Ravinder Kaul “The horror! The horror!” The last four words whispered by Col. Kurtz (played by one and only Marlon Brando) before succumbing to his wounds in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’, one of the greatest war films ever made, are the words that keep reverberating in one’s mind as one leaves the auditorium after watching Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’. In both cases it is the final assessment of what one has seen- the horror of what people are capable of doing to others. From the very first frame, the film grabs one’s neck in a vice-like grip and relentlessly maintains that pressure until the last shot, without respite. One could have ignored the gory scenes depicted in the film as horror fiction but the immaculate research that has gone into writing the script ensures that not a single story or incident depicted in the film is imaginary or fictional. And that makes it all the more disturbing and unnerving. After many false starts in the form of forgettable films, the Kashmiri Hindu story has finally been told by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, the Director and Screenplay Writer of the film, bluntly and ‘in your face’ manner, without mincing words and without diluting the focus even once. This is the grim story of the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus who were forced to leave their centuries old place of habitat in the wake of terrorism, post 1990. Murdered, raped, looted and tortured, the members of this hapless community were abandoned by the powers of the day to die, initially at the hands of the terrorists and later in the torn tents in scorching heat on the outskirts of Jammu and other cities of the country. The so called human rights activists and left leaning liberals found their story too uncomfortable and too hot to handle. ‘The Kashmir File’ seamlessly moves back and forth in time, beginning with an innocuous cricket match being played by children in January 1990, with cricket commentary playing on the soundtrack and ending with the Nadimarg massacre of the year 2003 in which 24 Kashmiri Hindus were lined up and shot dead by terrorists dressed in army fatigues. In between these two timelines the sad story of complicity of politicians, bureaucracy, police and medical fraternity, that aided and abetted the Kashmiri Hindu exodus, is narrated. More than a film, it is an elegy, a song that expresses sadness for someone who has suffered or died. Anupam Kher in the role of Pushkar Nath Pandit, the patriarch of the family around whom the story revolves, has given a lifetime performance in the film. His role reminds one of ‘Saaransh’, the film in which his histrionic abilities were first noticed as B.V.Pradhan, the elderly man who has lost his son and his relentless struggle against all odds. He has truly lived his role as if he was born to portray Pushkar Nath Pandit. Bhasha Sumbli, excels in her controlled and sensitive portrayal of Sharda Pandit. An NSD graduate, she has earlier worked in ‘Chhapaak’ and after this excellent performance one is sure to see more and more of her in Indian films in the times to come. Pallavi Joshi, in her role of left leaning liberal Prof. Radhika Menon at a university in Delhi (read JNU), has convincingly portrayed the misplaced priorities, flawed world view and bigotry of the class of people she represents. Darshan Kumar too is flawless in the, initially doubtful under the influence of Prof Menon, and later a confident and vociferous advocate of righteousness, as Krishna Pandit. Mithun Chakraborty, Puneet Issar, Atul Shrivastav and Prakash Belawadi, enacting the role of the four friends of Pushkar Nath Pandit, who come together after many years in order to spread the ashes of their friend in his ancestral home, are integral to the story and convincingly portray the helplessness of some well meaning officers in the administration in wake of the hostility and apathy of the powers of the day to protect Kashmiri Hindus. Chinmay Mandlekar as Farooq Malik ‘Bitta’ and Sourav Verma, a competent actor from Jammu, have convincingly portrayed the characters of ruthless terrorists. There are no songs in the film, and rightly so for there is no place for a song in a grim film like this. However, the original score by Rohit Sharma is excellent in highlighting the tense atmosphere of the film. The use of a lullaby and ‘Tsolhama’ song enhance the pathos in the film manifold. Uday Singh Mohite, the DoP, whose brief must have been to project the flip side of the Heaven on Earth, has succeeded in presenting Kashmir, unlike most Bollywood films, in dark shades, grim images, with all its gory details. In recent times many organizations have been demanding setting up of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Kashmir on the lines of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa, a court-like body established by the South African government in 1995 to help heal the country and bring about a reconciliation of its people by uncovering the truth about human rights violations that had occurred during the period of apartheid. However, for setting up such a Commission in Kashmir, acknowledging and accepting the truth itself is a prerequisite. If the people at large accept the Truth, as honestly presented in this film, it will pave way for a long overdue reconciliation and closure. On the day of the screening, most of the members in the jam-packed auditorium belonged to the community of Kashmiri Hindus who have suffered a similar fate during the 1990s. Most eyes are wet, some are crying loudly. Their story may not have been a part of this film, for it is impossible to include every story in a two hour film, but they all have their own tragic stories of forced exodus and its aftermath. This film probably reminded them of their own stories, as ‘Sahir’ so touchingly put it in his words: “Kaun rotaa hai kissi aur ki khaatir ae dost, Sab ko apni hi kissi baat pe ronaa aaya”
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