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Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri is well-known for his work, like The Tashkent Files, The Kashmir Files, & The Delhi Files. However, more than his films, he often makes headlines for his controversial tweets, taking a dig at Bollywood celebs and filmmakers.
Vivek recently reminded everyone that the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival is meant for “showcasing films, and it’s not a fashion show”. His tweet received a massive backlash from several celebs as well. Now the filmmaker elaborates on his view.
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When Vivek Agnihotri went to Cannes to promote his movie The Tashkent Files, he immediately saw that “it has become more of a fashion show.” As reported by Hindustan Times, he said, “I witnessed that fashion models (actors and influencers) wearing weird costumes was the main attraction on the red carpet. And the greatest of the actors and directors walked by, and nobody cared about them. In fact, they were being pushed around.”
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When asked why Bollywood actors are quiet on this whole scenario of fashion taking over films at Cannes, Vivek Agnihotri retorts, “They are busy doing brand promotions, and that’s why they have to keep quiet. It’s like if you dance at somebody’s wedding and take money for it, you can’t criticise the food at the wedding. They have no spine left. Also, Bollywood actors have become social media influencers, so they are not acting anymore. For them, life is cool. ”
The Kashmir Files’ director called the 76th Cannes Film Festival’s debut of a number of social media stars on the red carpet “extremely strange and weird.” “And they even got a lot of limelight. I don’t understand what these influencers have got to do with feature films. It was very unfair for audiences in general because this is a dumbing down process,” he says, adding, “You are corrupting (the festival). Nobody cares about the central theme of the festival. Nobody knows which film was being screened or which won in what category. I am not commenting on anyone’s competence or capability, but most actors who attended Cannes from India had none of their films being there, and some didn’t even have a release in many years.”
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Vivek Agnihotri continues, hoping that better judgement will prevail the following year, as Cannes is meant to be a festival of significant and original pictures. “Especially films which make very bold statements and are even controversial. I am talking about films that generally aren’t mainstream and won’t get a platform to be showcased otherwise,” he concludes.
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