Image: Youtube screenshot / The Wire
The well-known Israeli filmmaker whose comments as the head of the jury of the recently concluded International Film Festival of India at Goa on The Kashmir Files has created an enormous controversy tells television journalist Karan Thapar, “I am not taking back anything, I stand totally behind every word I said at the award ceremony”. Mr. Lapid went further and said: “In a way it was my duty, my obligation. I was invited to be frank not to speak vanities.”
Tragically however, Mr. Lapid has revealed that he has received hundreds, may be thousands, of threatening messages. Speaking specifically about the Israeli Ambassador who, in a public letter to Mr. Lapid which he tweeted, said Mr. Lapid should be ashamed of himself and claimed he had denigrated Indian hospitality and damaged India-Israeli relations, Mr. Lapid said: “I feel ashamed of this reaction of an Israeli diplomat”.
In a 32-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, from his residence in Paris where he’s returned, Mr. Lapid repeatedly and flatly denied that he had in an interview to India Today, reported on the Hindustan Times website, called The Kashmir Files “brilliant”. He also clarified that in a separate interview to CNN-News18 he was only apologizing for hurting the feelings of people who died in the killings in Kashmir or to their relatives but he was by no means apologizing for criticizing the film.
Mr. Lapid said: “Criticising a movie is not criticising India or criticizing what happened in Kashmir”. Referring to Anupam Kher’s claim that the criticism of The Kashmir Files is like denial of the holocaust, Mr. Lapid said that Mr. Kher, as well as Vivek Agnihotri, the director, must remember that their film is “not equal” to the tragedy that happened in Kashmir. He added how that tragedy is portrayed in a film can be legitimately criticised without questioning the veracity of the events it portrays.
Speaking about what he calls the vulgarity and crude quality of The Kashmir Files, Mr. Lapid spoke about the way “the bad guys” are portrayed. He said “the terrorists are like cartoon creatures”. He said they lacked “the truth of free life”. He said the portrayal is “a flat product”. Giving a few details he said: “Look at the way the main terrorist is portrayed with a tick in his eye … it’s an extremely bad joke”.
Interestingly, Mr. Lapid also insisted in this interview to Thapar, that “all the jury members shared exactly the same impression about the film”.
Confirming comments he has made to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz and the Israeli website Ynet, Mr. Lapid said he felt a need to speak out and express what he believes is the truth possibly because many others in India may share this thinking but are unable to speak it publicly.
Mr. Lapid added that after the reaction in India he believes “my instinct was right … I had to tell the truth.” Mr. Lapid asked a question of those criticising him: “Do you want to live in a place where people are scared to open their mouth?”
These are just the most important aspects of Karan Thapar’s interview with Mr. Lapid. Thapar states in a press release that there’s a lot more in the interview. Mr. Lapid has spoken honestly, fully and often at great length to explain his views, his response to what others have said, his reaction to the controversy and furore that has been created and how the film was pushed by the Indian government. He says, in reverse circumstances, he would welcome Indian filmmakers coming to Israel and criticising Israeli films on subjects that are sensitive to or important for the Israeli people.
Karan Thapar :” To understand Mr. Lapid you need to see this interview. As I said, the above precis has simply picked up some of the main points. There’s a lot more in the interview where Mr. Lapid should be allowed to speak for himself. This is why you must watch it. It’s also important to watch the interview to understand how some of the claims made about things Mr. Lapid is supposed to have said are either untrue or deliberate misinterpretations. At one or two points of the interview, Mr. Lapid talks about how people have “manipulated” what he said.”
Here is the link to the Karan Thapar Interview:
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