Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files is receiving lots of praise from both the audience and critics for its gripping depiction of the tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus from their homeland in the 1990s. The film, starring Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumaar, and Pallavi Joshi, has captivated audiences, translating into historic box office results, for a film that received little promotion, to begin with.
Abhishek Agarwal, who decided to back the venture, is delighted. ‘I never expected The Kashmir Files to be so big,’ he says exclusively to Times Now Digital, stating that at the end of the day, it has become ‘the people’s film’. Though the project has gained widespread fame, Abhishek acknowledges that the road wasn’t easy, and not many stood by them during the conceptualization phase.
Many superstars have supported The Kashmir Files, applauding its makers for tackling such a sensitive subject in such raw honesty to the audience. However, despite many hardships, Abhishek feels that very few people supported him back then. ‘It feels good,’ he says, adding, ‘Humlogon ko toh pehle kisika support tha hi nahin. Humlog sabakele hi chal rahe the for 3.5 years (We had no one’s support earlier. We did everything by our selves for the last three and a half years). Finally, we were able to shoot in December and January. Shooting ke time pe itne problems aaye (There were so many problems during the shoot of the film) but no one stood with us.’
Nevertheless, for Abhishek, who knew he wanted to work on this subject even before collaborating with Vivek Agnihotri, the film is about giving back to society. He believes in making content-driven films. ‘When I first heard and read about article 370 related to Kashmir and got to know about the Kashmiri Pundit issue, and subsequently got connected to Vivek (Agnihotri) ji, the dice just got rolling’, he added.
The film was even appreciated by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ‘PM Modi congratulating us just takes us to a different motivational mode. When someone like him appreciates your work then you feel like doing better in your craft. He said he liked our work,’ Abhishek reveals. ‘For 32 years, nobody has spoken about the tragedy. Many young people don’t even know what caused the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pundits from the valley. This film provides an overview of what happened. Kashmir Files is almost like a quest for answers for the audience,’ he concludes.
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