By Sanjeev Kotnala
‘The Kashmir File’ has taken off like a movement of silent protests. It is clearly an unheard, unread, muted, censured history of modern India- which many stakeholders collectively prevented the masses from knowing. Its existence has been denied. Termed a planned voluntary exodus instead of the genocide it was. ‘The Kashmir Files’ is the truth that was more trampled than any other truth in the country. A country running with its own unique concept of biased secularism that most don’t understand or subscribe to.
Some films must be made, and some must be watched. Some are made late, and a few find celluloid expression early enough. But, it does not change the reality.
Go watch The Kashmir Files in case you have not watched it. Be shaken and stirred emotionally and mentally with the ruthless massacre that led to the so-called exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their own land.
We should hang heads in shame as we never saw the reality. As we did know nothing and did nothing. Maybe we are not capable of doing anything. The Kashmir file shows you one of the incidences in Indian current geopolitical history, where the majority turned minority and had to flee their land. Hindus have fled in most cases of such atrocities.
Don’t worry if this article does not read like a typical film review. Kashmir Files is not an average film. It is better experienced than appreciated through a few words in an article. And I am happy to see that it is tough to get the tickets during the weekend for the movie.
DID IT REALLY HAPPEN?
It was a question few people raised after the movie, and many are still unwilling to see the reality.
1990, I was 27 years old, living in the capital, and trust me, there was nothing in the media. So, it is natural for people to question. People have heard stories in bits and pieces, just like they would hear about a natural calamity. No government then and later did much to bring the facts to life or address the issue of Kashmiri Pandits.
It is absolutely genuine to ask, how is that possible?
When a mere breaking of a wall, stopping a train, and arrest of a student leader make international news. How did this genocide not make the news? How come the centre, the state, and the citizen remained immune to it.
The centre and the state full of involved stakeholders stooped the news, and the citizens remained immune to a truth they did not know.
Not raised in the movie, but here I ask, what was the role of the combined opposition. The combined opposition of that time must answer what stopped them from initiating an action to make the Government act.
THE KASHMIR FILES- TRUTH THAT SEEMED A LIE
When you hear Krishna (Darshan Kumaar) in ‘The Kashmir Files’, say, “Kashmir ka sach Itna sach hai ki jooth hi lagta hai”, it sinks in. It never came out as the Government, and the media worked in tandem. Turning a blind eye to the massacre.
As I grew up, I heard more from my Kashmir friends and people in the position to know. My Kashmiri friends and their family tell me that after 32 years, The Kashmir Files is as honest as it can be. However, it still projects a watered-down version of reality. And, I have every reason to believe.
HISTORY CAN REPEAT ITSELF.
How will you react if you are forced with an option of ‘Raliv, Galiv yaa Tchaliv’, i.e. convert into Islam, die or leave Kashmir? That was what Kashmiri Pandits were told, and to top it, they were asked to leave without their women!
I don’t have an answer on What I would do or How would I behave. Maybe I will be as scared and flee. Maybe, I will fight. However, when I look at the changing situation, demographics and the ever-volatile love-hate relationship in many parts of the nation, I have no doubt that such incidents will not be re-enacted at many more places.
Unless voices like Kashmiri Pandits are given justice. Unless the country does not wait but takes preventive action. Unless every one of us feels ashamed of the past and get prepared for the future. Unless, unless, unless… And this Unless is so worrying.
THE KASHMIR FILES- BE READY TO BE SHAKEN.
The dramatisation is an art. Kashmir files need it for storytelling to transport you to ground zero and make you feel the reality, pain, emotions, and torture.
It may be tough to differentiate the absolute truth from the picturised fact. The reality may be between or beyond the polarities.
Even the best of the warning did not prepare me for the movie. And I silently wept in shame. No, there were hardly any tears.
You must take the courage to face what you have been negating. Watch it to support The Kashmir Files.
YES, THE SCENES UPSET YOU
Some scenes in The Kashmir Files have been talked about more than others.
