Film ‘The Kashmir Files’ helped people all over the world to be aware of the tragedy that happened to Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, said Anupam Kher, lead actor in the movie who was participating in IFFI Table Talks. Speaking about the film, Kher shared that it is a film based on true incidents. The film director Vivek Agnihotri interviewed around 500 people all around the world for the movie. On the night of January 19, 1990, five lakh Kashmiri Pandits had to leave their homes and memories in the Kashmir valley following rising violence.
“As a Kashmiri Hindu, I lived with the tragedy. But nobody was recognising the tragedy. World was trying to hide this tragedy. The film started a healing process by documenting the tragedy,” stated Kher. Reminiscing with the process of giving life to a tragedy he suffered, Kher said that ‘The Kashmir Files’ is not just a film to him, but an emotion which he portrayed on screen. “Since I represent the people who got expelled from their homes, I consider it a great responsibility to express it in the best possible manner. My tears, my difficulties which you are seeing in this film are all real,” he described.
Kher further said that in this film instead of using his craft as an actor, he used his soul to give expression to the truth behind real life incidents. “Those films which have an element of reality will surely connect with the audience. The success of films like ‘Kashmir Files’ is a testament to it. Without any songs, any comedy, the film turned out still amazing. This is actually the triumph of cinema,” he added.
Recalling his journey with IFFI, Kher said that he first attended IFFI in 1985 as a 28-year-old for his film ‘Saaransh’. “Since I played a 65-year-old character in that movie, nobody recognised me at IFFI at that time. Today, 37 years later with over 532 films, it’s a great moment for me to be in Goa for IFFI,” said Kher.
At the interaction Kher also announced that he will produce the Odiya film Pratikshya – story of father-son duo with unemployment as a dominant theme - in Hindi, with him playing one of the main roles. Director of ‘Prathikshya’ Anupam Patnaik was also on the dais along with Abhishek Agarwal, producer of ‘The Kashmir Files’.
