Days after, Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid called ‘The Kashmir Files ‘vulgar’ at the International Film Festival of India 2022, veteran filmmaker Saeed Akhtar Mirza lashed out and called it “garbage”.
This is yet another controversy stirred by Vivek Agnihotri and Anupam Kher‘s film.
While talking to Indian Express, Saeed Akhtar Mirza said, “For me, The Kashmir Files is garbage. Is the Kashmiri Pandit issue garbage? No, it’s not. It’s real. Is it just the Kashmiri Hindus? No. Muslims are too caught in an incredibly vulgar trap of machinations of intelligence agencies, nations with so–called national interests, and paid guys from across the border, who continue to create havoc. The point is not to take sides. Be human and try to understand.”
Saeed Mirza was born in 1943, in Mumbai, Maharashtra to Akhtar Mirza, a noted screenwriter himself in the 1960s.
After working in advertising for some time, Mirza joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, India, from where he graduated in 1976.
Subsequently, later in his career, he also taught at the institute, going on to become chairman of the premier institute.
Saeed Akhtar Mirza is a renowned screenwriter and director in Hindi films and television. He is the maker of notable parallel films such as Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! (1984), Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai (1980), Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989) and Naseem (1995), which won two National Film Awards in 1996.
Saeed Mirza Was Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at ICA – International Cultural Artifact Film Festival in 2020.