Vidhu Vinod Chopra: Unite, don't fight is the message in my film 'Shikara'

Unite, don't fight is the message in his latest offering "Shikara", focusing on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, says filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The filmmaker said it is important for him to send out a message with every story he tells.

"In every film I have a message, like in ''3 Idiots'' it was about chasing excellence, in ''Munnabhai...'' it was about Gandhigiri. The message of this film ''Shikara'' is very clear and simple - ''Todo Nahi Jodo'' (unite, don't fight). The world needs it and so does India," Chopra said in a group interview here. A resident of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, the filmmaker dedicated the film to his mother Shanti Devi Chopra, who passed away in 2007.

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The director said his mother came to Mumbai for the premiere of his 1989 film "Parinda" and could never return home in the Valley due to the unrest. "This is completely personal to me. It is my life. Just think about the scale of this tragedy. It is unbelievable to me that we have let it happen. My mother thought she will go back after two-three weeks or after few months or next year but she couldn''t go back and that smile slowly vanished."

After his mother passed away, Chopra said he started working on the script of "Shikara" and it took him 11 years to make the film. "What is there in the film, it happened to my family and a lot of others. My elder brother was attacked and he had to run overnight. He is here now. It is sad. We thought it will end soon. I cannot believe respective governments, people of India, media of India and filmmakers of India did nothing about it," he added.

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Starring newcomers Aadil Khan and Sadia, the film is scheduled to be released on February 7.