Aditya Dhar Says Govt Doesn't Need Article 370 to Win 2024 Election: 'They Made Ram Mandir...' | Watch

Aditya Dhar has responded to critics calling Article 370 “a propaganda film.” Article 370 film, based on the government’s determination to abolish Article 370, is slated to release this month, just a few weeks before the 2024 Indian general election. At the film’s trailer launch, Aditya addressed questions about the film being ‘propaganda-driven’ and said that the current ruling government doesn’t need a ‘small film’ like Article 370 to get votes in the upcoming elections.

“I personally and seriously feel that the current government doesn’t need a small film like ours to win an election (smiles). They made Ram Mandir for us. It took us 500 years to get that. I don’t think they need us to get votes for them,” he said.

“Article 370 has the right intent. The timing was decided a year or two ago because the release dates are selected after a conversation with the exhibitors and distributors. That’s how we decided upon this date. There was supposed to be another film in between, The Immortal Ashwatthama. It didn’t happen. By God’s grace, this is the best time we have and that’s how we are releasing the film,” Aditya added.

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In another part of the press conference, Aditya said he doesn’t care about people who label his films as propaganda. The filmmaker, who made his debut with Uri: The Surgical strike which had released shortly before the 2019 general election, said, “People who label it as propaganda, I don’t care about them. It is as simple as that. I know where it’s coming from. The Indian audience is actually very, very smart. They know ki kaunsi film propaganda hai aur kaunsi film ka intent correct hai. Until I am a director or a producer, the intent will always be right. The day the intent is wrong, I’ll stop making films. I don’t care what people say, especially the agenda-driven critics.”

Article 370 will release on February 23.