A Story Unmastered for Years
The Kashmir Files illuminated a previously obscure period of Indian history; the heartbreaking 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley. It begins with Kher’s Pushkarnath Pandit, a land-holding elder, defiantly rooted to his land while the icy foreboding takes hold. Krishna, portrayed by Darshan Kumaar and the grandson of Pushkarnath, is tasked with figuring out the mystery of the disappearance of his family, only to encounter the silence which history has conflated with the absence.
As a consequence of his quest, the film narrates a personal tale while transmogrifying into a communal account of paralysis and torment, the raw essence of loss and betrayal, a volcanic eruption of displacement. The classroom massacre, the absence and silence of the homes emptied of family with the passage of time, and the families who lived and died as refugees bear witness to the grief, forgotten and buried beneath cynical and political spade work.
Before he became a screenwriter, Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri interviewed hundreds of victims and survivors of the exodus. This unique preparation lends the film a testimonial quality, and for this reason, the film barely blurs the line between fact and fiction. But this opens the question of where historical fact ends and theatrical narrative begins.
Whispered Theories and What Audiences Believed
Even before its release, The Kashmir Files carried a sense of emotional weight. From its first trailer, viewers sensed it wasn’t going to be a typical political drama — it was a film that aimed to rewrite what people remembered about a painful past. This motivated the audience to develop theories and compare the film to real-life events. Is the story entirely factual? Were the characters real, or mere metaphors? Most of the families were believed to be historical composites, constructed from multiple real-life experiences and representing the collective suffering of the Pandit community. Others felt the film’s intensity — especially scenes of violence and exile — might have been heightened for cinematic effect.
Different ideas began to circulate among the fans. Some questioned if Krishna’s ending was too passive, where he ultimately reckons with his ignorance and apathy towards politics. Some envisioned an alternative ending in which Krishna takes a more confrontational approach against the power structures and complicity. Others remarked that the film should have included more about the Kashmiri Muslims narrative, not to balance the film, but to enrich its complexity.
Divisions in opinion also emerged among the film fraternity. Some appreciate the film for its raw honesty, while others criticized it for selective storytelling. Ignoring differences, everyone agreed upon one thing — The Kashmir Files has awakened something in Indian cinema that was long run dormant.
The Making of a Controversial Masterpiece
As intense as the story it was to tell, so too was the film’s journey behind the camera. Planned to be shot in early 2020, Agnihotri’s plans were first paused by the pandemic. When he got the greenlight to begin, he then completed the film in an astonishing short interval of one month, filming in Dehradun, Mussoorie, and a short period in Kashmir.
From the outset, there were difficulties. Most notably, versatile actor Puneet Issar took over the role originally assigned to Yograj Singh because of public and social media critiques of Singh’s comments during the farmers’ protests. The death of a line producer, a member of the crew, also took place during the production and filming of the movie, adding a layer of tragedy to the work of the crew.
The set was said to be purposefully weighed down by the scenes. The depiction of displacement and loss, in particular, was emotionally draining. Anupam Kher, whose family hails from Kashmir, stated that every line spoken was a painful personal truth. To him, it was not an act. He was remembering.
Pallavi Joshi, “the ideological professor” guiding Krishna’s worldview, Radhika Menon, was fully expecting backlash. The politically charged content and context of the project was recognized by the cast, and they all understood the feedback, whether positive or negative, would be backlash.
The director was also getting government-sanctioned protective services due to the threats surrounding the film and tensions. Undeterred, the crew forged onward, predominantly by what they believed was a moral responsibility to the story, which they felt was a long-buried tale.
The Public Pulse — From Hype to Historic Impact
The Kashmir Files’ release in cinemas in March 2022 felt like more than just a movie release — it felt like a cultural event. Initial audience turnout was modest, but positive audience reviews within the first few days spread it nationally. Viewers described leaving the theater and even the entire building in silence. Some families continued discussing the movie long after it ended.
The film’s dialogue, “Do you know what happened in Kashmir?”, became a question that transcended the boundaries of the cinema halls and permeated households, offices, and classrooms. Many Kashmiri Pandit families felt that their suffering had finally received public recognition.
Critics, however, felt the film was too one-sided, focusing solely on the victims and leaving out the larger political context. Still, that unyielding focus is what gave the film its power. It decided not to “play it safe” and chose to prioritize the emotional consequences of the events depicted rather than the more watered-down “diplomatic” discourse.
Reactions on social media varied from sentiments of gratitude to outrage. For advocates of the film, it was about reclaiming a lost narrative, moving beyond history. For the critics, it addressed the ethics of storytelling, the blurred line between truth and propaganda, and the defense of a commercialized narrative.
However, the film’s astonishing box-office collection speaks for itself. For a film made on a lower budget, it exceeded expectations, overtaking major commercial releases and raking in ₹300 crores to become one of the most successful Indian films of that particular year. To achieve this on a film that had no songs, no star power, and very little promotion was, to say the least, remarkable.
Beyond the Film — What It Left Behind
Over two years on, The Kashmir Files still seems to be at the forefront of public discourse. It has been used by schools, communities, and political organizations as a case study in discussions of displacement and memorialization. Fans continue to engage in debates on the “what-ifs”: what if the film had been longer, what if it had more perspectives from the younger generation still dealing with inherited trauma, and so on.
As a follow-up to The Kashmir Files, director Vivek Agnihotri has suggested that he might pursue a series on other films that focus on other ignored historical events. His more recent work, The Vaccine War, seems to continue with the trend of “truth-seeking through storytelling.”
The emotional aftershocks left by The Kashmir Files have not only kept the film relevant but also transcended the polemics and box office success. The film compelled a reluctant India to confront, however briefly, an overshadowed chapter of its history. It collapsed the distinction between cinema and testimony, art and activism.
This radicalization of discourse is perhaps its most significant legacy. No matter the polemics surrounding The Kashmir Files, it has altered the ways in which contemporary Indian audiences engage with history. It has made memory cinematic and discourse, inexorable.
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