Sharda Pandit (Bhasha Sumbli) eats rice soaked in her husband’s blood to save her father-in-law, Pushker Nath Pandit (Anupam Kher), and her sons.
The re-enacting of the 2003 Nadimarg massacre where more than 20 Kashmiri Pandits were killed. The cruel area commander leaves Pushker Nath Pandit alive so that there is someone to tell what happened.
The speech of the professor interested in keeping a different narrative alive for her own agenda.
However, many more scenes will shatter the emotional shield of the most hardened. People find them repulsive as their immunised framework does not have benchmarks to comprehend such a possibility, a reality like it.
DON’T HOLD BACK.
If you have a tiny bit of emotions for co-citizens and understand what you see on the screen, it may not be possible to hold back your feelings. And you should not hold back; it is a wake-up call for justice to Kashmir Pandits and maybe a precursor to the future.
STAR PERFORMANCES.
Anupam Kher is a star performer, and here, he had the additional emotional base to go beyond. Maybe it has given him the opportunity and the emotional strength to deliver a role of many lifetimes. As Pushker Nath Pandit, he is as good as you can get.
Pallavi Joshi is brilliant, and she makes you hate her character, which is the reward for an actor. One must talk about one specific shot. Towards the end, when Pallavi Joshi’s ever hopeful knowing smile slowly dissipates before the reality unfolds before her, you are again presented with the capability of this underrated and underutilised actress.
Darshan Kumaar is good. Mithun Chakraborty is nice. There are so many brilliant performances, and it is tough to say; they are acting.
Not to forget Chinmay Mandlekar, who delivers a perfect layered performance as Bitta. His performance needs to be watched for its vignettes and the layered changes. He is pivotal to the whole story as the central villain.
The main villain, in my view, the fovernment and the interested state political stakeholders, get away with minimal framing.
THANK YOU, VIVEK, FOR KASHMIR FILES.
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has managed to do what others couldn’t do in the past 32 years. The effort is praiseworthy, and the passion and dedication are clearly reflected.
Thank you from all of us, who may not be Kashmiri pandits but fellow Indians who now feel the pain. And I think I will finally watch your other film- The Tashkent Files.
And, it makes you understand how come after Article 370 is abolished, statehood is given– there is no reverse movement. The scars are deep and brutal to heal. The mistrust is high, and frankly, when things have been allowed to go on for far too long- one can’t blame the Kashmir Pandits.
The film does not open old wounds; it just makes the nation acknowledge its role in the genocide. Why did no one act when families after families of lakhs of Kashmiri Hindus were being killed in Kashmir? It may even lead to a lot of hate generation and mistrust among communities, but that is a cost the nation may have to pay for not acting on time.
NET-NET.
The movie has delivered what the production team may have wanted from it. And it is getting high recognition and appreciation. Word of mouth is strong about the film, and the increased screens reflect its success. It has brought alive a chapter that many of us did not know existed.
I want all of us, including the minorities, to watch it once. Support this movie and do not watch the pirated version.
NOTE: This is not against a community- majority or minority. It is about the angst of Kashmiri Pandits and the misguided section leading the Genocide. It is a wake-up call for the government not to remain silent and proactively prevent such things from happening in the future. And yes, to ensure that the Kashmiri Pandits get the justice they deserve.
Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior business strategist and educator. He writes on MxMIndia every Wednesday. His views here are personal.
If April wasn’t bad enough, early May in Goa can be cruel. And that’s when Goafest 2022 has been scheduled. It was supposed to happen a month earlier, but the uncertainties caused by the Third/Omicron Wave perhaps led to the postponement. So we asked Dr Bhaskar Das a question on the timing for the March 24 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
By Shruti Pushkarna
I spoke with Aniruddha Sen Gupta, a writer and creator of the Fundoo #4 series, curious as to why he chose to make one of his characters hearing impaired. Aniruddha enjoyed writing from an early age but pursued the interest seriously once he moved from Delhi to Goa. He believes that creative content needs to be inclusive. The medium needs to be the message, and inclusivity needs to be built into the storyline itself.