Displaced from his home in Kashmir valley by militants 30 years ago, actor and filmmaker Sanjay Suri exhorted the youth from the strife-affected region not to get influenced by frivolous talks and remain focused to build a brighter future for themselves.
Speaking to GT at Film Bazaar on the sidelines of IFFI 2019, which concluded on Thursday, Sanjay said, “A lot of time has been wasted in this mindless violence. I urge the youth of the Valley not to pay heed to frivolous talks and rather focus on a sound future.”
According to him, displacement is a painful experience, which can’t be forgotten easily. “Reel life tends to reflect real life experiences. For example, the movie I Am Megha is very close to my heart as it talks about displacement and I was also uprooted from Kashmir when I was just 20. In fact, the character Juhi played in the movie is very similar to my sister,” he said.
The actor, who was here for the premiere of his movie Pareeksha, directed by Prakash Jha and co-starring Adil Hussain, shared his pain and said that once someone is uprooted, s/he can never settle anywhere else. “It’s like plucking a flower. It may be put in a vase, but it won’t be able to survive for long. There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t thought of my roots. So Onir made I am Megha as he had been hearing about the subject of displacement from me for long,” Sanjay said.
Although he had a lot of bitterness inside him due to the personal crisis, over a period of time, he managed to put it behind him. “Yes, as a youngster I was angry, devastated for losing my father and also the house in which I had spent most of my formative years. Still, we drained all our negativity, pain, sorrow and set up our lives from scratch in Delhi, though I went back to Jammu to finish my graduation. I think I was fortunate to grow up in a very liberal family. Even today, we have a lot of diversity and inclusivity in the family. I think growing up in such an environment is a kind of blessing for me,” he recalled.
Sanjay made his Hindi film debut in 1999 with Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi and later, he produced his first film My Brother Nikhil as he wanted to tell stories.
Speaking about his choice of movies and characters, he said his characters tend to deal with daily challenges of life and ways to overcome them. “There are lots of films dealing with basic human rights. Even My Brother Nikhil is about acceptance, not about being gay or not gay. It’s about how you are marginalised and what impact does it have. All these small incidents change you for life. Talking about these stories is in a way engaging and also entertaining. And I like such sensitive issues, that’s why I try to take them to a wider audience,” the actor said.
When asked about the depiction of Kashmir in Indian mainstream cinema and news media, he said that many stories are not told accurately. “Even if it is reported accurately, it is not acknowledged by the country. Only one-sided issues are portrayed to the world. There’s a lot of human approach needed.They try to paint the whole scenario with one brush,” he said before concluding.
