Short Review
#KashmirFiles – forgive my typos and terseness – i posted this in a hurry
I was pleasantly surprised by how effective the movie was in conveying what it started out doing. I had a very low bar after Tashkent files. Some would take umbrage to the Loud direction at times. Personally I think that was vivek agnihotri’s choice and overall the Loudness has the desired effect. Having seen more gory scenes in Visual medium and read more graphic details about Kashmir Pandit I did think the violence was NOT overdone though Loud at times. Rather some of the more ghastly things documented were not shown. RAPE which was common and effective tool used by Kashmiri Islamists to scare Pandits wasnt depicted in the movie. Anupam kher shines, among his finest performances. I even liked Mithun’s role. Darshan Kumar also pulled through on a tough role (though with glitches).
Overall acting is just above average – especially by actors in crucial moments in the film which somehow let me down – especially during the final monologue. It could’ve packed more punch with a flawless monologue like that of Kay Kay from Gulaal but it didn’t.
As a result I didnt get emotional watching the movie (except maybe the Biscuit scene by Anupam Kher) while I had shed some tears while reading Pandita’s moving memoir. To the readers, I would still recommend Pandita’s book over this movie but this movie will reach places which a book could never do. Book Review: Our moon has blood clots | by Gaurav Lele | Medium
Sad that a fine mind like Pandita has not *yet talked about the impact of the film (probably due to history with the director).
But most importantly the movie does what only a movie can (not books or newspapers or even podcasts). So it’s a very necessary counter weight movie especially in company of Haider and Mission Kashmir. The criticism I had watching was the absence of positive Kashmiri Muslim characters who helped Pandits risking their lives (though the final monologue makes that point along with many other nuances). Personally I think that’s not fair depiction but award winner “Haider” didn’t have a single positive Pro India character – all Kashmiris who were pro India were corrupt – so maybe judging Kashmir files with that level of harshness itself isn’t fair.
In that space #KashmirFiles corrects a lot of narrative around the Kashmir in general in Pop culture and also tells the stories of the Kashmiri Hindus with focus solely on their plight.
There are some errors and unbelievable plot points. The characters (5 dinner table characters) appear half baked and under acted at times. In many places multiple character arcs are fused into a single character which leaves things undercooked.
I also felt the #Article370 part is overplayed and made simplistic and dumbed down. That part almost feels like propaganda for current BJP government. Ofcourse it’s part of story so that’s fine in a story. #KashmirFiles
Personally I felt the multiple Amarnath killings should have also been part of the film – whose aim was to further prevent any attempts to lay claim to Hindu legacy of Kashmir. But @vivekagnihotri can’t get it all inside the movie.
JNU is naturally shown caricaturish – but frankly I care far more about Kashmiri Muslim caricature than JNU caricature. Also don’t think the bright minds of Azadi in JNU would be seed any space in one monologue :). But maybe that was wishful thinking by director. The use of CAA protest fame song – Hum Dekhenge is at times not loud but effective nonetheless.
In summary the movie shifts the Pop Culture pendulum on Kashmir to its end powerfully (probably overcompensates a bit), but is no means is it a complete film – its a message meant primarily to highlight the plight of the Kashmiri Hindu community. But it does so (with exception of the final monologue) making a caricature of Kashmiri Muslims as either fanatics or cowards when there have been documented instances of Kashmiri Muslims risking their lives for India in general and Pandits in particular. But that is what you get when the only person willing to voice this issue honestly is Vivek Agnihotri – when Bollywood in 30 years came up with ZERO films on this tragedy and what they managed at last was the PC and poorly made Shikara. In that context you have to not only live with Kashmir Files but somewhat embrace its core message.
Kashmir files uses a lot of Hindu imagery and symbolism – sometimes subtly sometimes overtly. I felt the use of Shiv makeup Anupam Kher was deliberate – especially in the light of retrospective offense taken by newly aware(woke?) Hindus about the Shiv scene from PK.
#KashmirFiles has started a conversation and hopefully later entries in the debate will add more nuance which is missing in the movie.
The bandwagon effect has a very strong and sustained affinity in Indian popular culture production. The IPL strongly kickstarted the franchise model and subscriber model in other sports as well. To enjoy a sub-national tribalism was something that the IPL truly pioneered.
In that vein, Kashmir Files is going to trigger a strong movement towards historical representation and story telling within the Indian movie industry.
This is going to be the enduring multi-decadal impact of Kashmir Files beyond the immediate trauma of KPs.
The BJP has mostly made the first successful intervention at midwifing an important popular art revolution. This ranks quite up there with any other legislative interventions they have done so far.
if bjp does not get at least 10,000 k p s back they will be hounded for years for hypocrisy. as i have commented earlier, pandits will have to start going back, other wise all they get are films and songs and no support from the general hindu elsewhere.
side note: kashmiri pandits are known for being chalu, cleaver and at times cunning, akin to the palghat iyers. i have heard this from many.
‘if bjp does not get at least 10,000 k p s back they will be hounded for years for hypocrisy. ‘
Not sure on that. Just like CAA, BJP would use all this as bombast for its political use, but wont change anything on the ground.
