“Bhopali Means Homosexual”: Vivek Agnihotri’s Remark Invites Flak

Film director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has been garnering a lot of headlines due to his movie ‘The Kashmir Files’. Amid the praises being heaped at him and his movie, he has also been accused by one section of peddling the government narrative around the Kashmiri Pandit exodus in late 80s, the topic on which his fil is based. However, Mr Agnihotri has now found himself in trouble over one of his remarks in an interview. According to Vivek Agnihotri, the word ‘Bhopali’ means homosexual. The Kashmir Files director has said this in an interview given to the right-wing OpIndia website.

“I am from Bhopal, not Bhopali”

He said in his interview, ‘I grew up in Bhopal, but not Bhopali, because they have a different style, I will never explain to you alone. If you want, you can ask a Bhopali anytime. Tell someone this is Bhopali, it simply means that it is homosexual. Meaning Nawabi hobby.

Here’s the video of Mr Agnihotri’s comment:

(Video Credit: OpIndia/IAmBuddha)

“File FIR”

Mr Agnihotri’s remark from the interview has now created a row with people demanding an apology from him.

Congress leader and former minister in MP government Jaivardhan Singh targeted Agnihotri and asked if the state’s home minister will get an FIR registered against the filmmaker.

“Cheap popularity and greed for money have corrupted his mind. This comment on the capital of our state is very objectionable. He should apologize immediately and if not, will our Home Minister get an FIR registered against them?” Mr Singh asked on Twitter in Hindi, quote tweeting a chunk from Mr Agnihotri’s interview. 

सस्ती लोकप्रियता और पैसों के लालच ने इनका सिर घुमा दिया है। हमारे प्रदेश की राजधानी पर यह टिप्पणी बेहद आपत्तिजनक है। इनको तुरंत माफ़ी माँगनी चाहिए और अगर नहीं तो क्या हमारे गृह मंत्री जी इन पर FIR दर्ज करवायेंगे? https://t.co/B9lmmEhS4Z

— Jaivardhan Singh (@JVSinghINC) March 25, 2022