The Kashmir Files Review - A Ferocious And Truculent Cinematic Outburst Of The Belligerent Yet Helpless Kashmiri Pandits

Some of the greatest historical films that stunned the audience with the unknown facts were made in the 1910s only. DW Griffith's Silent Epic The Birth Of A Nation (1915) broke the silence on Ku Klux Klan and went down in the memory lane as the most controversial film ever made, but it was a great classic too. Griffith then made a propaganda film like The Hearts Of The World (1918) — for the right cause, but controversies were unavoidable. The Birth Of A Nation remained one of its kind for its savage presentation until Sergei Eisenstein made the Russian classic Battleship Potemkin (1915). That massacre scene was nothing short of a nightmare.

There are dozens of more hard-hitting classics made after that on historical events, but I don't think any film managed to be so cruel and real. Oh, wait, there was also the immensely disturbing Italian-Arabic The Battle of Algiers (1966). Indian cinema wasn't even properly born then (in the 1910s and 1920s) and even today, after 90-100 years, we haven't made anything on that level. Recently, we got Sardar Udham, a slow burn, but those 30-35 minutes of the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre were enough to leave you numb. Here comes another film with the same impact. The Kashmir Files will leave you stunned, shocked and heart-wrenched. If you are one of those highly sensitive and weak-hearted fellas, you may need one or two minutes of rest to come back to your senses. Those truculent graphics of barbarous activities, excessive violence, and bloodshed are surely going to stay in your head for some time, if not the whole film.

Without wasting any time, The Kashmir Files tells the story of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in the early 1990's due to the Kashmir Insurgency. The exodus we all know, yes, but the truth we don't. Yes, we just don't, unless you are one of those Kashmiri Pandits yourself. The media, politicians, professions, historians, nobody told the full truth and this film tries to cover that loss in its capacity. Not only is there that three-decade-old Exodus thing, but The Kashmir Files also make intelligent speeches about ancient history from a thousand years ago. Terrorism, Hinduism, Islam, humanity, politics, fake facts, propaganda, constitutional shortcomings, misguided youth, brainwashing, and what not. The Kashmir Files is a full-fledged documentary in the form of a feature film.

The performances of all the actors uplift the momentum because no one really looks unconvincing. Anupam Kher is amazing in some parts. You just can't forget his face from some scenes - Shiv's face make up, Article 370 board in hand, and the bed scene in the hospital. Mithun Chakraborty goes on doing a flawless job with his experience while Pallavi Joshi puts up a solid socialist cum communist.

The biggest surprise is Chinmay Mandlekar. This man is just coming after Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's protrayal, where he speaks fluent Marathi with that royal touch, and here, he goes on to channel a completely different character. His accent, look, body language, and cruelty will make you hate him, but that's what each character is supposed to do. So it's a big achievement for him. Darshan Kumaar looks slightly off track in a few scenes, but the rest of the time, he's convincing. The supporting cast, which includes Puneet Issar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Atul Srivastava, Prakash Belawadi, and Bhasha Sumbli, only adds to the film's improvement.

Speaking of the screenplay, it's a little slow at the beginning and then again after the intermission point, but it accelerates the vehicle when needed. The screenplay has nothing highly dramatic, at least not anything like a complete use of cinematic liberty, but it keeps you busy with horrifying details of the unknown or known Kashmir Genocide. It also takes a dig at some politicians, political parties, and terrorists by taking their names openly (not all, though), and that, I guess, was a pretty gutsy job. The cinematography has some experiments made with the moving scenes, as you can notice the camera shaking as the cameraman walks on his legs instead of using a trolley, and then sudden close-up shots coming at you. For a big screen experience, I think that works.

The Tashkent Files by Vivek Agnihotri was nothing short of a sensational stuff. It was a sleeper hit for the same reason. It was a very good film too, but I think people liked it more than expected because of the untold story. Not many details were available in the public domain about Lal Bahadur Shastri's death, or maybe they were made disappear by some people. The storyline was meant to attract everyone's attention then. However, with The Kashmir Files, the case is completely different. Many people know about this, and there are some articles, books, and documentaries available publicly, and there is one film as well. Maybe that's the issue with the film.

So much has been said, written and argued about it, and even the media gave it proper coverage when Article 370's removal was declared by the current government. It is such a big, marathon story that you can't just wrap it up with 10-12 characters and within 160 minutes. The only thing anyone could do was to present it in an utterly brutal and realistic manner, and Vivek Agnihotri has done exactly that. His uncompromised vision to display all the facts, speeches, events, and even a little bit of propaganda, all adds up to a mind-shattering cinematic journey into one of the most ferocious and devastating events to ever happen in our country. It's not just a film, but the long-awaited outburst of the belligerent yet helpless Kashmiri Pandits. The film is worth your time and money, but only if you really know what you are spending it on.