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The Kashmir Files
The Kashmir Files
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVivek Agnihotri
Written by
  • Vivek Agnihotri
  • Saurabh M. Pandey
Starring
CinematographyUdaysingh Mohite
Edited byShankh Rajadhyaksha
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byZee Studios
Release date
  • 11 March 2022 (2022-03-11)
Running time
170 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budgetest. ₹15 crore[2]
Box officeest. ₹120.80 crore[3]

The Kashmir Files is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language drama film,[1] written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri. Produced by Zee Studios,[5] the film is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during the Kashmir Insurgency,[6] which it portrays as a "genocide".[7] It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi.[8] The film was theatrically released on 11 March 2022.[9]

The film became a box office success,[10][11] but critical reception has been mixed.[12] The cinematography and the performances of the cast (particularly Kher's) has been descibed as compelling,[16] but the film has faced accusations of historical revisionism,[18] and of being propaganda aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),[21] aiming to foster prejudice against Muslims.[22] The film was endorsed, promoted and provided with tax-free status in multiple states by the BJP.[12][23][20]

Plot

The plot frequently switches between the contemporary period (2021) and flashbacks to 1989–1990 throughout the film.

Circa 1989–1990

In 1989–90 Kashmir, Islamic militants storm and banish Kashmiri Hindu Pandits from the valley using the slogan "Raliv Galiv ya Chaliv" ("convert (to Islam), leave or die"). Pushkar Nath Pandit, a teacher, fears for the safety of his son Karan, who has been accused by the militants to be an Indian spy. Pushkar requests his friend Brahma Dutt, a civil servant, for Karan's protection. Brahma travels with Pushkar to Kashmir and witnesses the plight of and violence against Kashmiri Pandits. He takes up the issue with J&K's chief minister, who suspends Brahma.

Militant commander Farooq Malik Bitta, also a former student of Pushkar, breaches Pushkar Nath's house. Karan hides in a rice container but is found and shot by Bitta. Pushkar and his daughter-in-law Sharda plead for their lives. Bitta compels Sharda to eat rice soaked in Karan's blood in exchange for their lives. After Bitta and his gang leave the house, Pushkar takes Karan to the hospital and requests his doctor friend Mahesh Kumar to save Karan's life. However, the hospital gets taken over by militants, who forbid the hospital staff from treating non-Muslims. Subsequently, Karan succumbs to injuries from gunshots.

Journalist Vishnu Ram takes Pushkar and his family to Kaul, a Hindu poet who maintains a cordial relationship with Muslims. Kaul takes in many Pandits into his home but a group of militants arrives to pick Kaul and his son up in the guise of offering protection. The rest of the Pandits leave the place but are later shocked to find the dead bodies of Kaul and his son hanging from trees.

The refugee Pandits from the Kashmir valley settle in Jammu and live on meager ration and harmful conditions. Brahma is appointed as an advisor to the new Governor of J&K. On his request, the Home Minister visits the Jammu camps where Pushkar demands the removal of Article 370 and the resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits. Brahma manages to get Sharda a government job in Nadimarg in Kashmir, and the family moves there.

One day a group of militants headed by Bitta dress up as Indian Army and arrive at Nadimarg. They round up the Pandits living there. Sharda resists when the militants get hold of her elder son Shiva. Angry Farooq strips her and saws her body in half. He lines up Shiva and the remaining Pandits and shoots them into a mass grave. Pushkar is spared to spread the word about what happened.

2021

In the present day, Sharda's younger son Krishna is brought up by Pushkar. He believes that his parents had died in an accident. A student of ANU,[a] Krishna is under the influence of professor Radhika Menon who believes in the "Kashmir cause". Pushkar's friends Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, and police officer Hari Narain , who had served in Kashmir when Karan was killed, recall the events of Kashmir from their memory that Brahma calls a "genocide."

