Mumbai, April 28
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who is known for ‘Aligarh’, ‘Shahid’, ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’, is mulling over the recent deadly Pahalgam terror attack.

On Monday, the filmmaker took to his Instagram, and said that his films ‘Shahid’, ‘Omerta’, and ‘Faraaz’ go beyond the realm of cinematic storytelling, and are the mirrors to society, and state how terrorists are bred by a system.

He shared pictures from these films, and penned a long note in the caption, “I hate having to say this. But it needs to be said, again. ‘Shahid’, ‘Omerta’, and ‘Faraaz’ were not just films. They were urgent conversations about the times we live in”.

The director said that these films spoke about state-sponsored terror, about radicalisation, about young minds being systematically brainwashed into violence.

He further mentioned, “The events we depicted in ‘Omera’ and ‘Faraaz’, chillingly, find echoes today in what happened in Pahalgam. ‘Omerta’ gave a raw, unsparing look into the sinister powers that enable and nurture such heinous acts. ‘Faraaz’, heartbreakingly, showed how violence targets innocence in the name of belief. ‘Shahid’ was a plea for reform, for reclaiming our youth before they fall prey to hate”.

He shared, “At the time, especially when ‘Omerta’ and ‘Faraaz’ released, I remember being targeted, ‘Why this story? Why this focus? Are you targeting a community?. No. These stories are about a system — a machinery of hatred and fear — that cuts across faiths and borders. A system that thrives on breeding division. A system that brainwashes the young, glorifies the bloodshed, and normalises the terror”.

“It is easy, comfortable even, to indulge in moral grandstanding every time a difficult truth is told. But… Is it really woke to deny the disease? To look away because confronting it is hard? I believe it is cowardice. And it is dangerous. We must stop looking away. We must look this hatred — this sickness — straight in the eye. Only then can we even begin to heal”, he added.

In light of Pahalgam attack, Hansal Mehta says these films by him point out where the problem lies