Dylan Mohan Gray backs Anurag Kashyap, says ‘will be embarrassment to India’ if The Kashmir Files is selected for Oscar

Filmmaker Dylan Mohan Gray has come out in support of Anurag Kashyap’s comments that he hopes India does not select The Kashmir Files as its official entry to the Academy Award as the latter feels the Vivek Agnihotri directorial is a “garbage of no artic merit”.
Dylan Mohan Gray, who directed Netflix’s non-fiction original film The King of Good Times, said that if The Kashmir Files is “selected” a “neutral” board, it will be an embarrassment to the country. He also lauded Anurag for trying to “preserve” India’s good name, after the filmmaker predicted that RRR will score an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature, provided it is selected as India’s official entry.
“Yeah, actually it’s (hatemongering, revision) garbage of no artic merit and will be a further embarrassment to India if ‘selected’ the ‘neutral’ board… @anuragkashyap72 is just trying to preserve what’s left of the country’s good name #yourewelcome #KashmirFiles,” Dylan’s tweet read.

yeah, actually it’s (hatemongering, revision) garbage of no artic merit and will be a further embarrassment to india if ‘selected’ the ‘neutral’ board… @anuragkashyap72 is just trying to preserve what’s left of the country’s good name #yourewelcome #KashmirFiles pic.twitter.com/6evMJiGkNp
— Dylan Mohan Gray (@DylanMohanGray) August 17, 2022
Dylan, however, also slammed the Rajamouli epic in another tweet, writing, “RRR is also vile and sadic, so not much of a step up”. When a user questioned his comments on RRR, the filmmaker replied that he watched the film on Netflix and said it was “basically a primitive feast of sadism, not recommended”.
While RRR followed the fictional tale inspired two Indian freedom fighters from the early 20th century, Alluri Sitarama, played Ram Charan and Komaram Bheem, played Jr NTR, The Kashmir Files was based on the atrocities against Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
RRR is currently the second-biggest film of 2022 in India behind KGF: Chapter 2, but the fictional period epic became a bona fide crossover hit in the United States after being discovered on Netflix, and subsequently attracting the attention of some of Hollywood’s biggest filmmakers.

In the interview, Anurag spoke about RRR’s impact in the West, noting how people there “find it better than any Marvel movie”. Anurag said that the audience is blown away not only the action sequences of the film, but also its dance sequences.
“The West sees RRR differently than how we see it, and they’ve loved RRR. If RRR becomes the India selection, 99% it might get nominated for the Academy Award. That is the impact that RRR has had in the world of Hollywood. India might actually have a nomination in the final five, if RRR is the film that we pick. I don’t know what film anybody is going to pick. I hope not Kashmir Files,” he had said.
Though The Kashmir Files emerged as the biggest Bollywood hit of the year so far, the film has also been criticised for being a thinly-veiled propaganda piece. The last Indian feature film to score an Academy Award nomination was Lagaan, in the Best Foreign Language category, as it was known back then.