72 Hoorain

"You need a strong stomach to absorb this one… A gut-wrenching story of two terrorists/suicide bombers from across the border, it focuses on their dilemmas and inner conflicts."

"Labeling the decision as being regressive, Ashoke Pandit, the movie's co-producer, said: "We are extremely hurt and disturbed because of the CBFC's unfair decision of rejecting the trailer without any reason. This action raises a big concern about creativity, freedom and realistic filmmaking. We will not take this lightly and will knock on the doors of the high court, if needed.""

"The depiction of the Quran in this movie is wrong. Quran does not teach to take anyone’s life. If the director or producer of 72 Hoorain had read the Quran, then, they would not have used such dialogues... After The Kerala Story became a hit, people started to encash this trend. Hatred is being spread either through politics or films. What do you want to achieve by showcasing such hateful films to the new generation? Where does Quran say to kill people? Can you show it to me? A wrong message is being sent (to the society). This is part of the agenda to spread hate... I am a Muslim. But will you call me and my family members, a terrorist? The Kerala Files (sic) showed that girls are being forcibly converted to Islam. In the South, people are being converted to Christianity. But none wants to talk about it. You are making an anti-Muslim film. Given the current situation, 72 Hoorain is likely to do well. But who will compensate for the hate that you will spread in this process?"

"We started work on ’72 Hoorain’ long ago, much before 2014. But, it took us time. Our struggle continued unabated, lasting more than a decade. After 2014, there has been a slight difference, which benefited ‘The Kashmir Files’ or ‘The Kerala Story’. It also made a difference that people showed enthusiasm, people started going to see such a film. Conventional production houses or studios do not back such films by calling them non-commercial, nor do they want to make films on these issues. However, people said that if you show the truth, we will come to see your film. This has given us distributors and they also have confidence that people will come to see this film."

"As soon as it came to be released, the threats started. My wife didn’t know much about the film in detail. Now when threats are coming, it is natural to have trouble, there is always concern."

"But, what kind of a different law have you made that it cannot be talked about? It is repeated time and again that terrorism has no religion, and then suddenly they start talking about targeting religion. We are clear from the beginning that we are only talking about terrorism, you watch the film and react to it. ... This film is about the country’s interests. There is a national problem, it has been talked about."

"That afternoon, the censor board sent us a letter saying we will pass it on to you, but you have to cut off these scenes (like a scene with a corpse’s foot and the Quranic words)."