The closing ceremony of 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which took place in Goa, ended on a controversial note. The IFFI jury head and Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, while delivering his speech, called The Kashmir Files a 'propaganda, vulgar' film. This caused a huge furore with many people bashing him for his remarks.. The Kashmir Files producer Abhishek Agarwal took to Twitter to share his sharp criticism. He said that the team of The Kashmir Files do not need Nadav Lapid's validation.After IFFI jury chairman Nadav Lapid's remarks went viral, producer Abhishek Agarwal took to Twitter to lash out at him.
He wrote, "We do not need your validation #NadavLapid we have thousands of people who have gone through this holocaust and I have met many personally seen their pain & suffering. #TheKashmirFiles #KashmirFilesISTruth @AnupamPKher @vivekagnihotri (sic)."At the closing ceremony speech, Nadav Lapid said, "All of us are disturbed. It felt to us like a 'propaganda, vulgar movie' inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious competition. I feel totally comfortable in sharing these feelings openly on stage since the spirit of the festival truly accepts critical discussion which is essential for art and life."Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files is about the killings of the Kashmiri Pandits during the 1990 Kashmir insurgency. The film features Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Ghosh and Darshan Kumar. The Kashmir Files is jointly produced by Tej Narayan Agarwal, Abhishek Agarwal, Pallavi Joshi and Vivek Agnihotri.