The Endangered P(a)undits - Forgive but never Forget

After watching Vivek Agnihotri's "The Kashmir Files", it took me a solid week to get over the effects of the movie on me. Perhaps it has changed some of my thoughts permanently and left an everlasting impression that I am not even sure is good or bad.

The movie is dark and slow. If it would have been a different subject, I believe people would have left the cinema halls during one of the conversations that Mithunda was having with our Duryodhan fame Puneet Issar or when the protagonist Krishna was lecturing the ANU (why don't we use the real names - JNU - here. no clue!!) students. But the first few scenes of the movie, just strike you like a lightning and when you are trying to gather yourself this clever director has inserted all the slow scenes and gives you another blow in the end.

Effective use of non-linear storytelling - comparing today's narrative on Kashmir with what happened during late 80s, early 90s in the valley is brilliant, to say the least. However the director seems to have some casting issues, if not why would he roll all the different terrrorists into one, Farooq Dar (Bitta), Yasin Malik and a host of others (Burhan Wani, Afzal Guru et al. ), which leads to some cinematic sequences where the Bitta fellow keeps coming back in all scenes whether it is the IAF members shooting, brutal murder of Sarwanand Koul and in the end Nadimarg massacre as well as the cold-blooded bisection of Girija Tickoo.

Oh oh... Did I say the real names of the victims out loud, instead of their screen names? Well! may be a dosage of reality for the - 'why is this needed now' gang - is not bad after all. 

Anupam Kher - is not just an actor. He is a phenomenon. The way he shows his insensitive and numb reaction to his own son's brutal death, showing the kashmiri pride, dreaming about going back to Kashmir  and his earnest attempt to protect the rest of his family - Pushkarnath will live in the hearts of Indians forever. 

While it is natural to see the general public hording towards the theatres, I can give a few pointers towards some of the apologists, who seemed to think Vivek Agnihotri has crossed the line by making this movie. You guys are trying to say that the whole film is a lie and a propaganda and a hate show against Kashmiri Muslims - tough argument! Because they are real events corroborated by real people who have seen this, felt this and lived through this. On the contrary, you can always sue him for 'Copyright Infringement' - how dare he keeps word by word what Burkha Dutt reported on Pandits' exodus - sorry genocide - as is in the movie without giving due credits to her. How dare he can pen in a Prof. Radhika Menon character based off of the likes of Suzanna Arundhati Roy, Brinda Karat et al and keep their narrative manipulation un-filtered in the movie. So try that out people, it actually might work and you can also present valid evidences against him. You might be wondering why am I giving pointers to the 'tukde tukde gang' now. Well! After seeing Pushkarnath for two hours and fifty minutes, part of his numbness towards atrocities smeared on me as well!