The Kashmir Files storyline centers on the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Indian-administered Kashmir.
The director of The Kashmir Files, Vivek Agnihotri, told us about what made him passionate about the film. “All 500,000 people were forced to leave because of killings and rapes. They now are scattered all over the world. They never spoke about this.”
Agnihotri decided that he and his filmmakers should document what exactly happened to half a million of Kashmiri Hindus. “We interviewed almost 700 people who survived, talked with historians, and read books and press reports of that time. We gathered material for three years.”
The director told us about all the families of the victims that have contacted the filmmakers. They are happy to get closure. “They are crying because, for the first time, somebody has believed their story. The woman who was cut alive in a saw machine. Her family had never spoken about it amongst themselves. Now, after seeing the film, they made a video call and spoke with each other. Now, we are starting to heal,” he remarked. Then, he said: “The same thing happened with the family whose mother was forced to eat the rice that included her husband’s blood. Now, they are talking. And healing.”
The Kashmir Files stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi. The plot follows a Kashmiri Hindu college student raised by his exiled grandfather and shielded from details surrounding the death of his parents. After his grandfather’s death, it becomes existential for the student to uncover long held secrets.
Krishna Pandit, a JNU student, thinks his parents were killed in an accident – as told by his grandfather. But the truth is more depressing. He is caught in the middle of two opposing narratives of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of 1990. One side is represented by the pro-Azaadi JNU professor, who is gaining a lot of support on campus for her Kashmir cause. On the other side is Nath, who has been struggling for 30 years to get justice for the exodus, which the professor claims is a sham. When Krishna returns to Kashmir, his friends are shocked to learn that he didn’t know the facts leading to his father’s death.
The Kashmir Files becomes a journey in truth discovery, not just for Krishna but for many others as well.