making filming for the project impossible.
Then, 20 years later, Indira Gandhi not only gave him permission to make the film but also provided him with the money for making it. Rani Dube, the film’s co-producer, persuaded Indira Gandhi to provide $10 million from the National Film Development Corporation of India because the budget was falling short.
Likewise, in response to Sreenivasan Jain’s Tweet, another Twitter user reminded the NDTV journalist how some other movies that were made on the Emergency of 1975, that was imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had also been then funded by the Films Division of India under the I&B ministry. “Do you recall how Films Division of India under MIIB had produced movies such as ‘The Prime Minister’, ‘Kaisa Andhera’, ‘Maa Ki Pukaar’ etc., during emergency with the sole motive of justifying emergency? Using state exchequer for personal political goals is even worse,” wrote one Satish Verma.
Do you recall how Films Division of India under MIIB had produced movies such as ‘The Prime Minister’, ‘Kaisa Andhera’, ‘Maa Ki Pukaar’ etc., during emergency with the sole motive of justifying emergency? Using state exchequer for personal political goals is even worse. https://t.co/soF1tQaMHU
— Satish Verma (@satoverma) March 16, 2022
Pertinently, while the movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ has been receiving an overwhelming response from the public and the government, with many states declaring it tax-free, the Congress party has been from the very start maintaining a controversial stance on the film.
On March 13, INC Kerala Twitter handle sparked controversy by alleging, “Pandits left the valley en masse under the direction of Governor Jagmohan who was an RSS man. The migration started under the BJP-supported VP Singh government.”
Today (March 16), AIUDF chief and ex-Congress ally Badruddin Ajmal demanded ban on ‘The Kashmir Files’, saying that the movie will stoke communal tensions.
