Mumbai: Filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj, who had to cut short the shooting of his film ‘Haider’ inside Kashmir University following protests by students, today said the sufferings of people of the Valley were the “biggest human tragedy” of our time.
Asserting that he was not unduly perturbed by the protests at the University campus in Hazratbal on Monday,
he assured people of Kashmir that ‘Haider’ would be a real depiction of the pain people have gone through in the past two decades.
“I want to share the pain which the people of Kashmir have gone through in the last 20-25 years and I want to be very sensitive and honest about it… Kashmir is the biggest human tragedy of our time,” Bharadwaj told reporters.
The filmmaker said he does not think any other part of the country has gone through a “bigger tragedy” than this. “In modern time since I have been born and grew up, I do not think any other part of the country has gone through such a bigger (sic) tragedy than this. And there has not been real depiction of that pain in Bollywood,” Vishal Bharadwaj said.
Vishal Bharadwaj said he wants to tell the story of Kashmir. “All the characters are from Kashmir in my film. My film does not show people singing on a shikara (boat) or running with a gun. It is the story of a middle class family from here. My character is a well educated character,” he said.
Vishal Bharadwaj lamented the negative portrayal of Kashmir in Bollywood movies, saying he feels ashamed. “I hear a lot that Bollywood does not depict the true picture of Kashmir. I feel ashamed but it is the vision of a filmmaker as to what he wants to show and I cannot change that.”
