'The Kashmir Files' trailer promises 'brutally honest' Kashmir 'genocide' story
After the much-talked-about The Tashkent Files, filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri is set to release The Kashmir Files, the next entry to his trilogy. On Monday, he launched the trailer of the upcoming film, which focuses on the lives of Kashmiri Pandits and the "genocide" they suffered. Originally slated for a Republic Day 2022 release, The Kashmir Files will now hit theaters on March 11.
This is what we see in the trailer
The clip begins with a middle-aged man (Atul Srivastava) interviewing a man in his 40s, asking if he had killed Kashmiri Pandits. The latter seems stoic as he recites the number of kills and admits he would've killed anyone if his leaders asked for it. Then, we are taken to a flashback to a chaos-stricken Kashmir where people are getting tortured, abused, and killed.
'Free Kashmir' campaign, 'Azaadi' song get featured
Agnihotri shows us the two sides of the coin here, with some people stressing the Pandits were not forced to leave Kashmir but instead they chose to do so. On the other hand, others opine the Valley did not see a simple exodus but it was genocide. The "Free Kashmir" campaign and the Azaadi song are also included in the highly volatile 3:30-minute-long trailer.
Check out the trailer here
Know all about the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus/Pandits
To recall, the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus/Pandits began in the late-1980s when the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) created an anti-Hindu narrative. JKLF allegedly assassinated BJP leader Tika Lal Taploo—this instilled fear in the Pandits following which they hastily left the Valley. In January 1990, the Gawkadal massacre took place when the CRPF killed almost 160 protesters on Srinagar's Gawkadal bridge, sparking massive unrest.
Agnihotri's film deals with a tough topic
According to the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), at least 399 Pandits were killed by militants between 1990 and 2011. Separately, the Gawkadal massacre is considered one of the worst massacres in the history of turbulence in Kashmir. For a long time, this issue has remained a contention point to widen the Hindu-Muslim divide. We hope this movie doesn't instigate such polarizing views.
What else do we know of the film?
Agnihotri, a National Film Award-winning filmmaker, has promised to give us a "brutally honest" tale and so we will have to trust him on that. The Zee Studios-backed film features actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumaar, Pallavi Joshi, and Chinmay Mandlekar, among others.
