Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s upcoming film Shikara: The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits will be releasing today, on 7 February as scheduled, since no direction to stop the screening has been passed yet by the J&K High Court. The filmmaker took to Twitter to announce the update regarding the PIL filed against the release of the film.
“The Hon. J&K HC has directed to issue notice to parties in matter to make respective representations. The matter is placed on point of admission on 07.02.2020. No direction to stop screening has been passed. The film releases on 7th Feb,” his production house tweeted.
The J&K High Court has issued notice to both parties, and the hearing is scheduled for 7 February. Vidhu Vinod Chopra had earlier taken to Twitter to react to the news of a petition seeking a stay on the release of his upcoming film Shikara: The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits, by stating that he will let his legal team handle the matter.
The production house of Chopra tweeted from their official handle, “We have just learnt from media sources that a petition has been filed in the Hon. J&K HC against the release of #Shikara. We have no other information about the matter. Our counsel #HarishSalve will take appropriate steps as may be required. #VidhuVinodChopra.”
A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed on 4 February in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against Shikara, demanding a stay on its release and the deleting of certain scenes. The petitioners Iftikhar Misgar, Majid Hyderi and Irfan Hafiz Lone have alleged that the film portrays untrue facts about Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits.
Misgar told IANS: “We are asking for stalling the release and deleting a few scenes that portray the valley's Muslims in a bad light.”
“We have urged the high court to take the case up on a priority basis,” he added.
Shikara is set against the backdrop of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the Valley in late 1989 and early 1990s, in the wake of violent Islamist insurgency.
Shikara marks Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s comeback as a director since his 2007 release Eklavya. Chopra introduces Aadil Khan and Sadia in the lead roles of Shikara. The film is scheduled to hit theatres on 7 February .
(Inputs: IANS)
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