Actor Yograj Singh, father of former cricketer Yuvraj Singh, is no longer a part of the cast of the upcoming Vivek Agnihotri directorial, The Kashmir Files. According to Agnihotri, Yograj Singh lost his job as the fallout of an allegedly hateful speech he gave at the ongoing farmer protests in Delhi-NCR.
Agnihotri said in a statement: "I had cast Mr. Yograj Singh for my film 'The Kashmir Files' for a very prominent role and I had long chats with him. I knew that he has a history but I ignored as I generally do not mix art and artiste. I keep artiste and politics away. When he gave the speech it was shocking, and I cannot tolerate someone talking about women. It is just not about Hindu women or Muslim women but he spoke so badly about women and on top of that he tried to create a hateful decisive narrative."
Recently, while giving a speech at the ongoing farmer protests in NCR, Singh reportedly commented on Hindu women saying "their women were sold for two cents". When their women and daughters were abducted by people like Ahmed Shah Durrani and sold off, it was we Sikhs who saved them. These are the people who have betrayed us. This community has been slaves for thousands of years."
Agnihotri added: "I have sent him an official termination letter I don't care what he replies. I am not a kind of a commercial filmmaker. I make films with a purpose. I make films that expose the truth and I don't want this person to become part of the truth. Whatever he said, it was hateful and this kind of people just want to create violence."
The first schedule of The Kashmir Files started this week in Mussoorie.
SOURCES: IANS