Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri recently opened up about the lasting impact of his film The Kashmir Files, calling it a turning point in how the country views the tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus.
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri talks about The Kashmir Files; says, “That film has changed the consciousness of the country”
In a podcast appearance, Agnihotri was asked about what the Kashmiri community gained from the film and how the broader narrative around Kashmir shifted post its release. Sharing a personal anecdote, he said, “You can ask this question to any Kashmiri Pandit. Ask him what he got out of it. Do you want to know what he got? I will tell you. Have you seen the film? Have you seen the last scene of Girija Devi? I got an email from her family, from her sister. And she wrote that for the past 30 years, no one in her family had spoken about Didi. Not a word. After watching your film, we all gathered on a Zoom call and we cried all night. For the first time, we have healed. Ask a Kashmiri Pandit what he got out of it. That’s one thing.”
He also addressed the film’s influence on international perception of Kashmir, stating, “Secondly, ask him what India got out of it. India got this film in the capital, in the UK Parliament, in Germany, all over the world. The narrative that Kashmir has illegally occupied India — for the first time, the world got an alternate perspective. There was an awareness. ‘Free Kashmir, Free Kashmir’—people used to raise slogans like it’s a child’s play. Have you heard that after the film came out? After that, Yaseen Malik is in jail. The government has made a tribunal for Kashmiri Pandits to come and give a speech. Today, awareness has arisen about Kashmir. It’s an honor to talk about Kashmiri Pandits today. So, nothing has been done in that film. That film has changed the consciousness of the country. And it has proved that without stars, without any glamour, without any support, if there is strength in your truth, then that thing can reach people.”
The Kashmir Files, released in 2022, was both a box office success and a subject of extensive debate. It sparked conversations nationwide and internationally on the long-ignored issues surrounding the Kashmiri Pandit community.
On the work front, Agnihotri is gearing up for the release of The Bengal Files, written and directed by him and presented by Tej Narayan Agarwal and I Am Buddha Productions. The film is scheduled to release worldwide on September 5.
More Pages: The Kashmir Files Box Office Collection
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