Vivek Agnihotri: Lata didi had agreed to sing for ‘The Kashmir Files’, but that just remains a dream now

Vivek Agnihotri and Lata Mangeshkar/picture courtesy: mid-day archives

Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri will always miss the opportunity to collaborate with the legendary singer, Lata Mangeshkar, who left for heavenly abode on 6th February. The National award winning filmmaker recently revealed how the late veteran singer had agreed to sing a song for his highly-anticipated movie ‘The Kashmir Files', scheduled to release in theatres on 11th March this year.

While talking to a leading news channel, Vivek was quoted saying, "Lataji brought musical sensibilities to India and through her we understood the meaning of Saraswati. She was close to my wife Pallavi Joshi and we wanted her to sing a song for our forthcoming film, ‘The Kashmir Files'. Last year, we requested her for the same but she told us that she has stopped singing for films or any such commercial ventures, but she loved Kashmir so much that she said she would make it an exception for this film. But she requested us that she will do it after the Covid wave subsides but that just remains a promise."

Sharing one of his personal experiences, Vivek revealed, "Once Pallavi and I had gone for a cruise in Scandinavia (in Europe) and that night the sun was not going to set. So we didn't know what to do and started playing only Lata didi's songs. And believe me, that day I actually experienced ‘divine' and felt that if there is God then Lataji is her voice."

"I am not going to mourn (for Lataji's death) because how can Saraswati die. Saraswati has gone to meet Saraswati. Lataji's dedication can be told by the people who have worked with her but we need to understand that she didn't become a legend just like that. During her professional career, she used to do riyaaz every day with so much dedication and discipline," he adds.

After garnering praises for his last critically-acclaimed film ‘The Tashkent Files' that went on to win the prestigious National Award beginning this year, Zee Studios and writer-director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri have collaborated again to present yet another hard-hitting film, ‘The Kashmir Files'.

Touted to be one of the most important, relevant and unreported story of Indian history, ‘The Kashmir Files' was invited by several prestigious institutes and organizations in the USA for over 30 plus power-packed screenings and received overwhelming response.

Living up to its title, ‘The Kashmir Files' is a true story, based on video interviews of the first generation victims of The Kashmir Genocide of Kashmiri Pandit Community. It's a heart-wrenching narrative of the pain, suffering, struggle and trauma of Kashmiri pandits and questions eye-opening facts about democracy, religion, politics and humanity.

Written and directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, the exodus drama features a stellar cast of actors including Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumaar, Pallavi Joshi and Chinmay Mandlekar.

Produced by Zee Studios and Tej Narayan Agarwal, Abhishek Agarwal, Pallavi Joshi and Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, ‘The Kashmir Files', written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri is scheduled to release in theatres on 11th March, 2022.