'For Sunanda's sake...': Vivek Agnihotri, Shashi Tharoor spar over ban on The Kashmir Files in Singapore

The Twitter war over the Vivek Agnihotri directorial ‘The Kashmir Files’ seems to have no end. A tweet by Member of Parliament from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday, May 10, triggered a fresh battle — this time between the filmmaker and the politician.

Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shashi Tharoor on Monday tweeted a news article and said: “Film promoted by India’s ruling party, #KashmirFiles, banned in Singapore.” The article by Singapore headquartered Channel News Asia, quoting the country’s government officials, called the film “provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims”.Responding to the MP’s tweet, Vivek Agnihotri, in typical ‘Tharoor style’, called the MP “fopdoodle” (meaning stupid) and “gnashnab” (meaning one who complains all the time), seemingly alluding to the politician’s tendency to use complicated words.

Agnihotri said: “Singapore is most regressive censor in the world. It even banned The Last Temptations of Jesus Christ (ask your madam),” an apparent dig at Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. “Even a romantic film called #TheLeelaHotelFiles will be banned,” Agnihotri added.

Responding to the MP’s tweet, Vivek Agnihotri, in typical ‘Tharoor style’, called the MP “fopdoodle” (meaning stupid) and “gnashnab” (meaning one who complains all the time), seemingly alluding to the politician’s tendency to use complicated words.

Agnihotri said: “Singapore is most regressive censor in the world. It even banned The Last Temptations of Jesus Christ (ask your madam),” an apparent dig at Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. “Even a romantic film called #TheLeelaHotelFiles will be banned,” Agnihotri added.Agnihotri attached a list of 48 popular films that have been banned in Singapore but hailed worldwide to drive home his point. Some of the movies were rated above 8 on IMDb.

‘The Kashmir Files’ director in another tweet asked Tharoor whether the MP’s late wife Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu. He attached the screenshot of a Twitter thread where she says that she is a Kashmiri but has to tone down her stance on the Kashmir violence of 1989-91 as her husband, Shashi Tharoor, is asked to “caution her”.

“Is this true that Late Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu? Is the enclosed SS true? If yes, then in Hindu tradition, to respect the dead, you must delete your tweet and apologise to her soul,” he tweeted.

Agnihotri attached a list of 48 popular films that have been banned in Singapore but hailed worldwide to drive home his point. Some of the movies were rated above 8 on IMDb.

‘The Kashmir Files’ director in another tweet asked Tharoor whether the MP’s late wife Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu. He attached the screenshot of a Twitter thread where she says that she is a Kashmiri but has to tone down her stance on the Kashmir violence of 1989-91 as her husband, Shashi Tharoor, is asked to “caution her”.

“Is this true that Late Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu? Is the enclosed SS true? If yes, then in Hindu tradition, to respect the dead, you must delete your tweet and apologise to her soul,” he tweeted.Actor Anupam Kher, too, hit out at Shashi Tharoor and asked him to "show some sensitivity towards Kashmiri Pandits for Sunanda's sake".

Actor Anupam Kher, too, hit out at Shashi Tharoor and asked him to "show some sensitivity towards Kashmiri Pandits for Sunanda's sake".

Here's the 2013 comment on a thread by Sunanda Pushkar that Agnihotri and Kher were referring to. Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. Tharoor and Puskar were staying in the hotel as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.

The Kashmir Files is based on the life of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, during the Kashmir insurgency. The film is based on video interviews of the first generation victims of the Kashmir genocide of the Kashmiri Pandit community. It’s a narrative of the pain, suffering, struggle, and trauma of Kashmiri pandits.

When The Kashmir Files first hit the theatres, it was an epic blockbuster. The film made all the right kind of noise and broke several records at the box office.