Krishna contests the ANU's student election. Following the advice of professor Radhika Menon, he holds the Government of India responsible for the issue of Kashmir, much to the anger of Pushkar. Pushkar dies, and Krishna travels to his ancestral home in Kashmir to scatter the ashes per Pushkar's last wish. Menon asks Krishna to shoot some footage in Kashmir in order to expose the government. With the help of one of Menon's contacts, Krishna meets Bitta and accuses him of being responsible for the situation of Pandits. But Bitta declares himself to be a new-age Gandhi who is leading a non-violent democratic movement. Bitta claims that it was the Indian Army, who killed Krishna's mother and brother. When Krishna questions Brahma about this claim, Brahma hands him newspaper cuttings (collected by Pushkar), which stated that militants disguised as Indian Army soldiers killed them.

Krishna returns to Delhi and gives a scheduled speech for university presidential elections, among the roaring crowd of the ANU campus. He elaborates on the history of Kashmir and the plight of his family and other Kashmiri Hindu victims that he perceived from his trip. This is a bolt from blue to his mentor Professor Menon and her students. Krishna is then met with resistance and ridicule from students and an eventual embrace by a few.

Cast

Production

On 14 August 2019, Agnihotri announced the film with its first look poster. The subject of the film was the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits that took place between the late 80s and early 90s.[26][27] As a part of production, Vivek Agnihotri claimed to have interviewed more than 700 emigrants from the exodus and recorded their stories over a period of two years.[28] Actor Anupam Kher joined the cast as the lead actor of the film in May 2020. The first schedule of the film was called off due the COVID-19 pandemic.[29] Yograj Singh was removed for his speeches at the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest,[30] and Puneet Issar was brought in as replacement.[31] A line producer, Sarahna died during the production by suicide.[32]

Critical reception

Kher's performance in The Kashmir Files was generally praised by the film critics.[14][15]

Stutee Ghosh of The Quint rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and found the film to have made a compelling case for Kashmiri pandits and their "hitherto unaddressed wounds" but wished for more nuance; the cinematography (especially the color palette), Anupam Kher's acting, and realist depictions were praised in particular.[13] Likewise, Jagadish Angadi of Deccan Herald was effusive in his praise — Agnihotri's use of non-linear narratives and strong dialogues, enviable background research, and strong individual performances produced an "intense watch".[33] Avinash Lohana of Pinkvilla scored the film at 3 out of 5 stars, praising the cast performances—particularly that of Kher's—and behind-the-scenes research but criticized the lack of balance.[34] Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times wrote that "the film attempts to document the ordeal of these displaced families with authenticity and not just for a cinematic recreation ... Agnihotri tells the horrible tale as it should have been told." [35]

Shubhra Gupta, reviewing for The Indian Express gave the film a 1.5 out of 5 stars; uninterested in nuance, the film was held to be a work of propaganda aligned with the ruling party's discourse that only aimed to stoke the "deep-seated anger" of pandits but it did tap into the grief of a displaced community and Kher's performance was commendable.[19] Anuj Kumar reviewing for The Hindu described the film as disturbing; a work of historical revisionism, created with "some facts, some half-truths, and plenty of distortions" and coupled with compelling performances and brutally intense visualisations, aimed at inciting hatred against Muslims.[17]

Rahul Desai, reviewing for Film Companion, found the work to be a "fantasy-revisionist" rant lacking in clarity, craft, and sense where every Muslim was a Nazi and every Hindu, a Jew; with an unconvincing screenplay and weak characters, it was propaganda that strove only to tune in with the Hindu nationalist mood of the nation rather than offer genuine empathy to the displaced victims.[36] Rohit Bhatnagar of The Free Press Journal found the screenplay as well as individual performances to be sloppy, thus failing to "translate the grief on the big canvas" and make any mark; however, he admired the effort that went behind the film and rated 2.5 out of 5 stars.[37] Shilajit Mitra of The New Indian Express panned the film with a rating of 1 out of 5 stars and castigated Agnihotri for exploiting the suffering of Kashmiri pandits by doing away with all nuance in service of a "communal agenda".[7]

