The kashmir Files, Review

'The Kashmir files' is more like a docudrama that shows the exodus of Kashmiri pandits in the 1990s. The film is a blend of facts and fiction that's carefully sewed to suit the conscious portrayal.

Plot.

The file open through the quest of a college student named Krishna whose family were victims of a targeted massacre that happened in the valley during the darkest hours of Kashmiri history. Being the Presidential candidate of his college union election, krishna was shaped by the liberal revolutionary ideologies of his campus, and he was unaware of what happened to his own family. When he goes back to his home in Kashmir to pay final rituals of his grandfather, he met his grandfather's friends among them one was a high-level bureaucrat and the others are a doctor, a policeman, and a reporter. They reveal Krishna's family tragedy, along with the horrible incidents that happened in the valley against Kashmiri pundits years before.The film goes through the side of the victims and exposes the brutalities, along with the references to religious polarisation, social stigma, and politics.

Positives

1)Despite the tragedy and its fact-check, what stays in our hearts are the brilliant performances of Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Mithun Chakrabarty and Darshan Kumar.

2)Cinematography and editing are professing to deliver the ice-chilled Kashmir valley with dark blue frozen shades and night shots. 

3)Background scores that characterize helplessness, Noises of gunshots, and political sloganeering are all the mood-catchers for 170 minutes running time.

4)Despite the political propaganda, the story of Kashmiri pundits getting a space in popular culture's art adaptations is a welcome move from the makers and should be encouraged.

Negatives.

1) The entire film is a cluster of politically incorrect statements as it keeps on trying to sharpen the swords of hatred by victim-card gaming to chisel the ideals of secularism.

2) Script is smuggling in Majoritarian voices and views by peddling the Pro Hindu narratives and tarnishing the entire Muslim community as terrorists/invaders.

3) Irony is that the film flags Indian Nationalism, at the same time it tries to build up every sequence in the margins of  'WE vs Them.' 

4) Figures that are projected in the script sometimes seem to be exaggerated compared to the publically available official documents thereby it's insulting the facts with fiction to suit the intended narrative. 

5) Vivek agnihotri's signature criticism on indian form of secularism, Policies of Congress party, ideas of revivalist rivalry, Otherization, word-plays like exodus - Genocide are well enough to incite violence. So, the film as an artform is in a way misused the multiplex to propagate hatred against Muslim community in general.

6) Though it chose the important theme, as film it lacks a powerful script. Lots of spaces were overwritten to blame islam meanwhile the emotional content of Kashmiri pundits were underwritten. Story circumambulates on Krishnas family but couldn't account the issue in a larger perspective except some scenes of massacres. Repeated roundtable debates made the film dragging and sometimes the entire film is felt like a rightwing activists struggling to make his point on NDTv Debates.

Rating.

With due respect and empathy to Kashmiri pundits,I would say  it's an overrated film by the Pro-Hindu-Right wing extremists just like the Serbian government sponsored the film 'Dara of Jasenovac in 2021' .Am giving 3/5 but I think the Kashmir files will win so many national awards..