Total apology for misconstrued comments: Israeli director Lapid on "The Kashmir Files" controversy

Offering a "total apology" if his comments on "The Kashmir Files" were misconstrued, Israeli director Nadav Lapid stated that his intention was not to offend the Kashmiri Pandit community or those who had suffered.

Lapid, who chaired the foreign jury at the recent International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and sparked outrage by labelling the Vivek Agnihotri film "vulgar" and "propaganda," has now clarified that he was just criticizing the film for its "series of cinematic tricks."

"I didn't want to insult anyone. My aim was never to insult the people or their relatives, who have suffered. I totally apologize if that's the way they interpreted it," Lapid, who has left the country since his remarks at the closing ceremony of the 53rd edition of the festival in Goa this week, told reporters on the night of November 30. 

"But at the same time, whatever I said and I said clearly that for me and my fellow jury members, it was and it is a vulgar propaganda movie that didn't have a place and was inappropriate for such a prestigious competitive section. I can repeat it again and again," he added. 

"The Kashmir Files," written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, is about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during the early 1990s unrest.

It was shown on November 22nd as part of the Indian Panorama segment of the festival. The celebrated director, known for his anti-establishment attitude, stated that his words were neither a political statement nor a rejection of the suffering in Kashmir.

A day after the controversy erupted, Agnihotri said he would quit filmmaking if intellectuals, including Lapid, were able to prove that events depicted in his film were false.