Government support

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has endorsed and promoted the film.[12][23][20] Several chief ministers and senior cabinet ministers including the Home Minister Amit Shah and the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have endorsed the film.[20] Union Minister Smriti Irani was one of the most vocal in promoting it.[12] The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attacked critics in response to negative reviews, claiming that there is a conspiracy to discredit the film, which according to him "reveals the truth".[38] The BJP Information and Technology Cell, known for being the party's propaganda unit promoted the film with its head raising calls for people to watch it. Pro-government media were also involved in its promotion; the website OpIndia published several articles raining praising on the film and questioned the opposition parties' stances on it while television channels hosted multiple shows and debates praising the film and questioning criticism.[20]

The film was declared tax-free in multiple BJP governed states such as Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,[39][40] with calls by several chief ministers and members of Parliament for "everyone to watch the movie".[23][41] Following other BJP ruled states, the film was also made tax-free in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.[42][43] Concurrently, the BJP ruled state of Assam proclaimed that it had not announced a tax exemption as the state did have an entertainment tax. Assam and Madhya Pradesh announced that it would grant vacations to government employees and police personnel respectively, if they bought tickets to watch the movie. Assam, Karnataka and Tripura also held government backed special screenings of the film while in Madhya Pradesh, a BJP spokesperson bought tickets for an entire movie hall for audiences to be able to watch the movie for free.[20] In addition, in the states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and West Bengal, which have opposition parties in power, BJP legislators have called for the state their respective governments to make the film tax free.[20]

Political messaging and historical accuracy

The film's producer Vivek Agnihotri claims the film to be a depiction of the "truth of Kashmir".[44] Its key message is that what is known as the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits is actually a "genocide".[7] The film focuses exclusively on the killings of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990 and afterwards, whereas Kashmiri Muslims were also killed during the insurgency,[44] and in greater numbers.[45][46][47][b] The film faced charges of historical revisionism and unnuanced storytelling, in what some have deemed a ploy to foster prejudice against Muslims.[52][12] The film's exclusive focus on violence of Muslims on Hindus has been seen by some as promoting Islamophobia.[44][53][51]

The film is seen depicting the Jawaharlal Nehru University[a] as an unpatriotic institution sympathetic to terrorism.[44] The Article 370 of the Constitution that granted nominally autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir, is named as one of the reasons for the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits.[44] Blame is also attached to Farooq Abdullah, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 1990; the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi; and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Minister of Home Affairs in 1990 and a person of Kashmiri heritage. V. P. Singh, the serving Prime Minister in 1990, and the Bharatiya Janata Party that supported his government, are absolved of responsibility.[44][17] The central character Krishna Pandit is shown as turning against the present-day prime minister Narendra Modi due to the influence of terrorists.[44] The former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is also subtly derided for attempting to win the hearts of Kashmiris.[17]

A Kashmiri terrorist named Farooq Malik Bitta is depicted in the movie, fashioned after Farooq Ahmed Dar ("Bitta Karate") and Yasin Malik rolled into one. But he is also shown as being involved in the 2003 Nadimarg massacre, which was not Dar's doing. Krishna's mother, fashioned after Mrs. Ganjoo, is shown to have been killed in this massacre, which was not the case in real life.[44][54] Neither are the facts of Bitta Karate's conviction and long years of incarceration mentioned.[17]

Release and box office

The Kashmir Files was set to release theatrically worldwide on 26 January 2022, coinciding with India's Republic Day,[55] but was postponed due to the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.[56]

It was released in over 630 screens in India on 11 March 2022.[57] The film earned 3.55 crore, 8.50 crore and 15.10 crore at the domestic box office respectively on its first three days, taking its opening weekend collection to 27.15 crore.[3] After the response from the first two days, the shows were increased to 2,000 on 13 March 2021.[58] With a collection of 15.05 crore on its first Monday, the film earned the twentieth all-time highest first Monday collections ever for a Indian film.[59] Additionally, with a growth of 323% on its first Monday, the film also broke the record for the highest increase in collections for a Indian film on first Monday.[60] With a collection of 18 crore on its first Tuesday, the film earned the fourteenth all-time highest first Tuesday collections ever for a Indian film.[61] With a collection of 19.05 crore on its first Wednesday, the film earned the seventh all-time highest first Wednesday collections ever for a Indian film.[62] With a collection of 18.05 crore on its first Thursday, the film earned the fifth all-time highest first Thursday collections ever for a Indian film.[63] The film earned 97.30 crore at the domestic box office in its opening week.[3] After the response from the first week, the screens were increased to 4,000 on 18 March 2021.[64]