Ultimately it falls on the ethnic group themselves to seek justice. And (as u may know by now) no group can be helped, if they don’t want to help themselves.
‘ Bollywood in 30 years came up with ZERO films on this tragedy and what they managed at last was the PC and poorly made Shikara.’
The reason Rahul Pandita isn’t commenting much, is he wrote Shikara, which he claimed would be a much more authentic movie than Agnihotri’s. Now he is in an awkward spot where he can’t trash Kashmir files (since it tells his story) but can’t praise it as well.
what they managed at last was the PC and poorly made Shikara
I haven’t seen Shikara. Do you mind elaborating on how it was PC? I know Rahul Pandita did (or helped in) the screenplay, so my guess was that it would have been quite authentic.
Your point about the portrayal of Kashmiri Muslims is well-taken. Even some Holocaust movies show a good Nazi or two (Schindler’s List, The Pianist). Perhaps future movies on this theme might.
Other questions:
– I have no personal knowledge of, nor any connections with, JNU. Is there really such a big constituency for Kashmiri “azaadi” among the student body there, to the extent that they can fill an auditorium with youth shouting the kinds of slogans portrayed in the movie?
– Anybody recall how exactly the media coverage around the KP killings and expulsion was in 1990? I was 10, and aware of what was going on through the newspapers, though I don’t think I read about the various brutalities until much later. But the fact that there was an Islamist insurgency actively sponsored by Pakistan was quite clear then.
I see some people here persisting with the fantasy that KPs will go back to living in Kashmir. How exactly does that happen in any form other than the way Israeli settlers are living in the West Bank. Ask yourselves if you are a Hindu: would you want to live as a ~5% minority in an Islamic country, or alternately live in a fortified enclave where everybody outside hates you? What’s the incentive?
“ Ask yourselves if you are a Hindu: would you want to live as a ~5% minority in an Islamic country, or alternately live in a fortified enclave where everybody outside hates you? “
Ask yourselves if you are a tam brahm : would you want to live as a ~5% minority in an Dravidian country, or alternately live in a fortified enclave where everybody outside hates you?
Am I doing it right , or am I doing it right 😉
I was not born in the south, nor have I lived in the south myself until very recently when I moved to Bangalore for work. Though I have a lot of extended family in TN. The dynamics between Brahmins and the rest in TN are nothing like that between Pandits and Muslims in Kashmir. So stop being an idiot.
yes. Please stop ur North South/ HinduLessHindu BS- atleast on my threads – it was funny to begin with – now its just desi daro high.
EDITED – I will not BS on this thread
I wasn’t trying to do that, and I don’t like that BS any more than you do. I just posed some general questions about the movie and your review further above.
Pandit Brown, sorry if you thought it was aimed at you.
I should have made it clear i was talking about Saurav.
I know what u feel about that Saurav’s jarring talking points.
LOL, Pandit bhai is my idol. Want to move back to India, but never had the gumption to make it work. No hard feelings.
‘The dynamics between Brahmins and the rest in TN are nothing like that between Pandits and Muslims in Kashmir. ‘
TBH that’s perhaps what Pandits would be saying b4 1989. And then something happened…
//
//I am letting this be as its related to topic – Saurabh do not shit on this thread – I do not wish to be rude to regular contributor. Stop ur BS
what they managed at last was the PC and poorly made Shikara
I haven’t seen Shikara. Do you mind elaborating on how it was PC? I know Rahul Pandita did (or helped in) the screenplay, so my guess was that it would have been quite authentic.
–> Havent seen Shikara but it was widely panned and criticized by KPs for being too PC
Your point about the portrayal of Kashmiri Muslims is well-taken. Even some Holocaust movies show a good Nazi or two (Schindler’s List, The Pianist). Perhaps future movies on this theme might.
Other questions:
– I have no personal knowledge of, nor any connections with, JNU. Is there really such a big constituency for Kashmiri “azaadi” among the student body there, to the extent that they can fill an auditorium with youth shouting the kinds of slogans portrayed in the movie?
— I think the director has taken some liberties – but none of them are inaccuracies. Such things are known to occur regularly in universities like JNU or Jadavpur — more so than AMU or Jamia.
– Anybody recall how exactly the media coverage around the KP killings and expulsion was in 1990? I was 10, and aware of what was going on through the newspapers, though I don’t think I read about the various brutalities until much later. But the fact that there was an Islamist insurgency actively sponsored by Pakistan was quite clear then.
— I think it was covered in news but if one compares it to the 1992 Riots or 2002 Riots or RJB movement in general – it was relegated to sidelines. Also the scale of the tragedy was never captured and conveyed to the general public imo.
I see some people here persisting with the fantasy that KPs will go back to living in Kashmir. How exactly does that happen in any form other than the way Israeli settlers are living in the West Bank. Ask yourselves if you are a Hindu: would you want to live as a ~5% minority in an Islamic country, or alternately live in a fortified enclave where everybody outside hates you? What’s the incentive?
