The Kashmir Files: Anupam Kher’s mother Dulari shares brother’s ordeal during exodus, says he ‘died heartbroken’

As The Kashmir Files continues its successful run at the box office, its lead actor Anupam Kher took to social media to share a message of appreciation for the film from his mother Dulari. The film is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s. Dulari is herself a Kashmiri Pandit and her younger brother was one of the many people, who had to flee their homeland when communal tensions escalated in the region three decades ago. (Also read: The Kashmir Files box office day 9 collection: Anupam Kher film mints ₹24 crore, all set to cross ₹150 crore-mark)

Sharing the video on Instagram, Anupam wrote, “I wanted to be a little light hearted while telling Mom about the box office success of #TheKashmirFiles!! But she was in no such mood. She is focused, fearless, hurt, disillusioned and furious!” Anupam then added that his mother was deeply hurt and she spoke anout the sufferings of Kashmiri Pandits, including her younger brother Moti Lal Kak.

In the five-minute-long video, Dulari is seen talking about the film to Anupam. She first applauds director Vivek Agnihotri for making a ‘correct film’. When Anupam, who can be heard off camera, asks her what she thinks is the reason for the film’s success, she says it’s because “the film shows what happened”.

Dulari then recounts in part-Hindi, part-Kashmiri what her family had faced in Kashmir three decades ago. She says, “My brother used to live in Rambagh. He came home one evening and was told to leave everything. He had just built his home that year. They wanted me and my other brother to go there too. There was a letter at the door saying ‘Today it’s your turn’. That poor man didn’t even take the deed to the house or the bank passbook. He died later heart broken at being away from the home he had built with such love.” Later on in the video, she spoke more about her brother. “He didn’t even take money. It wasn’t as if he had ancestral property in Mumbai or Delhi. So he stayed in a tent. I don’t wish this even upon my enemies,” she says.

Dulari was born in Srinagar and grew up there. In another part of the video, she shares she would love to return. “I will buy a house in Karan Nagar. My childhood was spent there. Even if I have just a room, I’ll live there.” When Anupam asks if she liked his work in the film, she breaks into a smile and says sarcastically, “I didn’t like you. You were ok.” Then she says to someone off camera, “Isko nazar utaar do beta (Ward evil eye off him please).”

The Kashmir Files also stars Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumaar, Chinmay Mandlekar, and Bhasha Sumbli. The film released in theatres on March 11 and has already earned ₹141 crore. It has been declared tax-free in several states including Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Goa, Haryana, and Uttarakhand. It has also received endorsement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.