The film emerged as a box-office hit within its first two days of release.[65] As of 17 March 2022, the film has collected 97.30 crore at the domestic box office.[3] Additionally, the film earned an estimated amount of 5 crore at the overseas markets in its opening weekend.[66]

As of 17 March 2022, the film grossed ₹115.83 crore in India and ₹4.97 crore overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of ₹120.89 crore.[3]

Litigations

A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by an Uttar Pradesh resident which sought a stay on the film's release on grounds that the film may portray the Muslims as killers of the Kashmiri pandits, presenting what it described as a one-sided view that would hurt the sentiments of Muslims and could trigger violence against Muslims. The PIL was dismissed by the Bombay High Court on grounds that the filer should have challenged the certificate issued to the film by the Central Board of Film Certification.[67]

Another lawsuit was filed by the widow of an Indian Armed Forces squadron leader who died during the Kashmir Insurgency. The widow's lawsuit said that the film portrayed a false depiction of events related to her husband and sought a stay on its release. Accordingly, the court restrained the makers from showing relevant scenes.[68]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Reference to JNU has been changed to ANU following the directions of Central Board of Film Certification.[24] In an interview with Lallantop on 16 March 2022, Vivek Agnihotri mentioned that the name of the university has been retained as JNU in the international print of the movie.[25]
  2. ^ According to the Indian Home Ministry's internal data, 1,583 Hindu civilians were killed in the conflict between 1988 and 2005, while the Muslim civilians killed in the same period numbered 12,245.[48]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Kashmir Files". British Board of Film Classification. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  2. ^ https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/why-the-kashmir-files-is-a-blockbuster-nobody-saw-coming-1925582-2022-03-15
  3. ^ a b c d e "The Kashmir Files Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Kashmir Files Vivek Agnihotri's film exposes India's new fault lines". BBC. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files to CLASH with Prabhas-starrer Radhe Shyam on March 11 : Bollywood News". Bollywood Hungama. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files to go on floors next month". Cinema Express. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d Mitra, Shilajit (12 March 2022). "Movie Review| Kashmir Files, A limp attempt at provocation". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  8. ^ Negi, Shrishti (9 March 2022). "The Kashmir Files Producer Pallavi Joshi: Am I Making the Film for Hindu Rashtra? I'm Just Telling a Story". News18. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files to CLASH with Prabhas-starrer Radhe Shyam on March 11". Bollywood Hungama. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  10. ^ The Kashmir Files Is Another Gadar – On Its Way To Create HISTORY, Box Office India, 14 March 2022, retrieved 14 March 2022
  11. ^ "The Kashmir Records Fantastic Weekend – Set For Extraordinary Run". Box Office India. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "Kashmir Files: Vivek Agnihotri's film exposes India's new fault lines". BBC News. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Review: 'The Kashmir Files' Makes a Compelling Case For Kashmiri Pandits". The Quint. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ a b "'The Kashmir Files' movie review: Anupam Kher is brilliant in this heart-wrenching story". Deccan Herald. 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ a b "The Kashmir Files Review: Anupam Kher shines in the film that creates an impact but lacks balance". Pinkvilla. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ [13][14][15]
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Kumar, Anuj (14 March 2022), "'The Kashmir Files' movie review: A disturbing take which grips and gripes in turns", The Hindu
  18. ^ [12][17][7]
  19. ^ a b c d Gupta, Shubhra (12 March 2022). "The Kashmir Files movie review: Anupam Kher is the emotional core of this overwrought film". The Indian Express. Retrieved 12 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h "'The Kashmir Files' is Hindutva's latest anti-Muslim weapon". The Siasat Daily. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022. Cite error: The named reference ":2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  21. ^ [19][17][20]
  22. ^ [12][17][19][20]
