Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar has opened up on his film Sardar Udham not being selected as India’s official entry for the Academy Awards stating that it’s a “personal opinion” and “very subjective”.

According to a leading daily, Indraadip Dasgupta, a jury member, said: “Sardar Udham is a little lengthy and harps on the Jallianwala Bagh incident. It is an honest effort to make a lavish film on an unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle. But in the process, it again projects our hatred towards the British. In this era of globalisation, it is not fair to hold on to this hatred.”

Reacting to the jury’s decision, Sircar, in conversation with The Quint, said, “For the international audience, it would be a little difficult to understand Sardar Udham, because they don’t know our history of 200 years of colonial world. They do not know who Bhagat Singh is. They know of a particular section of Indian independence. So, it’s very difficult for them to process why this is lengthy, why the director is possibly indulging in this sequence. So, what the jury must have thought and chosen, I appreciate it and I am with it.”