We intend to bring out truth, not hatred: ‘The Kashmir Files’ producer Abhishek Agarwal

By IANS

MUMBAI: As ‘The Kashmir Files’ is receiving huge audience appreciation while minting money at the box office, and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi showered praise on the film, its producer Abhishek Agarwal explains how the film intends to bring out the truth and not incite hatred against any community.

The film is based on the real-life incidents of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and the makers emphasised to call it a ‘genocide’, even as a section of people have questioned the timing of the film.

Considering the fact that in the last few years, society has become polarised and hatred against the Muslim community has increased, the possibility increases of fuelling more hatred against Muslims through the film.

Addressing the point, in conversation with IANS, Abhishek, the producer of the film explained, “I disagree on that point. We intended to bring out the truth that was ignored for the last 32 years. Bringing out the truth to people does not mean we are generating hatred against Muslims. Kashmiri Pandit community was brutally killed and forced to flee from their land by the terrorists.

“They were trained terrorists, their minds were radicalised. A terrorist cannot have any religion. I look at the matter this way, a bunch of terrorists who happened to be Muslims, killed Kashmiri Pandits. We have shown the truth in the film.”

The film, directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, is based on extensive research work, a collection of several testimonies by the first-generation victims of the exodus that took place in Kashmir in 1990.

Asked about how he came on board as producer for the film, Abhishek shared, “Post the abrogation of Article 370, I wanted to make a film on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. I just realised that even though there are several references of Kashmir in our cinema, one of the most important parts of our history hasn’t been shown in our films.

“When I decided to make the film, and also got to know that Vivek ji is already doing research on the film, we had a conversation and decided that instead of making two films, let’s make one proper film and reach out to the widest audience possible.”

The film featuring – Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Chinmay Mandlekar, Darshan Kumar, Prakash Belawadi, Puneet Issar, Pallavi Joshi, and Bhasha Sumbli – released in theatres on March 11.