  23. ^ a b c "The Kashmir Files declared tax-free in six BJP-run states". The Indian Express. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  24. ^ "BREAKING: Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files passed with an 'A' certificate and 7 minor cuts by CBFC; name of the university changed from JNU to ANU". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  25. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWq3IRbdwq0
  26. ^ "Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files to go on floors next month". Cinema Express. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  27. ^ "The Kashmir Files: Vivek Agnihotri announces new film through poster, announces its release on 15 August, 2020". Firstpost. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  28. ^ "Vivek Agnihotri on The Kashmir Files: 'I wanted to make a film about people who did not pick up guns'-Entertainment News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  29. ^ "COVID 19 effect: Shooting of 'The Kashmir Files' called off". The Times of India. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  30. ^ "Yograj Singh out of Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files". The Tribune (Chandigarh). 12 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  31. ^ "Puneet Issar Replaces Yograj Singh In 'The Kashmir Files' Post Singh's Derogatory Remark". Mid-Day. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  32. ^ "The Kashmir Files line producer dies by suicide; heartbroken Anupam Kher writes that the news 'shook' him". Times Now. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  33. ^ "'The Kashmir Files' movie review: Anupam Kher is brilliant in this heart-wrenching story". Deccan Herald. 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ "The Kashmir Files Review: Anupam Kher shines in the film that creates an impact but lacks balance". Pinkvilla. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  35. ^ https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/the-kashmir-files-movie-review-anupam-kher-is-the-soul-of-this-gut-wrenching-film-that-s-brazen-and-brutal-101646904407351.html
  36. ^ a b Desai, Rahul (11 March 2022). "The Kashmir Files Is A Defensive And Dishonest Dive Into The Past". Film Companion. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  37. ^ Bhatnagar, Rohit (11 March 2022). "The Kashmir Files review: A preachy tale of facts that lacks attention". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  38. ^ "PM Says "Conspiracy", "Campaign To Discredit" Film 'The Kashmir Files'". NDTV.com. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  39. ^ "More BJP-ruled states make 'The Kashmir Files' movie tax-free". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  40. ^ "Film database IMDb changes rating method for 'The Kashmir Files' citing unusual voting activity". Scroll.in. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  41. ^ "Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tripura and Goa declare 'The Kashmir Files' tax-free". The Economic Times. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  42. ^ "Vivek Agnihotri's film The Kashmir Files now tax-free in Bihar". Wpri. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  43. ^ "The Kashmir Files goes tax free in Himachal too". The Statesman. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  44. ^ a b c d e f g h Rohmetra, Amogh (13 March 2022). "The Kashmir Files tries showing 1990 exodus 'truth' but Vivek Agnihotri gives it death blow". The Print.
  45. ^ Bose, Sumantra (2020), Kashmir at the Crossroads, Inside a 21st-Century Conflict., Yale University Press, p. 92, ISBN 978-0-300-25687-1, On 15 March 1990, by which time the Pandit exodus from the Valley was substantially complete, the All-India Kashmiri Pandit Conference, a community organisation, stated that thirty-two Pandits had been killed by militants since the previous autumn. This plausible figure amounted to a third of about one hundred targeted killings by JKLF militants since autumn 1989. (Emphasis added)
  46. ^ Bose, Tapan; Mohan, Dinesh; Navlakha, Gautam; Banerjee, Sumanta (31 March 1990), "India's 'Kashmir War'", Economic and Political Weekly, 25 (13): 655, JSTOR 4396095, According to a breakdown of those killed by the militants so far, of the total 100, 32 were Hindus (from both the valley and outside) and the rest Muslims.
  47. ^ "'The Kashmir Files' is Hindutva's latest anti-Muslim weapon", The Siasat Daily, 14 March 2022, It is to be noted that in response to a Right to Information (RTI) filed over the number of deaths of Kashmiri pandits killed by terrorists since the inception of militancy in 1990, the district police headquarters in Srinagar revealed official figures that state 89 casualties as compared to 1635 deaths of people of other faiths, during the same time.
  48. ^ Swami, Praveen (2007), India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad: The covert war in Kashmir, 1947–2004, Asian Security Studies, Routledge, p. 175, ISBN 0-415-40459-2