— No chance in hell will i ever live in any area with more than 50% muslim population. Hence i avoid pontifying secularism to folks in Aurangabad or UP Bihar or even WBengal. I dont think anything short of long term re-settlement of KPs with supplementary Northern Indian non muslims on the scale of Israeli settlement in West-bank will make the valley habitable for india. With that aim i think this movie will eventually play an important role if thats the end game of BJP government.
Even with my reservations about the Hindutva project at large – i whole heartedly support Israel like settlement in Kashmir valley – backed by Military force
‘I dont think anything short of long term re-settlement of KPs with supplementary Northern Indian non muslims on the scale of Israeli settlement in West-bank will make the valley habitable for india’
If u haven’t noticed we have stopped being India’s cannon fodder in its wars. Now Hindu-dom requires bodies from other regions.
No more our cross to bear. Let the other Hindu regions step up.
if the movement to resettle pandits persists and if pandits are willing to go back, an autonomous area will have to be carved out of kashmir. this is the demand of panun kashmir movement. this appears to be the only plausible solution.
the push for resettlement has to come from pandits, nobody can force them.
I finally saw movie this weekend. Surprised to see that Cinemark (USA) is still running 4-6 shows per day and the show i went it was 90% occupied by diverse group of people. In my opinion this movie became a movement because it stuck to basics and neither try to sugarcoat the violence nor the root cause (religious supremacy) of the violence. Currently there are 2 supremacist religions in the world which are expansionist/proselytizing with a basic goals of increasing its flock (spreading the word). One does it through missionary route whereas other does it through violence and demographic tactics (4 wives/apostasy/marriage laws etc). This supremacist ideology (believers vs non-believers) is root cause of many conflicts around the world and shift of demography in only 1 direction. Right from the opening scene, this movie highlighted that cause (convert or flee or die) and ended with it.
What do you think about Sanjeev Sanyal’s book “The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History” ? He mention there that by 9500 BC all ANI and ASI groups were present. tradition also says that vedic period is older than 2000BC. what do u think ?
Ask Razib on open thread.
Sanyal is known to peddle old evidence with new ideas.
Guys what are your thoughts on the calls on Indian “liberal” twitter for Agnihotri to donate some amount of his earnings(which by now have surpassed the ~125cr mark) from the movie to assist the KP rehabilitation causes, if he actually is sympathetic? I ask that because that is one type of reaction that I’ve come across more frequently, any sense in that? Thanks! (and glad u came up with this review Gaurav)
I think GOI and other KP orgs have enough money to not depend on VRA charity. the amount it paltry compared to funds spend on KPs and Kashmir in general
I would rather he invests this money in creating more movies from for his politics which are technically better.
We need lot more movies on diverse topics – if Agni sets the cat among the pigeons – others will also join in years to come
I doubt other movies will have this impact. Kashmir files had the first mover advantage ( in a way). The only way to beat it is to shock people more ( by showing more gore ) or by making it more nuanced. I doubt either of it will work though.
TBH I doubt the movie really “opened” anyone eyes. No one is really that ill informed about Kashmiri pandits. The whole thing is more of rationalization ( of todays Hindu politics ) and Victory March.
Apna time agaya.
TBH I doubt the movie really “opened” anyone eyes. No one is really that ill informed about Kashmiri pandits. The whole thing is more of rationalization ( of todays Hindu politics ) and Victory March.
It definitely did. Lot of my well educated but normie friends had absolutely ZERO idea about this. They just knew something something happened in Kashmir.
It was weird seeing nominally liberal folks temporarily turn all right-wing on WhatsApp.
On the other hand, for the leftist JNU types – the success of the movie was just further evidence that the country is beyond redemption.
I guess ur nominally liberal folks are like my parents. Till Congress was in power, they had no issues with Congress (being secular and stuff) and use to laugh of BJP as a delusional party. Now they are more right wing then me, with my mom posting how ‘Modiji just blasted Putin like an errant child’ on WhatsApp.
Feel most of it is still internal coping mechanism. Normie liberal folks feel a lil guilty about Indian Muslim position and Kashmir files gives them an outlet. ‘These muslims did it before’, ‘Wherever these folks are majority they kill Hindus’. Stuff like that.
not for KPs or Kashmir in general but movies of this genre.
What’s been the reaction to the movie in the west? Is there some sort of recognition emerging?
The ultimate troll move now would be to nominate it as India’s official Oscar entry.
PS – Haven’t seen the movie. Unlikely that I’ll do. So take my opinions with a pinch of salt.
Reasonably well made, sticks to facts though tries to pack too many things in. Nothing new that KPs don’t know. It is mainly 101 for the uninitiated.
Nothing will change for KPs – Kashmir valley is a shithole and KPs have too much baggage to resettle there. So it will likely be a slow change with more mainland Indians going and living there. Long game of attrition, and there are too many Indians.
No western recognition. Kashmiri Pandits aren’t white christians, nor black. And too few.
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/15/how-anti-muslim-propaganda-is-spilling-into-indias-film-industry/