After Operation Sindoor, relations between India and Pakistan went for a toss, especially in the entertainment industry, as the All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) imposed a ban on Pakistani artists from working in Indian projects. The ban especially affected Diljit Dosanjh starrer Sardaar Ji 3, since the movie featured Pakistani actress Hania Aamir. Similarly, another movie titled Aabeer Gulaal featured the heartthrob of Pakistan, actor Fawad Khan and Indian actress Vaani Kapoor. These two projects were not released in India, causing a heated online debate. Several Bollywood celebrities have addressed the issue, and now director Vivek Agnihotri has also opened up about the same.

The Bengal Files director Vivek Agnihotri shed light on the issue during a recent interview on The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra. He shared, “Dekhiye main toh free speech pe believe karta hun. Okay? Aur main yeh maanta hun ki artists have no boundaries.” He further added, “Yeh baaki civil society ke liye, aur logo ke liye ho sakta hai. Lekin jo professionals hain, woh kaise yeh bol sakte hain? Fir toh air force waalo ko bhi bolna chahiye, ki kya bolte hain, hum toh jaayenge nahi.”

 
 
 
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A post shared by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri)

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Talking about himself, the director mentioned that if and when required, he will himself convince the audience why he felt the need to cast a Pakistani actor. Explaining the same, he said, “Agar mujhe kabhi zarurat padhi ki mujhe aisa laga iss film ke liye mujhe yahi Pakistani actor chahiye, what I will do I can tell you. I will then convince my audience, I'll tell them the reason why it is required, kyun chahiye.”

Vivek Agnihotri also recalled that more than half of his crew was from a different religion, and this never bothered him. He also mentioned that people think that his ideology is very different from actor Naseeruddin Shah, but that didn’t stop him from working with him in The Tashkent Files. Vivek Agnihotri also expressed that his very first assistant director was a Muslim, and he once sought his mother’s permission to work on the movie The Kashmir Files.

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On the work front, Vivek Agnihotri has been gearing up for the release of his much-controversial movie The Bengal Files, slated to hit the theatres on September 5. The movie has an ensemble cast of actors like Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Simrat Kaur, Saswata Chatterjee and Namashi Chakraborty in the lead roles.