  49. ^ Kumar, Anuj (14 March 2022), "'The Kashmir Files' movie review: A disturbing take which grips and gripes in turns", The Hindu, The Kashmiri Pandits' pain is real and should be expressed in popular culture, but it deserved a more nuanced, more objective take rather than the 'us vs them' worldview that Agnithotri has propagated over 170 minutes.... There is no middle ground for him, as he picks and chooses instances from the past to suit his narrative.
  50. ^ Mitra, Shilajit (12 March 2022). "Kashmir Files, A limp attempt at provocation". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 12 March 2022. ... there is not a single moderate [Muslim] in The Kashmir Files.... The fact that no conflict is unidimensional, that there can be multiple oppressed groups in a region, simply doesn't dawn on this film.
  51. ^ a b "'The Kashmir Files' is Hindutva's latest anti-Muslim weapon", The Siasat Daily, 14 March 2022, A film that is based on the tragedy and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has instead managed to become a propaganda tool that is being used to rouse anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmiri passions in the country, adding to the current atmosphere of anti-minority hate that has permeated deep in society over the last eight years or so.
  52. ^ [19][36][49][50][51]
  53. ^ Kumar, Anuj (14 March 2022), "'The Kashmir Files' movie review: A disturbing take which grips and gripes in turns", The Hindu, Employing some facts, some half-truths, and plenty of distortions, [the film] propels an alternative view about the Kashmir issue, with the intent to not just provoke... but incite.... In Agnihotri's documentation, terror has a religion and it appears every Muslim in Kashmir has been a separatist and keen to convert Hindus to Islam.... One fears, in the name of street justice, the clippings of the film will soon end up in social media to fuel further hate against one community.
  54. ^ Template:Cite news last=Pandita
  55. ^ "Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty's 'The Kashmir Files' to release on Republic Day 2022". The New Indian Express. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  56. ^ "Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's 'The Kashmir Files' release postponed amid rising COVID-19 cases". Bollywood Hungama. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  57. ^ "The Kashmir Files box office collection Day 1: Vivek Agnihotri film mints Rs 3.55 crore". The Indian Express. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  58. ^ "The Kashmir Files Box Office: Film's shows increased from 600 to 2000 after stupendous response". Bollywood Hungama. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  59. ^ "The Kashmir Files Box Office: Ranks as 20th All Time highest first Monday grosser; beats Padmaavat, Singham Returns, Sooryavanshi and 3 Idiots". Bollywood Hungama. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  60. ^ "The Kashmir Files Box Office: Vivek Agnihotri's directorial survives Khooni Monday test; shows 323% growth and claims the no. 1 spot". Bollywood Hungama. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  61. ^ "The Kashmir Files Box Office Collections: Ranks as the 14th all-time highest first Tuesday grosser; beats Airlift, Kabir Singh, Tanhaji, and Padmaavat". Bollywood Hungama. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  62. ^ "The Kashmir Files Box Office Collections: Beats Sanju, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Tiger Zinda Hai to become 7th all-time highest 1st Wednesday grosser". Bollywood Hungama. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  63. ^ "The Kashmir Files Box Office Collections: Anupam Kher starrer dethrones Sanju, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Dhoom 3; occupies the 5th spot in All Time Highest First Thursday collections". Bollywood Hungama. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  64. ^ "The Kashmir Files Box Office: Screens for Vivek Agnihotri's directorial increased from 650 to 4000 in one week owing to an overwhelming response from the audience". Bollywood Hungama. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  65. ^ "The Kashmir Files Emerges A HIT". Box Office India. 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  66. ^ "The Kashmir Files collects approx. 653k USD [Rs. 5 cr.] in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  67. ^ Vidya (8 March 2022). "Plea against The Kashmir Files dismissed by Bombay High Court". India Today. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  68. ^ Dipali, Patel (10 March 2022). "Court stays release of Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files". India Today. Retrieved 10 March 2022.