Israel's Counsel General apologizes to Anupam Kher amid Lapid's remarks
What's the story
Counsel General of Israel in Mumbai, Kobb Shoshani visited actor Anupam Kher's school and the actor took to Twitter to share it. He also took a dig at Israeli director Nadav Lapid and mentioned in the tweet that Indo-Israel friendship is too strong to be affected by an individual's "vulgar" remark. This comes after Lapid's comments on The Kashmir Files at IFFI's closing ceremony.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The Kashmir Files directed by Vivek Agnihotri premiered earlier this year and grabbed the eyeballs of citizens. The film started off slow at the box office but picked up with the word of mouth. The house was divided—one criticized the film and the other praised the film. Recently, Lapid's comments sparked debate among intellectuals and Bollywood celebrities, straining relations between India and Israel.
Details
Shoshani's opinion about the fiasco
In the video shared by Kher, Counsel General Shoshani says that he has watched the film and expresses his feelings about the same. He addressed Kher as a friend and apologized on behalf of the Israeli government. He emphasized Lapid's comments were a "private opinion" and not in alignment with the Israeli government. He called Lapid's remark "stupid comments."
Twitter Post
Check out the tweet here
Thank you dearest @KobbiShoshani, Counsel General of #Israel in Mumbai for visiting my school @actorprepares. Our friendship is too strong to get affected by an individual’s vulgar remark at @iffi. But I really appreciate your gesture, generosity and kindness. 🙏🇮🇳🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/UI7ecm59FN
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) November 29, 2022
Reaction
Actor Kher and director Agnihotri's comments
Kher called the whole incident a pre-planned thing and later tweeted slamming the ace-Israeli director. He wrote, "The truth of The Kashmir Files is stuck like a thorn in the throat of some people. They are neither able to swallow it nor spit it out!" Agnihotri challenged Lapid that if any scene or dialogue is proven to be wrong, then he would quit filmmaking.
Root
From where it all started
At the closing ceremony of IFFI 2022, the jury head Lapid called The Kashmir Files, "propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival." The film is based on the Kashmiri Pandits' exodus in 1990 in Kashmir Valley. The film received polarised opinions ever since its release. With word of mouth, this film emerged to be a blockbuster.