Vivek Agnihotri: The top 10 Indian stars and directors don't represent our culture 

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri said that the present Hindi film indistry is disconnected from Indian culture and society. He said this while speaking at the 11th edition of The New Indian Express' ThinkEdu Conclave 2023 in Chennai on Thursday, February 9. 

"All the top 10 stars, directors, and producers do not represent Indian ethos, culture or society, which is why I feel that I did not belong here," he said, adding, "Every word and every pore of my body exudes Indian culture, thoughts and philosophy."

The director also claimed that his film The Kashmir Files, has sparked a national conversation on the issue and people will understand its contribution to India's social-political relevance in a few years."Many policymakers across the globe have been made aware of the Kashmir issue only through The Kashmir Files. A lot of people used to think that Kashmir is not an Indian land and that we have illegally occupied it because that has been the propaganda for so many years. People used to believe that Indian armies were killing Muslims in Kashmir and only after seeing the film they knew that there were people from other communities also who lived in Kashmir. No other film in recent history has been able to create so much conversation around a theme." He clarified that he never wanted to trigger 'toxic' conversations through his films. ‘I am not a toxic person, toxic people are the ones who want to kill me because I brought out the truth," he said. 

 Vivek expressed his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "We need a leader who inspires people and makes people believe in the country. I like these qualities of Narendra Modi. But, I don’t support any party."

He made a rather sarcastic remark on the recent success of Pathaan. "I don’t know if it’s the beginning of the end or end of the beginning of Bollywood," he stated.

Vivek shared that he uses all the money he earns for the research of his future projects."We are the only production house who do full-fledged research. I put all the money back into the research." He went on to surprise the audience by sharing that his next film Vaccine War is made completely from the money earned from Kashmir Files. "Nobody gave us money, not even one penny, even after the Kashmir Files. But we have finished shooting," he said.