“Paisa Kamaana…”: Tigmanshu Dhulia Calls ‘The Kashmir Files’ “Bekaar Picture”
Indian actor-director Tigmanshu Dhulia described ‘The Kashmir Files’ as a “bekaar picture”.
Indian actor-director Tigmanshu Dhulia, known for projects like ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, ‘Milan Talkies’, ‘Criminal Justice’, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and more, has given his take on the importance of political ideologies in cinema. The director-actor gave his opinion amidst the rise of politically motivated films in India. In a scathing assessment, he went on to call such movies as “artistically bankrupt”. The director also said that agenda-driven Indian cinema is terrible, and to make his point clear, he cited the example of Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese’s films.
Tigmanshu Dhulia also brought up the Nazi propaganda film ‘Triumph of the Will’, and said that at least it pushed the boundaries of cinema as an art form.
During his appearance on the Red Mike YouTube channel, Tigmanshu Dhulia also spoke about films such as ‘The Kashmir Files’.
“Uss tarha ki filmein? Woh toh bekaar picture hoti hain, kaun dekhta hai unhe, chalti bhi nahi hain. Sirf wahi chali thi, kya naam tha uska, Kashmir Files. Main inki baat hi nahi karta, bekaar picturein hain sab,” said Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Tigmanshu Dhulia then cited the example of Steven Spielberg, and he described him as someone who plays by the Hollywood rulebook, but doesn’t have an identity as a director. Praising Martin Scorsese, Tigmanshu Dhulia opined that is easy to recognise his film by just watching two shots, as the director has strong ideologies.
“Signature ussi ke paas hoga jiske paas ideology hogi,” he said. The Indian director also said that the many directors who make politically motivated films in India might be believing in what their films say, but they lack the artistic skills necessary to make good movies.
“We see directors using their political ideologies as propaganda in their cinema. This is a wide-ranging topic. In India, the sort of films that are being made to promote the kind of politics that we see around us, are aesthetically terrible. Bekaar hain, dekhne mein pata chalta hai. They’re badly made films, first of all. Ideologies aside,” he said.
“But Indian propaganda films aren’t as well made, because they’re made with the wrong intentions. Paisa kamaana hai yaar,” he added.
For the unversed, Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’, starring Anupam Kher and Pallavi Joshi, made more than Rs 300 crore worldwide. However, the film was criticised for its historical inaccuracies.
