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Zee Studios, Abhishek Agarwal Arts and I Am Buddha’s The Kashmir Files (A) narrates the horrific chapter of Indian history which took place in 1990 when Kashmiri Pandits were literally forced to either convert, flee Kashmir or die at the hands of members of the minority community seeking separate country status for what they claimed was their Kashmir. The Pandits, who managed to flee, were rendered homeless and penniless but neither the government at the Centre nor the government of Jammu & Kashmir cared to come to their rescue. What’s equally disturbing is that this genocide was swept under the carpet by the authorities, and it has never been highlighted by the media in the past 32 years. As a result, millions of Indians are unaware of one of the worst chapters of Indian history, which claimed the lives of thousands and displaced countless Kashmiri Pandits from their homes forever, leaving scars in their lives, which were impossible to hide.
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has taken up a subject that is inherently very potent and emotional as it deals with a human drama. In that sense, his story has a lot of substance. However, his screenplay (with additional screenplay by Saurabh M. Pandey) is not very hard-hitting as it gives the impression that it is more scattered than systematic. The frequent flashbacks (and sometimes, flashbacks within flashbacks) get confusing for the viewers to understand the drama or, at least, come in the way of easy comprehension. It is because of the haphazard screenplay that such a sentimental human drama does not shake the audiences or move them to tears as often as it should. At several points, one gets the impression that the construction of the screenplay could’ve been much better — and to advantage. For instance, the speech made by Krishna Pandit (Darshan Kumar) in the college campus would’ve had far more impact had the mass murders committed by the separatists been shown to the viewers before the speech — more so because the killings had been committed years before Krishna Pandit’s fiery speech is made. The entire operation against Kashmiri Pandits on their own soil has been shown in bits and parts over the length of the film, which reduces the impact of the horrific drama. At least 15 to 20 minutes of continuous running time should have been devoted to the genocide, for the audiences to be shaken and shell-shocked. Although the story is about the entire community of Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir, the writers have concentrated too heavily on the story of Pushkar Nath Pandit (Anupam Kher), thereby diluting the enormity of the genocide. The characters of DGP Shiv Narain (Puneet Issar) and journalist Vishnu Ram (Atul Srivastava) are sketchy because of which the lack of concern shown by the administration and media does not get underlined well enough.
This is not to say that the screenplay does not have its plus points. It does! The cold-blooded killing of Pushkar Nath Pandit’s son in front of the entire family is terrific and has a chilling effect on the viewers. The college campus scenes are wonderfully written. Also brilliant is the scene in which Krishna Pandit meets Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta (Chinmay Mandlekar). The scenes of the refugee camp, however, do not tug at the heart-strings as much as they should’ve. Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri and Saurabh M. Pandey’s dialogues are very good at places.
Anupam Kher does a good job as Pushkar Nath Pandit. Mithun Chakraborty performs quite well as Brahma Dutt. Darshan Kumar acts reasonably well in the role of Krishna Pandit. His speech in the college campus, however, does not have the desired impact. Pallavi Joshi is first-rate as Radhika Menon. Chinmay Mandlekar shines as Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta. He has worked hard on his dialogue delivery, and the results are very gratifying. Prakash Belawadi leaves a fine mark as Dr. Mahesh Kumar. Puneet Issar is alright as DGP Hari Narain. Atul Srivastava lends fair support as journalist Vishnu Ram. Bhasha Sumbli leaves a mark as Sharda Pandit. Mrinal Kulkarni gets limited scope; she is okay. Sourav Verma and Amaan Iqbal provide very fine support. Master Prithviraj Sarnaik has his moments. Others lend routine support.
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s direction is fairly nice. Although he has not been able to make a heart-rending human drama with universal appeal, his narration caters beautifully to the class audience. Swapnil Bandodkar’s music is alright. A hit music score would’ve made a lot of difference. Lyrics are not easy on the lips. Rohit Sharma’s background music is quite nice. Udaysingh Mohite does a splendid job of the cinematography. Udai Prakash Singh and Krishna Thakur’s production designing is of a fine standard. Shankh Rajadhyaksha’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, The Kashmir Files appeals more for the subject it tackles than for the drama and the narration. It will appeal greatly to the classes mainly and, therefore, will do better in the multiplexes in cities and towns. Its controlled budget is another very big plus point. However, the continuous flow of new film releases, especially big star-cast ones, in the coming weeks will tell adversely on the film’s business from its second week onwards as showcasing will become a problem for it. It may be mentioned here that Zee Studios (all-India distributors) should not have gone in for such a limited release (select cinemas, and few shows per day) as the film has been able to garner a lot of excitement around itself before release. Exhibitors will be forced to increase the film’s shows mid-week itself.
Released on 11-3-’22 at Inox (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: so-so. Opening: fair. …….Also released all over. Opening was fairly good at many places but ordinary at some.